Mind and Musings of a Ferret - S2/A2.5

Features

OutspokenFerret

23 April 2014

1064 views

Alrighty... So, I guess we are hitting rewind. After a lack of activity in the first article in the set, I was a bit confused as to whether or not to write about Jund or Faith's Reward. Looks like I chose wrong. Hence we are back, switching up the build, and playing the deck I was secretly hoping you'd pick. I originally had this idea with Valakick Your Ass, but that deck was inconsistent and used Second Sunrise when it was legal. The deck is extremely fun, a bit janky, and many times, scary fast.


The Choices:

Amulet of Vigor – Allows lands to enter the battlefield from Scapeshift and such untapped giving you the mana to cast Faith's Reward and combo off. One of the main combo pieces, so definitely something we would want to run.

Lotus Cobra – Acts as an alternative to Amulet, while also being able to win without the combo by ramping a bunch and getting the mana back to cast more ramp spells. More versatile than Amulet, but it is also easier to answer.

Explore – Here we have ramp, and card draw, which is much needed in a deck like this. With not many other ways to dig for a wincon, this is definitely something to consider.

Flagstones of Trokair – This card allows us to ramp to seven lands faster if need be, not to mention it's synergy with the combo, and with Cobra.

Knight of the Reliquary – We may want to include a small creature base to increase our survivability and present a secondary threat. This card synergizes with both Flagstones and with Cobra.

Primeval Titan – He does everything. It can finish, ramp land, and increase our beatdown potential. It also however, is a bit expensive so we may want to watch our numbers of this guy.

Tarmogoyf, Steppe Lynx – Cards if we decide to run the beatdown route. Goyf seems to fit well, while Lynx doesn't help on the defensive, so I want to hear your thoughts on him.

Harrow – Allows us to win without Scapeshift, using this and other sac effects, you may be able to use Reward without Shift, also, Flagstones is a card.

For removal... I got nothin'. I am not knowledgeable enough to suggest anything for Modern removal, so I am calling Modern aficionado's to lend me a hand. This also applies to the sideboard... HALP PL0X!

The land base is something I want to go over. With the deck being dependent on having a fair amount of mountains, the only non-mountain lands we want to run are the Valakuts and Flagstones because we need to have 6 to 7 mountains to hit lethal, 2 of which have to be already on the battlefield. We would want to run somewhere near 3 Sacred Foundrys but we also need to have a majority of the deck filled with green producers because of our abundance of the color, this will require a few fetchlands to ensure a sturdy mana base.


The Conclusion:

Well, time to get the gears turning, but before that I am going to make a brief lists of possible centerpieces for next set, where we flip formats to... BLOCK CONSTRUCTED! In honor of the coming Pro Tour, we'll get our brew on and see how we fair. So please, in this article, tell me which card YOU want to build around.

The Possibilities:

Keranos, God of Storms

Meletis Astronomer

Purphoros, God of the Forge

Raised by Wolves

Flamespeaker Adept

Kiora, the Crashing Wave

Medomai the Ageless

Master of Waves

Pheres-Band Warchief

Athreos, God of Passage

Reverent Hunter

Hero of Leina Tower

Tromokratis

Hydra Broodmaster

Sage of Hours


So, Here is a template for comments just if you want to use it (Not required, just makes it easier for me to read over)

If Response, address the OP here

Card/Area Being Discussed

Explanation

Centerpiece for next set/ Idea for what type of deck to build with that centerpieces


Let's BREW!!!!!!!!!!!

This article is a follow-up to Mind and Musings of a Ferret S2/A2

CrazyLittleGuy says... #1

I actually built what I call a Naya Scape-gro deck a while back. My creature base included Wild Nacatl as a beater/blocker for the early game as opposed to Steppe Lynx .

With the prevalence of Blood Moon , I did run some basic Forests to be tutored for with Search for Tomorrow or Harrow . Along with one Treetop Village , which worked sometimes. My reasoning behind the forests is that with Knight of the Reliquary , Harrow , or Scapeshift , you can turn it into a Mountain if necessary and still have the capacity to play around Blood Moon .

In the way of removal, I alternated between some 3-2 splits of Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile . It's tough to say which is better; in a vacuum, I would probably go with Path to Exile though. I even found myself occasionally Pathing one of my own Wild Nacatl s to tutor up my 7th land and get Scapeshift online.

I would recommend Farseek as well. I found that occasionally the full playset of Explore could get awkward with fetchlands, as you need to have those extra lands in hand while simultaneously filtering them out of your deck. Khalni Heart Expedition is something to consider as well.

