Polymorph viability? Is it underused or just does not work?
Modern forum
Posted on Oct. 3, 2015, 9:31 p.m. by _Sinistar_
Polymorph has always been a card lurking around with strong potential. How viable is it to be included as an alternate win condition? Why don't we see Polymorph a lot? How sucsessfull will a deck be based around Polymorph. Main reason I ask these questions because as a budget player myself I wanted to find a way to to approach the modern format in a way I could beat the top decks. I thought Polymorphing Emrakul, the Aeons Torn might be a good way of achieving this. Should I keep investing or build a new deck.
Coinman1863 says... #4
I've seen it as an alternate wincon in Through the Breach Decks with Dryad Arbor.
October 3, 2015 10:02 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #5
when Cloudform came out i saw a lot of speculation about whether polymorph could be good due to the fact that the noncreature-creature has hexproof is very strong. it just seems too fragile and inconsistent to be very good. in a noncompetitive setting it could be viable and fun though.
October 3, 2015 10:28 p.m.
The only polymorph lists worth considering (I still wouldn't actually play them) is splashing blue in WB tokens for a polymorph package. Playing an emrakul or 2 in the mainboard + Iona in the sideboard.
October 3, 2015 10:40 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #7
It's costly and janky.
However, I've seen decks that look really fun when they use it. We had a guy at our lgs once use it with leviathans, and it was pretty great.
October 4, 2015 3:44 a.m.
MadCheddah says... #8
Mardu Charm Y U THOSE COLORS???
i think of Polymorph as a worse Splinter Twin...
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite vs agro, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn vs control and Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur vs combo...
October 4, 2015 6:39 a.m.
Between Cloudform and Lumbering Falls, you could probably find decent success with Proteus Staff. Perhaps in a sultai/temur control shell.
Maybe a single Academy Ruins to recur the staff. Tolaria West can tutor for Lumbering Falls.
Proteus Staff has the benefit of interrupting other creature based combo decks, such as twin.
If you run enough islands, you could play Vedalken Shackles and just use your opponents creature to staff into Emrakul. This allows for an alternate win con if your opponents disrupt the main combo.
There are a lot of options available to experiment with.
October 4, 2015 10:14 p.m.
I think it might actually be really cool to try out a polymorph + emrakul package in a token deck without creatures. I'll test it out tonight.
October 10, 2015 10:10 p.m.
I have a friend who plays BW tokens splashing for polymorph+ emrakul and Elesh norn + Iona in the sideboard. I borrowed it for FNM on Friday, polymorph definitely seemed to make the deck considerably worse.
October 11, 2015 6:50 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #12
What do you think of running it in 4c gifts as a one of gimmick?
October 11, 2015 7:53 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #13
4c gifts usually plays value stuff that really isnt worth polymorphing into so prolly not.
October 11, 2015 11:38 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #15
Well, my thinking was, polymorph into a elesh norn isnt bad, especially off a lingering souls token.
Besides, the rest of my creatures are snapcaster, and v. clique, which you cant go wrong with.
I can see why it would be bad though.;
October 12, 2015 2:36 a.m.
Actually, a polymorph into elesh norn sideboard strategy would be amazing. They take out all their removal because they're playing against tokens, and then you cast polymorph and win on turn four.
October 12, 2015 9:33 a.m.
Not boarding out spot removal against tokens would be ridiculous. It's so bad, since you're paying one or two mana to kill a 1/1 that your opponent has six copies of. Resiliency against removal is the reason to play tokens.
October 12, 2015 5:15 p.m.
Most of the spot removal spells in modern are in burn spells which definitely are not boarded out. The ones that are, are replaced with sideboard options that are generally also good against the polymorph plan.All polymorph does is make your twin matchup into a bad matchup when twin was one of the only reasons to play tokens in the first place.
October 12, 2015 5:42 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #20
Plus, it's not tokens. If you're staring down birds, souls, and snappy, you've got strong indications of gifts.
So you keep your removal for their big threat.
