Valorous Stance: Modern Playable?
Modern forum
Posted on Dec. 28, 2015, 8:42 p.m. by wasianpower
I'm just curious what people think about Valorous Stance in modern. I've been playing it in standard and it's just so good against control that I think it's modern viable, at least in the sideboard. Thoughts?
lemmingllama says... #3
It's a good sideboard card, but frequently dead in normal matchups. Also try to play it mainly in decks that has use for both modes.
December 28, 2015 8:56 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #4
It's not bad in UWR as an alternative to Terminate, and it's pretty decent in Geist/midrange decks.
December 28, 2015 10:26 p.m.
Fact is a majority of creatures centered matchups you're going to run against in Modern are going to be against opponents who play a bunch of low drop creatures that will peak out at 3 power. They may have a bomb here or there but it will generally be many little things. And even if they break that power threshold, the whole board will generally be close in line. Decks like Merfolk and Affinity and Tokens and Naya Zoo who progressively fill the board and make their things bigger on a grand scale over time, meaning you don't have just one threat to deal with and they put them down with the most mana efficiency an dleast amount of cards possible.
However the fact that it has a second ability (or should I say the first mode) that makes a creature indestructible could be beneficial.
I would like to point out the following though:
How many cards do you typically see that focus on SAVING creatures. It's usually not a thing unless you're playing Combo or decided to fit a Spellskite in the deck. Most meta Modern focuses on removal. They have so much removal that they don't necessarily care if you save a creature once. They'll have more coming up soon. So most decks forgo the safety magic to more aggressive counteraction.
I think it'd be nice in a combo deck or something like Geist where Geist of Saint Traft is your everything card, but I don't think it'd be viable enough overall to catch on. Too many better options.
December 29, 2015 10 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #6
@TMBRLZ Jund, Grixis, and Abzan are the main decks it has worth against. It kills Siege Rhino, Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Tarmogoyf, etc or it can dead one of their removal spells. It isn't mainboard worthy, but it can be great for certain match-ups.
December 29, 2015 11:18 a.m.
wasianpower says... #7
@TMBRLZ I think you may have missed a key point of this card: it destroys creatures toughness 4 or greater, not power 4 or greater. It's really unusual in that respect. Now, despite that, a lot of your points still stand, although it is worth noting that it kills Deceiver Exarch at instant speed.
December 29, 2015 11:20 a.m.
My mistake, however most aggro decks forgo toughness for power so it's all slightly relative.
And valid point lemmingllama, however I would point out that being those are probably the pillars of midrange in Modern, they are also unbelievably expensive. And thus much rarer seen. Undoubtedly strong decks but much less often seen because of their cost. At least in the meta I've experienced in the Midwest. Not to mention most people want to play the "fun" decks anyway.
December 29, 2015 11:29 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #9
@TMBRLZ Sideboard cards are always dependent on your local meta. That being said, looking at the Modern metagame breakdown done by Modern Nexus for this month, these decks have a large meta share. Also looking at this list, we would side it in against Jund, UR Twin, Amulet Bloom, Abzan, and Grixis Twin. Those decks have a total combined metagame share of 25.8%. Personally I would say that those numbers are fairly indicative of Modern at a tournament level, and that Valorous Stance could be a good addition.
That being said, these are competitive numbers. So I wouldn't recommend running it if your local meta for FNM doesn't run these decks. Tuning your sideboard to hate on your meta is the best way to do things.
December 29, 2015 11:47 a.m.
It's a sideboard card for decks running 
that also have trouble with big, tough creatures. Not too many of those in the meta, because they tend to splash other colors that give them a bigger removal suite (Abzan, Jeskai Control, 
Control), or are evasive enough that the extra removal isn't really necessary (Bogles).
December 29, 2015 2:43 p.m.
JaceArveduin says... #11
I've found it's fine as a 2 of in base-white creature decks that could use a little more removal. It doesn't hit everything, but it hits most of the big threats. As also stated above, most of the more meta/tier decks don't really need it.
December 29, 2015 4:54 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #12
@lemmingllama My own personal experience is that tournament results tend to influence FNM level metas. This may not be the case for others, but it's what I've seen. They don't entirely match, but when I go to FNM I expect to see tier 1 decks over anything else.
December 30, 2015 2:07 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #13
Reason why it's not being playing, there are better options for removal, example: Path to Exile. If you are playing a Mono White deck or a U/W deck, then yes, it may be viable, but honestly, what decks are wrecking the format that are Mono White or U/W? If they are playing White, they usually bring another color or 2 with it, examples: Abzan (B/G/w), Jeskai (U/R/w), 4 or 5 color. And with the additions of other colors, besides Blue, comes along a slew of better removal spells: Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Discard spells, Lightning Helix, Rending Volley, Murderous Cut, Terminate, etc... It may see play in Modern sometime, but that seems like a farfetched idea at this current place and time. If you are playing a homebrew, and need cheap options for removal, Valorous Stance is a fine budget choice.
December 30, 2015 4:17 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #14
I think its main failing is that even as a modal spell it's just too narrow. Unless you really don't want opponents getting a land you do just use Path to Exile instead. If you have other colors, then you have even more good options.
So... what UpperDeckerTaco said.
Slayne says... #2
I played it as a 2-of in my sideboard when I was on UWR Geist. It was pretty great in the more grindy matchups like Junk.
December 28, 2015 8:48 p.m.