BG Rock Thread
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 11, 2016, 10:07 p.m. by APPLE01DOJ
Let's talk about all things 
Attrition. If you regularly participate in this thread feel free to post your decks in here as often as you want.
If you're new to modern and have only heard of Abzan and Jund, Rock is essentially the core of both those decks. Creature consist of Dark Confidant, Scavenging Ooze, Tarmogoyf, and Treetop Village. Save Tarmogoyf each offers an additional utility beyond just attacking. Rock has been dubbed "The Answer Deck" because its removal package is capable of answering practically everything. Abrupt Decay Maelstrom Pulse and Liliana of the Veil, one of the strongest planeswalkers in modern. Beyond removal you have an initial disruption package the opponent must play through. Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize.
So for the first topic of discussion, Which do you feel is stronger, with or without Phyrexian Obliterator?
How about the addition of Bitterblossom?
Sub sub sub sub sub. Bitterblossom rock would be sick.
January 11, 2016 10:32 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #4
So far Nissa, Voice of Zendikar has been wonderful. At worst she's a cheaper Gavony Township at best she'll turn a loosing position into a win. She improves both the Jund and Token match ups. She slows Aggro and pairs perfectly with Liliana of the Veil. She doesn't help vs Storm or Reanimator but is good vs Burn and fair decks.
January 11, 2016 10:37 p.m. Edited.
Those 0/1 chump blockers or sac outlets to lili. I think Nissa doubles in price when she releases.
January 11, 2016 10:38 p.m.
Totally subbing for this thread.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar Is certainly going to see a butt-ton of playtesting for BG Rock. I could easily see her finding a place in the deck.
I personally generally find Bitterblossom to not be super strong in Straight BG. With Junk, you get Sorin, Solemn Visitor and Gavony Township to make the horde of tokens scary. Although, with the new Nissa, I could see Bitterblossom + Nissa, Voice of Zendikar being a viable interaction for the deck.
January 11, 2016 10:55 p.m.
And y'know, since it was allowed for the thread, here's my current build for Rock: Obliterating the Competition 101
January 11, 2016 11:04 p.m.
Thoughts on hissing quadmire? I personally like it and will play 1-2
January 11, 2016 11:13 p.m.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm very disappointed in Hissing Quagmire... There are so many ways that I would have called it playable (Make it cost only , make it a 1/4 instead of 2/2, do both of these things...).
I'm not a fan of it, but at least I got to make the "giggity" joke when it was spoiled.
January 11, 2016 11:18 p.m.
I mean, obviously, that's me being greedy af, but still. I'm just saying it coulda been better
January 11, 2016 11:19 p.m.
I would have loved for Hissing Quagmire to be a 1/4, but I still think it is playable as a 1-of alongside 1 or 2 Treetop Village. I'm not sure how good it will be in 3 color rock, but I might still test with it.
As far as the actual topic above, I absolutely love Phyrexian Obliterator. Even more so than Goyf, it's one of those cards that makes your opponent go "wtf do I do now?" and it trades with Gurmag Angler in the best way possible.
Outside of straight BG, no way in hell. I don't like 4 costs in 3 color rock. I won't play any of them, not even SB.
As for Bitterblossom, I'm not a fan of it in BG. For 2 mana, I think I'd rather do almost anything else.
I never actually thought of Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in rock, but that actually sounds awesome. I typically play Junk, you think it has a place in that deck? I already run Lingering Souls, so I kinda wonder.
January 12, 2016 2:38 a.m.
vault Nissa will absolutely have a place in Junk. In fact, I think she may be played 3-4 of. I'm looking at preording a couple now that she is dropping a bit, but 3 cmc walkers should always be given a test.
January 12, 2016 10:29 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #14
I really like Bitterblossom in Rock but I run both Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow in my 75. It can out attrition a lot of decks such as Jund, Grixis Control, and Twin. It's resilient to spot removal. It kills in 6 turns which may seem slow but can be just the thing you need when things come down to top deck wars and you and your opponent are otherwise flooding out.
January 12, 2016 2:21 p.m.
That's fair. I think Bitterblossom goes over better in straight BG than any other variant, but it might be halfway decent in a BUG brew.
