The Planeswalkers of the Multiverse: A Magic the Gathering Discussion Group

Status
Not open for further replies.
What does everyone think of Modern at the 2011 Philly PT? The top eight decklists have been revealed and my money is on Josh Utter-Leyton with a modern "Zoo". Here is his list, if you guys are interested:

Main Deck

60 cards

4 Arid Mesa
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Marsh Flats
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
2 Stomping Ground
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple Garden
22 lands

1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
18 creatures

3 Bant Charm
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
20 other spells

Sideboard
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Flashfreeze
2 Gideon Jura
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rule of Law
1 Tectonic Edge
3 Unified Will
15 sideboard cards

Anyone play Phantasy draft? If so, what player did you pick?
 
Phantasy Magic just seems kinda cheesy. This isn't football, this isn't baseball, this is just a card game.

As for Pro Tour Philly, well, I find it kinda sad that Splinter Twin, which isn't consistent enough to be successful in Standard, won this tournament in Modern, with a much bigger format.

Also, the new Zombie mythic sorcery is, in a word - disappointing, It seems almost all the mythics in this set are overcosted/unattainable. Liliana is fine, but Garruk is relatively hard to flip. Olivia Voldaren is pretty much nothing if you don't use her activated abilities. The Zombie sorcery is way too expensive, no one plays eight mana cards, let alone sorceries. The Dragon costs seven mana, and not many people play relatively weak seven mana creatures that don't have big effects on the board as soon as they come out.
 
Essence of the Wild = another expensive weak mythic for standard.
Morkrut Banshee = limited bomb.
Into the Maw of (probably shouldn't use this word on Pokebeach... just in case) = weak rare. Destroying a land and a creature at a rare slot should not cost six mana.
Skaab Ruinator = AWESOME!!! (although he's yet another three drop for the deck)

Zombie Tribal Deck Update:

4x Diregraf Ghoul
4x Cemetery Reaper
3x Stitched Drake
3x Skaab Ruinator

3x Despise
4x Zombie Infestation (I need lots of ammo for my creatures that exile creatures in the grave.)
3x Dismember
3x Moan of the Unhallowed
2x Call to the Grave

(I cut Liliana 'cause she's $40 a pop and doesn't look like she'll go down much.)

4x Darkslick Shores
4x Drowned Catacomb
Xx Swamp
Xx Island

Sideboard:

3x Skinrender

3x Torpor Orb
1x Dismember
2x Black Sun's Zenith

Also... Snapcaster Mage is the real deal. I don't know how best to abuse him, but nonetheless he's awesome (and already preordering at $14 each)!

EDIT: Wow Skaab Ruinator was $10 when first revealed. An hour later it was $15. The next morning it was $25. Now it's $22.
 
I'm really loving the new "Avacyn's Pilgrim". It's mana accel for bant-colored strategies basically, a subtle card but I think of a million different ways to make it really awesome. I could see some kind of bant-colored deck heavy on mana accel packing "Garruk, Primal Hunter" (the earlier you get him out, the better chance he has of living).
 
Primal Hunter might not be the best fit in a deck that runs white mana-accel as well as the normal stuff. However, there could be a place for Avacyn's Pilgrim, although I think Bird's of Paradise is a better accelerator.

Other cards that have been revealed lately that might be interesting:

Champion of the Parish - Staple in White Weenie decks. I might post a list some time.

Mirror-Mad Phantasm - An interesting but risky way to mill yourself. This doesn't feel mythic to me.

Blasphemous Act - A cool red sweeper, and an absolute beating against Tempered Steel.

Labratory Maniac - Looks pretty cool, but this won't be played in Standard.

Deranged Assistant - Self-milling and ramp. Decent, although it probably won't see play in Standard.

EDIT: I just discovered that Into the Maw is an uncommon. Before I said it was a weak rare. My bad.
 
Innistrad seems to be shaping up somewhat well, however the backwards development scheme is certainly showing through this set, with some nearly useless Mythics (Brings Alara to mind...) and unique rares, I dunno, I think that Scars block strategies will persist for longer yet...
 
Yes, that`s my only problem with Innistrad: too many weak mythics.

Essence of the Wild
Balefire Dragon
Angelic Overseer
Army of the D*****
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born

However, Snapcaster Mage and the enemy duals almost make up for it (in my opinion).
 
