how does it all work?
Modern forum
Posted on May 18, 2014, 2:03 p.m. by tyforthevenom
i'm looking for knowledge as knowledge is power and power can win me games, the knowledge i seek is the archetypes in competitive modern and how they work specifically how they work at their best
When you click on the link you'll see a list of deck names on the left like 'affinity', 'hatebears' etc. If you click on one of those it will show you decklists that fit that archetype. If you find a decklist you like the look of someone can tell you what it's supposed to do.
May 18, 2014 2:12 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #4
I'm generally looking to discover what each archetype aims to do, like storm aims to melt your face by spamming low mana cards and ritual cards tron aims to beat your face with massive s*** affinity rushes at you with fully equipped wimps
May 18, 2014 2:14 p.m.
Affinity abuses the affinity mechanic and most often wins with Inkmoth Nexus (I think).
Hatebears uses low mana cost creatures (like bears - 2 drop 2/2s) that have abilities. These range from 'opponent cant search their library' (Leonin Arbiter ) to opponents can't cast high mana spells (Gaddock Teeg ) and others. You play a large aggressive force that stops the opponent from doing what they want.
Zoo aims to play big, economical creatures like Wild Nacatl where you spend little mana to get a lot. Often backed by burn.
Jund is similar but I'm not 100% sure about it.
May 18, 2014 2:26 p.m.
Jund is kind of aggro and control. You'll run hand disruption like Thoughtseize along with aggro elements like Tarmogoyf .
May 18, 2014 2:30 p.m.
There used to be an article I found a while back that would have been perfect for this, but it appears to have been taken down :/ To firther ChiefBell's comments, there is American Control, which has lots of nasty spells like Anger of the Gods , Supreme Verdict , Cryptic Command , Snapcaster Mage , etc. to control the field until they get their win con out, usually in the form of something like Assemble the Legion or Celestial Colonnade .
May 18, 2014 2:40 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #10
RUG Scapeshift is a thing too. it wins by casting a Scapeshift fetching some number of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and mountains. it also runs some burn, lots of ramp spells, and countermagic. it is very fun. also look at Splinter Twin and Birthing Pod archetypes. also very popular decks
May 18, 2014 2:42 p.m.
Something I personally run are b/w tokens. They aren't anywhere near as popular as pod or Jund, but they make an appearance every now and then. B/w tokens usually run a healthy amount of hand disruption in the form of things like Thoughtseize , Inquisition of Kozilek , and Tidehollow Sculler . They win by using tokens produced by Intangible Virtue or Honor of the Pure alongside creatures like Brimaz, King of Oreskos or Hero of Bladehold .
May 18, 2014 2:49 p.m.
The most popular archetype is pod (I think like 17% of the meta). Very powerful deck. The next is splinter twin.
Note that both decks have infinite combos in them, but are still very competitive without the combos going off.
May 18, 2014 3:25 p.m.
megawurmple says... #13
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Melira Pod yet. That basically aims to be a midrange toolbox deck, using Birthing Pod and Chord of Calling to find whatever you need for the given situation. It often uses ETB triggers to its advantage. There are also a few combos in there, including Kitchen Finks + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Viscera Seer (Murderous Redcap also works) or the Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder combo.
Twin (generally either U/W/R or R/U/G) aims to win by assembling the Deceiver Exarch + Splinter Twin combo. Pestermite can be used instead of Exarch, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can be used instead of Twin to achieve the same combo. It will aim to control the board and stop you from winning until it can assemble and protect the combo.
May 18, 2014 3:35 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #14
Pod utilizes Birthing Pod to fetch a toolbox of useful situational creatures. Voice of Resurgence , Linvala, Keeper of Silence , as well as the popular combo Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Kitchen Finks / Murderous Redcap
Splinter twin utilizes its namesake card Splinter Twin to create infinite creatures with Pestermite like effects. It also plays your average tempo game with things like Cryptic Command , Remand , and Lightning Bolt .
May 18, 2014 3:38 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #15
Jund is a war of attrition based deck. The purpose is to grind out your wins by stripping resources from your opponent and then making them Tarmogoyf next sex crime victim. Or Raging Ravine , whatever's handy.
May 18, 2014 5:03 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #16
If you're playing Jund, all you gotta do is Jund 'em out. It runs powerful discard and removal to cripple you, efficient creatures like bob and goyf, and gains incremental value out of Courser of Kruphix .
May 18, 2014 6:19 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #17
If have to say that affinity is more about metal craft than affinity now a days but generally it's play ask the small things and equip that plating at instant speed. Then use metal craft buffed spells to burn to the jugular...it use the last affinity spell the deck uses and draw some cards
ChiefBell says... #2
oooooh. Pretty big question.
List of modern decks
The above will help by demonstrating the decks that are common.
The description will take ages. I could be lazy and say 'google', but if you go to the link above and find some you like the look of I'm sure I or someone else can explain that particular deck
May 18, 2014 2:10 p.m.