Modern forum
Posted on May 12, 2016, 1:23 a.m. by DarkMagician
I absolutely love this card, it's a catch all. My question is what do yal think about its viability in Modern? I've seen a few people toying with it but I'm talking long term, can it hang or is it going to end up being junk?
bijschjdbcd says... #3
I doubt it.
Only archetype that wants it is Junk. And I would assume Abrupt Decay hits most relevant spells that discard doesnt.
Not to mention walkers are soft to Lingering souls tokens.
May 12, 2016 1:38 a.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #4
I still like the idea of a pseudo Vindicate at instant speed. That's also something that Maelstrom Pulse doesn't do, hit at instant speed.
I have yet to test it in my Abzan build, but it seems ok at the moment. The bolt to the dome is what's keeping me from it. Granted stuff like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Scavenging Ooze, and Siege Rhino offset the lifeloss, but I'm also playing plenty of fetches/shocks and Dark Confidant.
B/W tokens may like this card and maybe even Soul Sisters if they splash 
for anything. As otherwise noted Abzan does have plenty of discard, PtE, Abrupt Decay, and Maelstrom Pulse. Anguished Unmaking may see a 1-2 of in a 75, but I don't see it being a big hit just yet. Time will tell.
May 12, 2016 1:49 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #5
vault I won't argue against that but not every deck runs green. As for bolting yourself people do it all the time in Modern, T1 is often played out as Fetch Shock. Not to mention the insane life gain available in the format can completely nullify the loss of life.
May 12, 2016 1:51 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #6
aeonstoremyliver Great point about the instant speed, I hadn't even thought of that.
May 12, 2016 1:53 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #7
bijschjdbcd I don't think Abzan wants Anguished Unmaking
May 12, 2016 1:55 a.m.
I can confirm it's good in b/w tokens, but only because this is the best that we have to deal with noncreature permanents in the mainboard. Other decks have better options, so they don't have to use it.
May 12, 2016 2:12 a.m.
I imagine the card is just abysmal against the likes of Burn, for what that's worth.
May 12, 2016 2:34 a.m.
KillDatBUG says... #10
Very inefficient card, if you'd ask me. Costs 3 mana and 3 life, compared to 1 for Path to Exile, or 1 and 4 life for Dismember. The upside of killing a nonland permanent in Modern is low.
May 12, 2016 2:41 a.m.
Especially those nonlands that Maelstrom Pulse and Abrupt Decay do for better, albeit in G/B.
May 12, 2016 2:52 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #12
I must say I love it as a catch all spell. It'as a really bad Vindicate ofc cuz it sure doesn't hit lands but it's traded for instant speed and I kinda like this.
I'd play it as a 1-of MB in my Esper / Mardu Control builds (Sphinx's Revelation and Lightning Helix help a lot).
The deck I can see it fit very well would be Soul Sisters.
May 12, 2016 2:58 a.m.
iBleedPunk says... #13
So I don't really play Modern but with match ups against like Tron and stuff isn't an instant speed Vindicate a good thing against stuff like T4 Karn and what not?
I may sound like a total n00b but I'm curious. Maelstrom Pulse does seem like the obviously better catch-all but sadly only at Sorcery speed. The 3 life clause on Unmaking is a butt kicker especially in a format where one wrong move costs you the game (once again not a Modern player so pleeeeease correct me if I'm incorrect) but it has a home in splashed Soul Sisters correct?
May 12, 2016 5:47 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #14
I'd personally say it belongs as a 1-of in Esper. That deck needs it's sideboard slots, so you can run more 1-ofs if you also are running a catch all.
May 12, 2016 6:25 a.m.
Let me ask you this - what are the best non-creature threats that you want to remove in Modern with this? Looking at the top decks:
vs Grixis - nothing that Path wouldn't deal with.
vs burn - same as above.
vs Affinity - same as above.
vs zoo - same as above.
vs infect - same as above.
What decks and threats do you want that card against? If you want 3 mana paths, there are plenty of those like Unmake.
May 12, 2016 6:37 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #17
@Boza For affinity, you hit Cranial Plating. Also it's very relevant in matchups like Tron and Ad Nauseam that are still popular.
Less popular matchups that it can be a boon include Lantern Control, Blue Moon, Taking Turns, and anything that sides in artifacts/enchantments to deal with you.
May 12, 2016 7:07 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #18
Boza No offence but that was a damn dumb observation. Let's not assume Modern is Affinity / Infect / Burn / Grixis. That's wrong.
Path is good but ramps your opponent. Sometimes (see Scapeshift or RG ramp) you really don't wanna do that. Besides it only hit creatures.
You'll eventually face some decks you're not preparded for like Prison decks, Doubling Season decks or superfriends variants. It will happen. Anguished Unmaking being able to hit all but lands can help a whole lot to make sure you get an answer to something your decks normally can't, therefore it makes up for the potential weaknesses of the deck you're playing. Grixis for example has NO answer to enchantments aside from bouncing it or Annuling it. These aren't answers as efficient as Back to Nature or Fracturing Gust.
If you play Unmaking that means you play white (#cptobvious) so you can have answers to enchantments/artifacts in your SB already. But walkers like Karn Liberated, Liliana of the Veil or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver can be a pain in the ass when dropping T3.
And I wouldn't mind losing 3 life to get rid of a pesky Ensnaring Bridge and keep putting pressure when facing Lantern Control, for example. Blood Moon is the kind of thing I also want to be able to remove G1 just in case someone brewed up a retarded build meant to hate on multicolored decks.