I do like the enemy dual lands...
Snapcaster Mage is REALLY good... I hope that it finds an appropriate niche...
 
So as you all know, CawBlade is dead... but I think White-Blue Swords variants could still kick it in Standard... take a look:

PokeChamp's Swords

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Island
4 Moorland Haunt
6 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
26 Land

1 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Elite inquisitor
4 Mirran Crusader
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Sun Titan
11 Creatures

4 Day of Judgment
2 Dismember
3 Gideon Jura
4 Mana Leak
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Ponder
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Timely Reinforcements
23 Other spells

So obviously we've lost Squadron Hawk, but I wonder if it matters so much. The deck has EIGHT evasion creatures, including the new Elite Inquisitor. Slap a swords on one of them and tell me you haven't just created an awesome threat. The deck still packs Inkmoth Nexus so you can always equip Swords to those to win the game in a pinch. I'm also playing the new Moorland Haunt which can create Spirits (1/1 Flying, just like hawk... how appropriate seeing as good ol' hawk recently expired, didn't he?).

What do you guys think? Is it viable?
 
Yes/no...
Hawk was good because it increased consistency in your deck; you topped one and you get the rest, making it difficult to deal with...
If it were just the fact that it was a 1/1 flier, then why didn't people just slap it on griffins or Thopters?
I think that your deck is good, but not quite of the same caliber of Cawblade...

Do you have the cards for it? Have you tried it out?
 
Here's the thing with some of the cards in your deck:

- Moorland Haunt - You have to exile a creature to make the 1/1 Flying tokens. You only have 11 creatures total.

- Your 'evasion' isn't really evasion (other than Consecrated Sphinx). Protection from Vamps/Werewolves/Zombies won't come up all that often, and Mirran Crusader's protection won't always come up.

- Snapcaster Mage, much?


In other news, MTG Salvation revealed about 20 new cards today. That brings their running total up to 138 cards - over half the set.

Innistrad is looking to be one of the most flavourful sets we've had in a long time.
 
Yeah, I saw some of the new cards, most notably, "Evil Twin" looks like it could be incredibly fun.

I appreciate the criticism you guys gave me on my "Swords" list and I will try and make some of those changes. I have most of the cards for the deck and for the slightly more expensive cards, I'll just proxy them as my playgroup doesn't mind a few proxies used here and there. I will test it sometime with them in an Innistrad format and let you guys know how it works.

Also, I understand that it is not as good as Cawblade. Obviously Squadron Hawk-like effects are not reproducible, so this is basically white-blue control with swords. Hence, the name-change.

I think I have better idea to run with the list now. I like Moorland Haunt because it creates Squadron Hawks, basically, and the interactions between it and my swords is great. nabby, you are correct when you say that I have only 11 creatures and this is something I overlooked. Therefore, my solution for this situation is... add more creatures!

Without further ado, here is a more advanced list:

PokeChamp's Swords 2.0

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Island
3 Moorland Haunt
6 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
25 Land

2 Azure Mage
2 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Mirran Crusader
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Sun Titan
16 Creatures

2 Day of Judgment
2 Dismember
3 Gideon Jura
3 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Timely Reinforcements
19 Other spells

Bullet-point improvements:

--Adjusted land-count, bare-minimum that will make the deck faster and improve draws (reduction of Moorland Haunt; secondary win condition).
--Addition of Azure Mage, Hero of Bladehold, and Snapcaster Mage (creature count increased to 16 to increase the interaction with Moorland Haunt).
--Addition of Sword of War Piece, to make Mirran Crusader have protection from everything except for blue.

Obviously, it's no Cawblade, but I think it could have potential.
 
Hmm... it looks decent. I think your creature count could be a bit better. Maybe something like this:

4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Azure Mage
1x Phantasmal Image
4x Mirran Crusader
3x Hero of Bladehold
1-2x Sun Ttian
1-2x Consecrated Sphinx

I'd run 3 Sun Titan/Consecrated Sphinx total. Sphinx is great card advantage, but Sun Titan can recur Snapcaster Mage like nobody's business.

17 creatures. 4 Hero's seemed a bit high, and Snapcaster Mage is just too good not to play a full set. Also, Dismember seems like a 3-4-of here, unless you're running the extras in the sideboard.
 
nabby101 said:
Hmm... it looks decent. I think your creature count could be a bit better. Maybe something like this:

4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Azure Mage
1x Phantasmal Image
4x Mirran Crusader
3x Hero of Bladehold
1-2x Sun Ttian
1-2x Consecrated Sphinx

I'd run 3 Sun Titan/Consecrated Sphinx total. Sphinx is great card advantage, but Sun Titan can recur Snapcaster Mage like nobody's business.