January 12, 2016 2:29 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #16
As far as Hissing Quagmire goes, I think it will see play as a 1-2 of. I like that it can be used to trade with most fatties in the format as a last resort defensive measure. The activation cost is way too pricey. However one of the biggest drawbacks of Treetop Village is that it comes into play tapped and only produces green, rarely what the deck wants. The fact that this produced or makes the coming into play tapped a smaller set back.
January 12, 2016 2:30 p.m.
I find that running 3-4 Twilight Mire helps out with the drawback of Treetop Village only producing green.
Other than that, I'm sure Hissing Quagmire will see some play, but I'm certainly bummed out about the fact that a Snapcaster Mage trades with it..
January 12, 2016 3:22 p.m.
Easy fix. Just use Gavony Township to add a +1/+1 counter to Hissing Quagmire. Twice. Now it survives Bolt. And how much mana did that take?
A fuckle ton.
January 12, 2016 4:01 p.m.
That takes at the very least 8 lands, and for Quagmire to survive it both times..
Because math
January 12, 2016 4:06 p.m.
Yea. We can all agree that Quagmire has vulnerabilities and isn't the perfect card for our beloved Rock decks. I think that's the point. It's still good enough to be played but not so powerful as to be format warping, much to our dismay. It kinda does its job as a manland.
January 12, 2016 5:12 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #21
I'll contribute you this. Found a list a while ago and tweaked it. It plays surprisingly well. BUG midrange
January 12, 2016 5:15 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #22
I feel like your build would be stronger with Dark Confidant VampireArmy
January 13, 2016 3:24 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #23
I've considered it. My thought is adding blue pushes you into a more control orientated list. I'm not sure there's room for ol bob'o in There. I did do a little updating though. Also i must admit I've only tested the list twice and that was about 4 months ago. I keep it on here as a shell for other's to start with haha
January 13, 2016 3:29 p.m.
This is the BUG list I've been testing. It's close to Gerard Fabiano's list but I made changes. BUG Control
January 13, 2016 3:30 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #25
How does every one feel about Sea Gate Wreckage?
Having played against this card, which can easily nullify Liliana of the Veil. I feel like it may be worthy of a spot in the deck. It's not legendary which is nice as well.
January 13, 2016 4 p.m.
I can see how it'd be good, seeing as I could easily play it with the Twilight Mire and Ghost Quarter/Tectonic Edges. The problem I'm seeing is the amount of mana you'd need to both activate it, then play the spell you draw.
Plus, it takes up a land slot, and I feel as though it's just not quite worth it to include it.. however, I think I'll still be testing it as a 1-of, just to see how it pairs with lili
January 13, 2016 5:42 p.m.
I think it'll be fine as a 1-of. Not sure how powerful it will be as it requires you to use four lands, but that extra draw in the opponent's endstep seems powerful in niche situations.
January 14, 2016 2:43 a.m.
So can we talk about Nissa, Voice of Zendikar a little more? Because the more I think about it, the more this card excites me. I'm thinking I want to play it as a 2-of in Modern Abzan, but it might be even better than that. I think I'm gonna make sure I have at least 2 by the end of the weekend. Do we know if this thing is gonna go up?
January 14, 2016 4:05 a.m.
I'm grabbing a full 4 of them, since I really do believe that they're gonna go up. And even if they don't, they'll be a good enough card that I'm still definitely going to be playing them as a 2 or even 3-of in my abzan list and my Rock list.
January 14, 2016 10:57 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #30
I ordered my playset already. I agree, it's going to go up. Give it a week after OGW releases and it'll be 40$. I've been using it on untap since it was spoiled and am very happy with it. (I run 3x Bitterblossom) It helps you late game win matches you would have otherwise lost. The ultimate is no joke and obtainable. Every time I've popped it I've had between 6-8 lands. Gaining a huge chunk of life and a fresh hand will win you the game.
January 14, 2016 1:37 p.m.
I just realized that the new nissa is basically a green Sphinx's Revelation that you don't really have to pay the mana for.
January 14, 2016 6:20 p.m.
So, with Twin dead, does BG really need so much in terms of hand disruption anymore?