I mean, I have seen people do that. And then they regret it when you Unburial Rites an Iona.
October 12, 2015 5:51 p.m.
Path to exile is the second most played removal spell in the format, and besides bolt, the top 7 removal spells in the format definitely get boarded out. Who wants to use a path, terminate, rending volley, liliana of the veil, or dismember against tokens. The removal spells boarded in, which are pyroclasm and abrupt decay, do nothing against an elesh norn. Bolt, helix, rift bolt, searing blaze, kolaghan's, engineered explosives all do nothing against Elesh Norn either. Path and terminate are the only real removal spells in the top 100 most played spells in modern that can beat an Elesh Norn and a bunch of tokens.
October 12, 2015 5:53 p.m.
Vampire are you referring to the tokens polymorph plan, because if so, I don't understand what you're saying. xlaleclx you are correct that most removal spells are burn spells, which do nothing to Elesh Norn. What sideboard cards do you propose an opponent would bring in out of their sideboard thinking they are playing against regular tokens and not an out-of-the-board polymorph strategy, which they have no reason to expect. I think you might be misunderstanding my idea, which is to have three or four polymorphs and two Elesh Norns/one Elesh and one Emrakul in the board for slower matchups or as a way to win easily on turn four with a boardwipe for them and a +2/+2 damage buff for all my friends. You could just board it out in game three if your opponent brings in hate for the strategy.
October 12, 2015 6:03 p.m.
Burn spells all kill the opponent. None of the decks that can bolt, snap, bolt the opponent to win the game are going to be boarding out their burn spells in a matchup where they're live.
You obviously know nothing about the matchup where as I have played WB tokens with and without polymorph, I have also had a lot of success in modern with other decks and have played against BW tokens with various decks.
October 12, 2015 6:04 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #24
In my initial post, I was referring to running Polymorph in a Gifts Ungiven deck, a deck that usually runs Lingering Souls because of value.
I was never talking about BW tokens.
October 12, 2015 6:14 p.m.
Okay, I don't think you understand that burn spells cannot answer an Elesh Norn. I know they keep in burn. They don't keep in terminate and path, the only two spells in the format that are played in any quantity that can answer an Elesh Norn, Iona, and nothing answers emrakul. I'm not necessarily saying its a viable strategy, but you shouldn't discredit my playtime with BW tokens and you seem to think burn spells can answer polymorph.
October 12, 2015 8:50 p.m.
They don't kill elesh norn, they kill it in resposne to polymorph...
October 12, 2015 8:53 p.m.
Okay, sorry about being an idiot. I just still think it could be viable because you still have a solid plan regardless, but it gives you a better chance against unfair decks that don't use burn (around 50% of the metagame).
October 12, 2015 9:52 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #28
Its fringe, for sure. But I don't think it would be a top 8 deck.
I honestly, really like the card, and think it could be done, and maybe do well if someone's never played against it before. Its one of those decks in modern that you just need to know how to play it against the big timers in order for it to do well.
But it does have its issues. Sorcery speed, four mana, need a creature on the field to polymorph (which isnt hard, but still), and it does limit your creatures in your deck. I mean, youll have your big guy, and obviously snapcaster because blue, but.... you don't want to polymorph into a snapcaster...
October 12, 2015 9:58 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #29
Polymorph is fun, because you can go from Esper combo-control to Esper token tempo with a flick of your sideboard. Polymorph lends itself quite well to the transformational sideboarding and from there it all depends on how well regular tokens does in the match-up.
Problem is, Polymorph (and many other combo-control decks, like creatureless Near-Death Experience) lost ability to come into modern with the ban of DTT. But since that is banned in legacy and restricted in vintage, it'll take a helluva blue digging card to allow it to shine.
Servo_Token says... #2
It's a 4 mana dies-to-mana-leak that needs to be built around, isn't very flexible, needs other fragile pieces on the board to work, and is just kind of cute. That's why you don't see more polymorph
October 3, 2015 9:34 p.m.