Why Bounding Krasis won't make it into Modern Twin decks.
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 25, 2015, 11:57 p.m. by Scouty
So as we've all seen, a new card called Bounding Krasis has been spoiled, and since the thing has the "untap permanent" ETB effect, all the local players I know in real life see this Fish Lizard as a contender for RUG Twin decks in Modern. Me, some random dude on the Tappedout forums, is gonna ramble on for a sec about why this will never happen. Now, being just some random dude on the Tappedout forums, I fully understand that my rant will hold absolutely no weight, and I'll probably get some unneeded flak, and probably some needed flak as well, but I feel as though it needs to be said eventually.
While the idea of it looks neat on the surface, there are some problems with it. The first of which being the mana. Forcing the need of 
, instead of just the in the traditional twin combo poses a bit of an issue. It might seem like a minute difference, but you'd be surprised how often you don't have all 3 mana colours on turn 4, or even later. To make it work, you'd need to switch up the mana base so much that it would be a little bit harder to keep up counterspells to protect the combo, thus forcing the deck away from the full-on tempo/control deck that made twin into the top-tier deck it has become today.
Nothing much is really gained from the inclusion of Bounding Krasis over Deceiver Exarch either, since the Krasis has no evasion, where Exarch has flying. This makes the Krasis a little more annoying to play with outside of the combo, since it can be chump blocked, or destroyed by the mass horde of 'goyfs and Siege Rhinos in modern,while Exarch can just fly over them and peck at the opponent. 3 toughness also allows the Krasis to die from Lightning Bolt, which is a gigantic difference in things that can kill the combo, since bolt is one of, if not THE most played card in modern.
While I find the Krasis interesting as a possible addition to RUG twin decks, I unfortunately don't think it will find a place anywhere in the twin archetype. Perhaps in some jank Bant Resto-twin decks for the lulz, but in competitive magic I don't see anywhere it can comfortably be played where Deceiver Exarch would be better. Now, I'm sure someone somewhere has gone over this by now, but I haven't seen it, so I'm hoping I wasn't just blind in my search and am now repeating someone else's thoughts.
bijschjdbcd says... #5
Only reason to play it over Pestermite is if Soul Sisters is prevelant in your meta or lots of people play Illness in the Ranks.
June 26, 2015 9:44 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
Eh. No one plays Charm. This guy does beat Night of Souls' Betrayal when the rest of your deck is mostly dead to it, though.
June 26, 2015 10:23 a.m.
I would say at most is someone using them in their sideboard for such effects. Which is a complete possibility. Other than that, it's not really a good replacement.
June 26, 2015 4:18 p.m.
It's far better for the the tempo plan. A 3/3 is far more threatening than a 2/1 flier or a 1/4. It also doesn't get screwed over by -1/-1 off Orzhov Pontiff, Illness in the Ranks or anything else. You typically play RUG if you want to play the tempo game with tarmogoyfs and he complements that strategy far better than the other combo candidates.
canterlotguardian says... #2
Where did you get that Deceiver Exarch had flying? Unless I'm missing something incredibly obvious on the card (which I've done multiple times, mind you) I don't see flying on there.
Also I agree with you on your statements. Nothing is going to replace DE in Twin strategies.
June 26, 2015 8:12 a.m.