That's just my opinion though :)
May 12, 2016 7:11 a.m.
I just went of on the top 5 decks I could think up in Modern. The cards mentioned by frusciante7 are very high on the to-get-rid-of list, however, they show up in very few decks. This is the definition of a sideboard card.
A one-off in the main deck will not be that useful for most decks, unless it is a very high impact card, which this is not, given the type of threats in modern.
Also all of these cards are cards you want to get rid of preemptively in modern with a Mana Leak or something. For example:
letting a Karn or Lili tick up a few turns before exiling them means you have spent a card to do nothing at all - they have already done their job and it is too late to do anything. Instant speed planeswalker removal is not that great anyways, a simple Oblivion Ring next turn will do the same job as instant speed removal on their turn.
If you do not have a means to deal with a game 1 Blood Moon, it is better to let it go completely rather than relying on drawing AND having the right basics to cast it. A simple Oblivion Ring will be easier to cast and do the same job.
Pretty much the same deal with Ensnaring Bridge - you do not care about it for most of the game and a simple Oblivion Ring will do the same job.
May 12, 2016 7:57 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #20
Comparing Anguished Unmaking to Oblivion Ring is absurd!
O'ring can be removed (hello Abrupt Decay - Repeal) and requires you to tap out on your own T3 EVERYTIME. Unmaking doesn't.
Also, Unmaking EXILES. And that my friend is a real thing. O'ring on a walker means once they destroy Oring they can use it immediately. Unmaking a walker means it's gone 'forever'.
You can't counter every spell your opponent will play that's a fact. But you can still exile the walker EOT after your opponent used him/her once. Once again, O'ring doesn't.
May 12, 2016 8:35 a.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #21
With Abzan, one it's worst match-ups is Tron. Anguished Unmaking looks fantastic against Tron to remove Karn, Ugin, Eldrazi, Wurmcoil, etc. Having another source of general purpose, instant speed removal is nice. Then again, Beast Within can blow up much more at the cost of a 3/3 Beast. It's also less mana intensive...hmm.
May 12, 2016 9:20 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #22
bijschjdbcd You said the only deck that wants it is Junk though you did make it clear you didn't like the card there. On a side note my phone remembers your name so replying to your comments is so much easier now lol.
aeonstoremyliver Beast Within is just such a.... beast.
May 12, 2016 12:15 p.m.
DarkMagician says... #23
Really didn't expect this kind of a response, thanks for the input ladies and/or gentlemen.
May 12, 2016 12:16 p.m.
I know anguished is seeing some mild play in the Mardu control/midrange sideboards. But they can handle the loss of life due to Lightning Helix and similar spells in those colors.
May 12, 2016 1:05 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #25
3 life loss is nothing. It's good for orzhov. What B/W need though is a good low cost creature not more removal.
May 12, 2016 1:28 p.m.
I genuinely like Anguished Unmaking.Anything I would use it on is going to do at least 3 damage to me (or the equivalent thereof). Don't run more than two unless you have dickloads of lifegain. I love the card's versatility. It can hit basically anything at instant speed, I'll pay three measly life for that.
May 12, 2016 3:30 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #27
Against Lantern a simple Oblivion Ring isnt enough.
Abrupt decay, spellskite and multiple bridges makes this plan pretty weak.
But yeah, I dont thing the card is that good.
May 12, 2016 7:31 p.m.
DarkMagician says... #28
Gave it a shot at my local Modern tournament (went 3-1 with my only loss being because I threw a game by drawing seven after a mulligan) but it really only came up once (was running two). So now I can say with a certainty that this card is a boss against infect... Where life practically means squat (before everyone starts screaming about how obvious it is that the card is great when life doesn't matter much that was dripping with sarcasm)
May 13, 2016 1:45 p.m.
DarkMagician - Drawing 7 after a mulligan is not a game loss. (though, maybe that's not what you meant by 'threw a game')
Some people used to believe that drawing an extra card during a mulligan was the same rule a 'drawing an extra card'... this is not the case.... and even that is no longer a game loss.
Drawing an extra card during an opening hand is classified as "Improper Drawing at Start of Game", while "Drawing Extra Cards" is it's own Game Play error.
At FNM level, call a judge, they should randomly shuffle one card back into your library. - At higher levels, they will shuffle two random cards back into your library. Then you will receive a warning.
May 13, 2016 2:58 p.m. Edited.
Oops.... I didn't realize until now that they change the procedure again.
As of April 6th 2016, they now have a section for "Mulligan Procedure Error"... extra card draw during start of game is now handled in the following way:
If the player has too many cards in hand, he or she may choose to reveal his or her hand, and his or her opponent chooses a card from it to be shuffled back into the library. If more than one excess card was drawn (for example, eight cards drawn during a mulligan to 6) his or her opponent continues removing cards until the correct number has been reached.
If cards are not removed from the hand this way (either due to an error that didnt lead to too many cards, or by the player choosing not to reveal), that player takes an additional mulligan.
TL;DR: You can either choose to mulligan again... down one further card, or you can show your hand to your opponent who removes a number of cards equal to the number of 'extra' cards drawn. (You can still mulligan again if you'd like.)
-Fulcrum says... #2
Bolting yourself isn't worth it in Modern. Maelstrom Pulse will continue to be the three mana catch-all in Modern.
May 12, 2016 1:34 a.m.