How do I stop splinter twin?
Modern forum
Posted on June 7, 2014, 12:38 p.m. by MTGJustice
Splinter twins is dominating the local meta-game and I want to stop it. It is standard splinter twin infinite combo, izzet with Splinter Twin , Pestermite , and Deceiver Exarch . He also runs delay cards like Remand and draw like Think Twice . I am continuously stuck in 2nd place with green white auras. Anybody know of any cards or strategies I could use to dethrone the king? Lately I have just been trying to out race him but I cant do it consistently enough to beat him in these tournaments so I think a new approach is in order.
MTGJustice says... #4
Awesome great ideas guys. How does Nature's Claim work with priority? would he get to make one copy before I destroyed the enchantment or could I destroy it immediately?
June 7, 2014 12:48 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #5
He taps the creature enchanted with Splinter Twin to copy Deceiver Exarch /Pestermite . Then you cast Nature's Claim . Due to stack order (last in, first out) Nature's Claim resolves first, destroying Splinter Twin and your opponent gaining 4 life. Then the Splinter Twin ability resolves, making a copy of the targeted creature.
tl;dr Splinter Twin is destroyed, but your opponent gets a copy of a creature.
June 7, 2014 12:53 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #6
It's been a while since I owned a Splinter Twin , so my explanation's a little off since the copied creature is the one enchanted with Splinter Twin is the one being copied, but the end result is still the same.
June 7, 2014 1 p.m.
MTGJustice says... #8
Does Spellskite work with auras even though they don't say target?
June 7, 2014 1:08 p.m.
Rakdos Charm is fun when they do "two billion trillion" tokens, just because they can :)
June 7, 2014 1:30 p.m.
If you bring in Torpor Orb you could also bring in a Hunted Troll that he will not have planned for. Transformational sideboards are insanely powerful.
June 7, 2014 2:29 p.m.
Suppression Field is just a really good card anyways. I'd pick that one.
Spellskite is always good, too, since you don't need mana to use it.
June 7, 2014 4:10 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #18
Spellskite is absolutely great in this match up.
I've won games simply because I landed a turn two skite, and they couldn't do anything about it.
June 7, 2014 4:31 p.m.
Better yet, Blind Obedience . It's harder to kill than a creature, it counts as an Enchantment (for your G/W Enchantment deck), and you could even start extorting out of burn range (Twin's secondary win-con).
June 7, 2014 4:31 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #20
G/W answers to Twin:
Path to Exile , remove the creature that Splinter Twin is being cast on.
Auriok Champion if you're playing a martyr deck.
June 7, 2014 5:48 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #21
I would avoid Imposing Sovereign and Blind Obedience in this match up.
All they do is stop it for a turn, so now you have to win right then and there, or find a way to kill twelve million creatures.
June 7, 2014 5:53 p.m.
Auriok Champion wont help if they are twinning Pestermite
June 7, 2014 5:54 p.m.
I suppose that's true. They can just combo out at the end of your turn and then untap.
June 7, 2014 6:09 p.m.
Splash Black for Illness in the Ranks ? Unless they get rid of it, they can't kill you with tokens (unless we're dealing with Resto Angel, which is doesn't sound like we are). Pestermite dies and Deceiver Exarch is a 0/3.
June 7, 2014 6:10 p.m.
Tokens get sac'd at end of turn. They can't combo on your end step.
June 7, 2014 6:23 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #26
Oh, shit. They do get sacced.
Nevermind. Those two cards do work.
June 7, 2014 6:26 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #27
No, no, no. They get sacrificed at the the next end step. So if tokens are made during your end step, they will get sacrificed at the end of their turn. Blind Obedience and Imposing Sovereign do not stop this effect.
June 7, 2014 6:38 p.m.
That being said, Blind obedience and imposing sovereign suck and you shouldn't be playing them over other answers to twin
June 7, 2014 6:42 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #30
So.... I was right, and shouldn't bow to peer pressure that says I'm wrong?!
WHAT IS THIS, HIGH SCHOOL!?!
