Something other than Abzan or Twin ?
Modern forum
Posted on May 28, 2015, 3:35 a.m. by VegetaWins_015
I am currently constructing Elves deck for modern for when I move to north Texas but as a secondary deck to avoid boredom in the format I was thinking of having Affinity, Scapeshift, Living End or a Gifts Ungiven deck possibly using Vengevine. What is everyone's thoughts on this idea?
Living End is just pretty bad. If you want to build around a CMC 4 card try Curse of the Cabal. You just play the most god awful disruption/control imaginable. Kill everything Turns 1-3. T4 suspend. T5 clean up and control. T6 counter everything the opponent has so that this spell goes off.
Against Young Pyromancer you just side in Illness in the Ranks. It usually catches people by surprise because you don't run any enchantments/artifacts game one. Infact as a side bonus Illness in the Ranks shuts down the copies of Deceiver Exarch and kills the token copies of Pestermite. Pretty neat huh?
May 28, 2015 5:26 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #4
kengiczar I'm not sure you understand how the Living End deck functions if you are suggesting Curse of the Cabal and saying "build around a 4 cmc card". You never want to suspend Living End you cascade into it after filling your yard with cycling creatures.
May 28, 2015 8:14 a.m.
Having played the Breach/Trap Scapeshift variant, I can highly recommend it. It's preboarded against a handful of powerful decks in the meta (Jund, Junk), and can win in a handful of different ways, making it pretty versatile, and fun as hell.
May 28, 2015 9:05 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #6
LeaPlath Scapeshift is actually a bad idea. The deck is just lacking in so much compared to the other top tier decks. The loss of Dig was like UR Delver's loss of Cruise. An integral part of the strategy was removed, and the deck could no longer exist in its former powerful state.
Affinity is still going strong, and will always go strong, even through sideboard hate which isn't Stony Silence. That shit just kills the deck entirely.
May 28, 2015 9:10 a.m.
@ Gidgetimer How do they cascade into it now that Bloodbraid Elf is banned?
I've seen a jund deck that plays it can can get quite a few things out of the grave T4 but the deck took so much damage, because of it's own shocks and Street Wraith that it lost to multiple standard decks including Boros (Hordeling Outburst and Stoke the Flames) and Jeskai tokens.
May 28, 2015 9:12 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #8
@kengiczar Demonic Dread and Violent Outburst. Also tier 1 Standard decks can beat Modern decks, but not consistently.
May 28, 2015 9:18 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
As lemmingllama said Demonic Dread and Violent Outburst are used as the cascades. Most Living End lists I've seen run only about 4-6 total shocks so its a bit shocking that they lost enough life off of them and the obligatory 4-of Street Wraith to lose before they could wipe with a cascade.
May 28, 2015 12:03 p.m.
Scapeshift is a terrible option. If you want a deck to beat those, play Red/Green Tron with some extra mainboard Spellskite. You'll always beat Abzan and do pretty well against Twin, especially post-board.
May 28, 2015 12:10 p.m.
Disagree. The deck was good before Khans. It is good now. It has a good twin match up. Ok agaisnt junk. Bad versus affinity. And a pretty good match up versus the rest of the field. It isnt the beast of a deck it was with dig but saying it is bad is wrong for sure.
That said if you are looking an alternative angle to attack the format at, I think breach is a better option. Chalice and big dudes like Primeval Titan are good.
May 28, 2015 12:48 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #12
Why would you play Curse of the Cabal over Liliana of the Veil?
May 28, 2015 1:04 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #14
Living end is hilarious and can get competitive at a $100 or so budget.
May 28, 2015 1:40 p.m.
Disagree. Scapeshift is a garbage deck post ban. Don't play it.
May 28, 2015 2:43 p.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #16
The banning of Dig Through Time caused Scapeshift to fall short now? I am not familiar with the "Breach" yall speak of and what is 4C gifts?