17 creatures. 4 Hero's seemed a bit high, and Snapcaster Mage is just too good not to play a full set. Also, Dismember seems like a 3-4-of here, unless you're running the extras in the sideboard.
Click to expand...

I could definitely throw in another copy of Sun Titan, it work awesomely with the cards in this deck.

I'm not going to increase the Snapcaster Mage count until I've tested this, I'm not sure how potent it is and if it is justifiable to run four of them, considering that you need to be able to play the Flashback cost for a card the moment it comes into play.

2 Dismember are mandatory in the sideboard, IMO.

I'll take a card out from somewhere and throw in an extra Titan/Sphinx.
 
The reason Snapcaster Mage is so good in this deck is Ponder. If there is nothing to be killed (with Dismember), and nothing to be countered (with Mana Leak), and you aren't behind (Timely Reinforcements), you can just draw some more cards.
 
Entire Innistrad spoiler is up! What are your top 10s?

Top 10 Constructed Playable Cards in Innistrad (ft. nabby):

Honourable Mention: Enemy Duals (They will probably see the most constructed play out of any of these cards, but they're boring and so I am leaving them out of my Top 10.)

10. Moorland Haunt (Oh, my creature died? Darn, may as well make a 1/1 Flier to replace it for only two mana. Even in relatively creature-light decks this is good. In the Invisible Stalker/Swords deck this is great, along with Saint Traft and SCM.)

9. Mentor of the Meek (Great in Puresteel Paladin decks, and White Weenie decks, as card draw. Basically every card in the Puresteel deck has two power or less, before being equipped with a Sword or whatnot. Except for Hero of Bladehold, every card in the White Weenie deck has two power or less, and even Hero of Bladehold's tokens activate Mentor's effect. Overall great card advantage in the right deck.)

8. Mayor of Avabruck // Howlpack Alpha (The best Werewolf, this guy is ridiculous. Before he transforms, he pumps humans, so all your other Werewolves that are yet to be flipped get better. Once he's transformed, he is plain broken. Pumping your other Wolves and Werewolves is nice, but making a 2/2 (a 3/3 as long as he is still alive) every turn is crazy good value. And for only two mana!)

7. Forbidden Alchemy (So we lost Preordain. Oh well, this provides even more digging, along with milling and you can use it twice (with Snapcaster Mage or without it). Love it, even though it isn't Impulse.)

6. Heartless Summoning (There are so many ridiculous combos with this - this with Glissa and Necropede can destroy every creature your opponent controls. Turn two this, turn three Urabrask, turn four Hasty Inferno Titan hit for like 15. Free 4/5's (Myr Superion), one mana Rampant Growths (Viridian Emissary), etc. This will be a deck, and the only problem is that it is hard to search out, and if you don't draw it your deck won't function as well. Also, if this gets Memoricided, you're pretty much dead. Maybe this with Birthing Pod as a toolbox-style crazy deck.)

5. Geist of Saint Traft (This guy is awesome. A 2/2 Hexproof that creates a 4/4 Flier immune to Sorcery-speed removal to attack with every turn is amazing. He's a bit frail, with a rather small 2/2 body, but even if you attack with him and he trades, you'll still have gotten an attack with the Angel.)

4. Diregraf Ghoul (A 2/2 for one mana with no downside, this is better than Carnophage, Vampire Lacerator, etc. This will see play in every aggressive Black deck.)

3. Skaab Ruinator (A 5/6 Flier for three mana? Lolwut? Exiling creatures isn't that hard, and the fact that you can cast this from the Grave is amazing. If this were a 5/5, it wouldn't be as good, but the fact that this doesn't die to DIsmember means everything in this format.)

2. Liliana of the Veil (Three mana Planeswalkers are generally pretty good, and this one is great. Discarding cards is actually not that bad. You can discard Unburial Rites in order to cast it next turn for only four mana. You can discard exile fodder for Skaab Ruinator. Or you can simply fill up your Graveyard with creatures and abuse Splinterfright.)

1. Snapcaster Mage (Absolutely ridiculous, Tiago's invitational card is awesome. Easily the best card in the set, and will find it's way into almost every Blue deck.)
 
