Whats better ?
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 24, 2015, 9:50 p.m. by Barry_McKawkinner
Thoughtsize cost way too much so what would be better to take a look at my opponents hand and take a card Castigate or Duress?
ducttapedeckbox says... #3
Inquisition of Kozilek might be something to consider pending how strict your budget is.
January 24, 2015 9:52 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #4
Duress is normally better, and Inquisition of Kozilek is normally even better than that.
January 24, 2015 9:52 p.m.
Inquisition of Kozilek is probably the 2nd best 1 cmc discard spell, but it's limited to thing 3cmc & less.
If your running 
/
then go with Castigate, but that's just my opinion.
January 24, 2015 9:54 p.m.
If you're in /, I'd just run Tidehollow Sculler over Castigate.
January 24, 2015 9:58 p.m.
buildingadeck says... #7
I disagree. While Tidehollow Sculler gives you a body, it is easy to kill and get what was taken back. Castigate is more final.
January 24, 2015 10:05 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #8
i agree with buildingadeck. with Tidehollow Sculler u need to take the removal spell otherwise they just get the card back. with Castigate you can take the card that u actually want.
January 24, 2015 10:12 p.m.
Barry_McKawkinner says... #9
The main reason is to try and keep planeswalkers off the board and for mill decks.also just to see what's goin on it peoples hand
January 24, 2015 10:14 p.m.
buildingadeck says... #10
Well, as it stands, the only 2-drop PW is Tibalt, who is terrible, so you'll probably be pretty safe with Castigate as your hand disruption.
January 24, 2015 10:16 p.m.
You can use Gitaxian Probe to peek at their hand & draw a card. What deck or colors are you running?
January 24, 2015 10:20 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #12
if ur just trying to beat planeswalkers and mill then the better option is Duress b/c it is more mana efficient. It also allows you to put on early pressure with a two drop which is good against mill and walkers decks.
January 24, 2015 10:24 p.m.
Barry_McKawkinner says... #14
What would be other good ways to deal with planeswalkers and mill?my friends r helping me build my deck so they know my whole deck and every interaction in it and if I wanna win tournaments I have to beat them
January 24, 2015 10:42 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #15
Siege Rhino is great in your colors. its a giant fatty who can deal with most planeswalkers in one fell swoop and he puts massive pressure on mill decks. Bow of Nylea is a great sideboard card against mill cuz if it hits the board u actually cant lose.
January 24, 2015 10:54 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #16
If you want to stop mill, Leyline of Sanctity is your best option, plus it will help against burn and such. Witchbane Orb or True Believer are budget alternatives. As for planeswalkers, Pithing Needle is an all star for stopping them, and is again a card you can sideboard in against many decks.
If you want maindeck answers, I would use Duress or Tidehollow Sculler. To argue for Tidehollow Sculler, its good if they waste their removal to get that one card back. You then have effectively gained tempo and information, as well as traded with them 1 for 1. With your colors, you can easily win if you trade 1 for 1 each time.
January 24, 2015 11:17 p.m.
Barry_McKawkinner says... #17
Tidehollow might be better since 1st I'm guna want to play birds if I have it and my friend runs 4 tarmogoyf and 4 lilliana. Do u think cranial extraction would be good for the side board?
January 24, 2015 11:50 p.m.
When i play mono green i run Gaea's Blessing in the side board in case i run into a mill deck. It's cheap and does the trick. The downside is that your opponent is likely running Surgical Extraction & it ends up being a 1 time use.
Vampire Hexmage will take care of lily and Hero's Downfall will take care of both lily & goyf.
Siege Rhino is now a must have when your playing junk. Also, a replacement for Hero's Downfall and cost $2 more is Abrupt Decay which is 10 times better
January 25, 2015 12:48 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #19
addaff: Abrupt Decay is better but not 10 times better.
I would go with Tidehollow Sculler for the discard thing.
January 25, 2015 2:26 a.m.
I hope I haven't came in too late for this.
My deck utilizes black and white and for the longest time I've used Tidehollow Sculler for months and I got to say it's very much an exceptional card.
That said I'm now using Castigate over it in a competitive Modern setting because you're going to expect to see Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, and Path to Exile and a lot more removal then you think that will get thrown your way a lot. Though it's good to get the removal out of the way, there have been some cases I've noticed where permanently removing a Scapeshift, Batterskull or an Ad Nauseam would have just won me the game right then and there had it been Castigate.
Tidehollow Sculler is the better card for one-to-one trades, but if you struggle on those spelly combo decks I got to say without a doubt pick Castigate. Though if you can ever save up the money, run Thoughtseize instead since that can usually allow you to take out a Cranial Plating before they cast it. If money still is an issue I would run both Duress and Castigate. A lot of alternative win conditions will likely involve creatures, and removing those can be just as important.
April 29, 2015 12:01 p.m.
Barry_McKawkinner says... #21
I sold out and got a playset of thoughtsize.
GlistenerAgent says... #2
It depends on what you are going to play against. If you expect lots of combo or control decks, Duress is your best option.
January 24, 2015 9:50 p.m.