June 7, 2014 6:43 p.m.
MTGJustice says... #31
Actually Blind Obedience shuts it down completely. That's a great idea, not too hard on the wallet either. The only downside to Spellskite is the price tag...
June 7, 2014 7:58 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #32
Woah, that price climbed since I bought my two.
The thing with Spellskite is that its playable in any deck, and any sideboard.
June 7, 2014 8:24 p.m.
Blind obedience only stops the combo. Only completely inept twin players would be hindered by blind obedience.
June 7, 2014 8:33 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #34
I have to agree with xlaleclx.
For now it might work, to run Blind Obedience , but in the long run, Spellskite is going to be your best friend.
Hell, Blind Obedience even fits with your decks theme of enchantments.
June 7, 2014 8:41 p.m.
MTGJustice says... #35
Well if it wasn't for the combo I could out speed him so I think Blind Obedience will work for me. Obviously Spellskite is a much better and more versatile solution but I don't really want to pay for them.
June 7, 2014 8:54 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #36
That's what I'm saying. For now it'll work while your save up for skitters
June 7, 2014 9:06 p.m.
You're better off running Suppression Field or Ghostly Prison than Blind Obedience
June 7, 2014 10:48 p.m.
Splinter Twin only makes you sacrifice tokens at the beginning of the next end step. If you make the tokens at the end of the end step (when you receive priority), they don't go away until the beginning of the next end step (which would be after they're dead).
It's not a perfect answer, but I wasn't thinking clearly.
Suppression Field is the better card (as I originally stated) and Suppression Field also turns off a large part of Pod and Affinity decks.
June 7, 2014 11:21 p.m.
@vampirelazarus, it doesn't work like that. Splinter twin tokens go away at the end of the turn
June 8, 2014 6:44 a.m.
EridanWwins says... #40
Those cards make all their tokens etb tapped, so none of their tokens can attack, and all of the tokens are sacrificed at the end of the turn, so those cards actually do a pretty good job.
June 8, 2014 8:33 a.m.
ifired and EridanWwins: you are both incorrect. There is a huge difference between cards that say "at the beginning of the next end step" and "at end of turn". These times are different. One is in the end step and the other is in the cleanup step.
Please read post 17 for the ruling. I made a deck that abused the wording on Mimic Vat , as you can technically make a time. At the end of the end step, untap, make another token and swing with two.
June 8, 2014 noon
That's supposed to say "technically make a token at the end".
June 8, 2014 12:01 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #43
zandl is correct. Blind Obedience actually does absolutely nothing... as I previously stated.
The Twin player creates tokens on your endstep, they come into play tapped, they untap on the Twin player's untap step and you eat five billion Deceiver Exarch s to the dome during combat.
June 9, 2014 12:07 p.m.
KrosanTusker says... #44
Side in Mana Tithe for game 2 for their Splinter Twin . Nobody expects it! You can even side it out again for game for three and just draw gas while they play around a card that's not in your deck!
June 11, 2014 8:08 a.m.
brassheart says... #45
As people have already said Spellskite and Torpor Orb make their combo much much harder to get off.
June 11, 2014 10:53 a.m.
Doesn't stop Kiki, but Kiki is also only a one-of in Splinter Twin decks whereas Splinter Twin itself is usually a three- or four-of.
June 12, 2014 11:43 p.m.
no but there's no reason to be running it over better cards that deal with Kiki as well. It also requires you to hold up 3 mana and be reactive which isn't what you want to be doing.
June 13, 2014 1:55 a.m.
It's good. It's an unstoppable counter to Splinter Twin . There's a reason it's in a ton of sideboards.
Might there be better things? Probably, but this is pretty damn good and decks like Tron and Jund and Pod have no trouble finding 3 mana to play with. Add in Combust and/or Abrupt Decay and you've got yourself a strategy.
GoldGhost012 says... #2
G/W Auras? I would suggest sideboarding in a few Torpor Orb s and/or cheap enchantment removal like Nature's Claim .
June 7, 2014 12:41 p.m.