Like, maybe just stick to the 4x Inquisition of Kozilek and drop the Thoughtseize entirely?
January 16, 2016 1:45 a.m.
I think I'll keep Thoughtseize around for Tron, but I might drop IoK and maybe play more Duress. I think I'll be dropping Lili down to 2 or 3 copies and definitely playing all 4 Nissa now.
January 16, 2016 5:13 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #34
I'm keeping 7x Thoughtseize. It's still needed vs some of the more difficult match ups such as Scapeshift & Living End.
January 16, 2016 5:50 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #35
I'm at a point where I'm tempted to throw a Blood Crypt into my deck just to SB some Blood Moon vs Eldrazi.
January 19, 2016 10:31 a.m.
It's an interesting idea, for sure. I feel like you'd need to play a couple extra basics to compensate for that though, right?
January 19, 2016 11:26 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #37
i dont think so, i never really have too much trouble when it's played against me with the current mana base.
January 19, 2016 3:02 p.m.
I was thinking of siding some Loxodon Smiter or Obstinate Baloth because of Reality Smasher, but that might be a bit too gimmicky. Fun to pull off though.
January 19, 2016 6:38 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ What's your favorite version of The Rock? Just picked up 4 Phyrexian Obliterator
January 19, 2016 9:20 p.m. Edited.
APPLE01DOJ says... #40
I really like Bitterblossom Rock. There's a fun element I get from playing in a suicidal fashion. Starting at 15 into Bob into Lilly into Bitterblossom is sweet and goes against all the players who overvalue life gain.
Obliterator Rock wins a lot but it feels less about attrition and more about placing all your chips on Phyrexian Obliterator.
My favorite version was RTR/M14 era Rock with 4x Deathrite Shaman, Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, and Dark Confidant. T2 Liliana of the Veils all day into exile battles.
January 19, 2016 10:24 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ What are your thoughts on an Artifact Rock deck with Glissa? Recently acquired all of the swords, and would love to use them.
January 19, 2016 10:58 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #42
I like Glissa, the Traitor but in the battlefield she seems lack luster. Just another Abrupt Decay target. I've only played against her in competitive settings though. I have a casual deck that utilizes Birds of Paradise with all 5 swords and curves into Siege Rhino. It's fun but only okay. I've been trying to brew a g/w/u version that utilizes Judge's Familiar since it's an efficient quick way to get damage through. Even a Sword of Body and Mind can win you the game equipped on a bird.
January 20, 2016 12:09 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #43
DrFunk27 did you brew a list?
@Everybody, what do you feel are the hardest match ups for B/G? What do you side in for them?
February 1, 2016 11:36 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ lol Nah, I gave up and Brewed a Tezzeret artifact deck instead.
February 1, 2016 11:45 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ Tron is by far the hardest matchup for any BG variant... That's hardly even a debate, dude...
February 2, 2016 12:22 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #46
I completely disagree. I think it's more of a 50/50 match up for Rock. Id vote Affinity as the hardest match.
February 2, 2016 12:46 a.m.
Rock can't beat a T3 Karn or Wurmcoil. There is absolutely no getting around the fact that Rock is just dead to these cards
February 2, 2016 1:30 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #48
Discard and Maelstrom Pulse are a thing. Plus if they play Karn Liberated and exile say Tarmogoyf you just swing with Treetop Village the next turn. Rock also has the benefit of being able to run up to 4x Ghost Quarter.
February 2, 2016 1:56 a.m. Edited.
If they play a Karn, they're not going to start with a 'goyf. They're going to pick apart your hand, while you either helplessly swing at it trying not to get too destroyed by it, or let them take everything from your hand until they can overpower you, or perhaps even restart the game if they're planning on being funny.. 4x Ghost Quarter just doesn't do enough to shut down tron decks.
February 2, 2016 2:04 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #50
Sure it does. I play the match up all the time. It's quite winnable.
Affinity on the other hand... Its basically draw into Creeping Corrosion or bust.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #2
Subbing for future use, but I'm also curious about the new Nissa in this (these) deck(s). Does she have a place?
January 11, 2016 10:12 p.m.