May 28, 2015 5:23 p.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #17
Illness in the Ranks hmm I do like this card now lol
May 28, 2015 5:23 p.m.
It takes 7 turns to set up, and Burn/aggro runs right through it. Plus its hard to actually set it up efficiently without Dig. As a result, nobody plays the deck anymore.
May 29, 2015 11:36 a.m.
@Kris88
The "Breach" Variant trades some control spells for cards like Through the Breach and Summoning Trap to ramp out large creatures, such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Primeval Titan. Emrakul can decimate most decks on the spot, and Primeval Titan can fetch four lands, pushing you MUCH closer to burning with Valakut. And by the nature of the deck, hard-casting a Primeval Titan or an Obstinate Baloth early is enough to shift the game. That way, you're not relying on only 4 copies of Scapeshift to win - you have the option of any number of other strategies to adapt to a particular opponent.
It isn't perfect - Burn pushes hard against it (though, I think burn pushes hard against everything), and it has a tough time fighting Infect, or any type of disruption. That being said, I think it's boarded well for games 2/3, and the Jund variant allows you to improve a good deal of your matchups. I don't think the deck is garbage, but I'm not convinced it's Tier 0.5, either. I think it needs some more establishing to give a fair verdict.
May 29, 2015 12:15 p.m.
Kris88. Vish is wrong. With the ramp spells it takes 5 turns or so, and the deck is backed up with Cryptic Command, Firespout, Bolt, Remand, etc.
The biggest issue for the deck though is Burn and Infect. Which are pretty good at the moment. Siege Rhino also did the deck no favours as the go to goyf answer was Repeal. With the loss of Dig, the deck also lost a hell of a lot of power. Breach is a better meta choice though atm IMO
The deck isn't garbage. It is still about 3% of the meta (in comparison, elves is 5% atm and Jund is 9%).
May 31, 2015 10:24 a.m.
LeaPlath, Vish may be wrong about some things, but it is true that the deck has fallen to Tier 3 and I would never play it at a competitive event in the current meta.
May 31, 2015 12:18 p.m.
ChairmanMeows says... #23
Coming from my own experience knowing 2 people who have built it, Living End is not competitively viable. Gets shut down by the most popular sideboard cards. So even if by some small miracle you win game 1 thats it. If you dont care about it being competitively viable there's some fun to be had with it if it is REALLY what you want.
Scapeshift and Gifts are love it or hate it decks. I would very strongly recommend playing with them first (borrow or proxy it, use online means etc.) Because if you are the kind of person who really likes the style of these decks you won't need another deck again, but otherwise you will not have any fun. Ever.
Tl;dr: Unless you hate winning don't go living end. Please try the others before commiting.
June 1, 2015 2:44 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #24
I have gone 3-1 with Living End before. It's not the most competitive deck but in the right meta you can come away with a winning record. Especially if as you are planning it is a secondary deck that isn't going to be played enough to be worth putting cards in the sideboard for. If anyone else is running a graveyard based deck you will get hated out by proxy though.
I like the play style enough that i think it would be worth trying, but I also am just a big fan of combo decks in general. So take my recommendation with a grain of salt.
June 2, 2015 1:07 p.m.
Living End is gonna be overpowered in my meta.. :3
Especially against the guy that runs little kid junk... (1100$ deck unless he gets his Tarmogoyfs somewhere..)
June 2, 2015 2:52 p.m.
On another note, Storm is an awesome deck to build. It is competitive, and INSANELY fun to play! It also provides a challenge, and is a great deck to have!!! TRY IT! :)My deck: Pyromancer's U/R Grapestorm
MollyMab says... #2
Scapeshift isn't a bad option. The control version is lots of fun to play versus control decks or the mirror. The Breach version is good fun too cause turn 3 Emmy attack is awesome.
Not a fan of end. The decks it is good versus aren't that big ATM.
Gifts Vengevine seems bad. I do quite like 4c gifts though.
May 28, 2015 4:51 a.m.