My top 10:

Honorable mention goes to: Garruk.
Don't think he's great? Think again. He kills creatures, makes 2/2 wolf babies, and if you get his loyalty low, he transforms into the only standard Fauna-shaman like effect we have now and he makes even better 1/1 deathtouching wolf babies. His ultimate has to be played around, but if used properly I think it's a game-winner. Don't right him off as to hard to play just yet. Keep in mind we still do have Shock, so right there is at least one card that transform him right off the bat. Think outside the box, people!

10. Mentor of the Meek
I'm still not 100% convinced how great this is going to work, but the possibilities are endless. In white-weenie at least, card is draw is very welcomed there, he's a human, and humans seem to be the favored type in this set. Not broken, but an excellent, reliable source of card draw for white, which admittedly was needed.

9. Mayor of Avabruck
Pumps humans (like Champion of the Parrish, for example), when he transforms, he transforms into a 3/3 wolf that pumps your other wolves and makes a wolf baby at the end step. Moonmist, much? I could easily see an aggressive green/red Werewolf deck taking some games.

8. Instigator Gang
It's four mana for 2/3 (or 3/4 it it attacks) battlecrier that can transform into a 5/5 (8/5 when attacking) super-battlecrier with Trample when someone doesn't cast spells. I think a new red deck is going to be on the top tables very, very soon.

7. Champion of the Parrish
A white-weenie staple in the future. Considering all of the great new human-based cards in the game right now (not to mention the ones we had before-hand), Champion of the Parrish when played in human-tribal or near-human-tribal white is going to be phenomenal.

6. Liliana of the Veil
Standard, meet your new Planeswalker. In my honest opinion, this is the new best Planeswalker in standard. Her discard ability is fantastic, enabling more complex, graveyard-based strategies while providing your opponent with a constant headache, she can hurl Diabolic Edicts at people, and in a matter of no time all, she'll rend your permanents... in half.

5. Stromkirk Noble
While you might debate that protection from humans isn't the most impressive, considering the fact that red has so many ways of killing of your creatures, I think Stromkirk can get big real fast. Perhaps the most aggressive red card in the set, Stromkirk is only as limited as your removal. Also, protection from humans is actually great. Think about all the humans in Standard. Think about it. Are you doing it? Great. See what I mean?

4. Army of the Damned
Yes, it's an 8-converted cost sorcery with a flashback 10-converted mana cost. No, it doesn't really matter. Thirteen 2/2 zombies. Thirteen of them. Yes, they enter the battlefield tapped, but in any event, that's 26-combined power and toughness for eight mana. That's potentially enough to win a game. Blue-black variants will enjoy this.

3. Enemy Duals
This was Wizard's complement to the fans for the set. This is what we have been waiting for in the standard format, and we finally got it. While saying goodbye to the ZEN lands is harsh, the new enemy duals more than make up for it, and I believe they will come to define the new standard format.

2. Mindshrieker
Mindshrieker is a beast. Not only does it rob your opponent of a card, it gains p/t equal to that card's converted mana cost until end of turn. There's no limit to how many times you pay the two mana or when you can pay the two mana. Needless to say, this is going to have an impact.

1. Snapcaster Mage
As mentioned before, quite ridiculous, let's blue cast its most powerful instants and sorcery for little more than the same price. In control, mana is no problem.
 
Sorin's Vengeance makes Army of the Damned pretty useless.

The enemy duals aren't as good as the fetches.

Mindshrieker might be good, but it seems a bit risky and inconsistent. With Innistrad, I miss Training Grounds.

- Cheaper counters on Ludevic's Test Subject.
- Mindshriker's ability for 1 instead of 2.
- Elder of Laurels pump ability for 2 mana in a self-mill deck.
- Olivia Voldaren gets ridiculous.

Also, Cloistered Youth seems like a pretty good aggressive card - a replacement for Vampire Lacerator, even though it's one mana more expensive.
 
Spare from Evil?
That's actually really quite good in any deck, as its wording says "Creatures you control" as opposed to "White Creatures you control" or other limited use phrases.
I'm thinking White will be amazing with all of the support from the Scars block.
Champion of the Parrish equipped with Sword of Feast and Famine. Swing, Spare from Evil. Kapow. Anything not running humans will take an equipped Champion of the Parrish to the face.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top