Harrow becomes a dangerous card, as your opponent can effectively two-for-one you with a counterspell and get serious tempo advantage. It's useful in low numbers. That being said, getting hung up on Flagstones of Trokair wound up messing with the deck a bit too much as well. The real downside is that it's not a Plains and can't be sacced by Knight of the Reliquary , and if you're casting Scapeshift you usually want to have 7 lands already to win the game (or a Faith's Reward and a board full of mountains)

Oh, and for the next article, I've really been wanting to see what a deck built around Flamespeaker Adept would look like. It seems like it could be powerful, but it's tough to be sure. I mean, scrylands are already popular, and cards like Magma Jet and Dissolve even trigger scrys. +2/+0 adds up fast.

April 24, 2014 1:37 a.m.

Matsi883 says... #2

We're not running Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle , right? This deck isn't a RUG Scapeshift , it's a crazy-ramp deck. And I'd play a few Steppe Lynx for the win con.

April 24, 2014 7:14 a.m.

@Matsi883

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle It depends on whether or not you guys want to, I think its our easiest and most consistent win condition.

April 24, 2014 7:26 a.m.

CrazyLittleGuy says... #4

I would run Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle . It's too good NOT to. The beauty is that the deck is capable of being a straight beat-down deck fairly quickly, and if that strategy gets bolted away, while your opponent is on their heels trying to recover, you fire off the Scapeshift combo and win anyway.

April 24, 2014 9:13 a.m.

You definitely want to see Valakut in here. As far as the lack of participation, that may be due to the lack of knowledgeable modern players on the site. Most people here play standard, so I would bet that you would see a better turn out with standard articles. That being said, modern is WAY more fun. I am planning on building a naya scapeshift deck for FNMs. I wish Modern wasn't so expensive.

As far as Improvements for this deck are concerned, It needs draw power. That is the number 1 problem I encounter with my deck. I can empty my hand and combo off on turn 3, but if I could refill my hand, that would be great. Im not really sure what would be good to fill this spot, though.

April 24, 2014 11:35 a.m.

CrazyLittleGuy says... #6

@CommanderOfBolas makes a good point. So far the only draw effect in here is Explore , which is basically just cycling. The downside of going with Naya colors is that, while you gain more combo and aggro potential, the lack of blue draw effects and counterspells really hurts. Some cantrips might do well; I haven't tested with them, but Gitaxian Probe and Manamorphose are some ideas. And, it's a bit out there, but Eternal Witness might be something to think about.

April 24, 2014 12:27 p.m.

miracleHat says... #7

Card/Area Being Discussed
splash blue for Snapcaster Mage
Explanation
If we need to cast a Scapeshift or Faith's Reward and don't have one in the hand but in the graveyard, Snapcaster Mage seems pretty good. It would be easy to get the blue off of fetches, duals, and Lotus Cobra .
Centerpiece for next set/ Idea for what type of deck to build with that centerpieces
I say that we should build around u/r god.

April 24, 2014 1:24 p.m.

Kravian says... #8

For the block constructed, I really want to see a solid scry-aggro with Flamespeaker Adept and Aqueous Form .

April 24, 2014 6:38 p.m.

For block constructed, I would like to see Keranos, God of Storms used.

April 25, 2014 12:09 a.m.

axdsadassdw says... #10

for block constructed either Keranos, God of Storms or Hydra Broodmaster

April 25, 2014 11:10 a.m.

Rough List is up!

S2: Have Faith in the Volcanoe
Still needs a sideboard and testing! This time I'll play 5 games against random modern opponents on Cockatrice as well as a user created deck.

April 25, 2014 2:40 p.m.

Ill be playing the deck tomorrow on cocka, feel free to shoot me a message at some point. But I have one last question. Do we add blue for consistency, and we can even run Tribal Flames as a good finisher/ removal spell.

April 28, 2014 8 p.m.

I think we add blue for Peer Through Depths or Sphinx's Revelation . also, I like Tribal Flames . maybe 2 copies?

April 28, 2014 8:31 p.m.

dreamaddict says... #14

I already played with Flamespeaker Adept + Aqueous Form style scry-deck earlier on. When it hurts, it hurts bad. Of course, the thing to do there is get rid of Flamespeaker as soon as you see it...there are only 4 in the deck, and if you go too hard for the combo then you don't have anything else that is that good to fight with. Certainly there is no other creature card that gets as crazy as Flamespeaker with scry. But maybe there is a better solution now. If you do that, I am thinking you could go WUR and add Boros Charm .

Anyways, the card I want to see you exploit the holy hell out of is Athreos, God of Passage . I am almost certain that broken times can be had with that card.

April 30, 2014 2:10 p.m.

I'm having a little trouble getting games saved and finished so bear with me as I'm trying to get content as quick as possible. Sorry for the delay, and I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, although off the front page, those of you still tuning in, give me some idea's for Keranos, God of Storms in Block :D. It seems to be the dominant choice so far, and I want to see everyone's unique spin using the Lightning Rod.

May 8, 2014 6:33 p.m.

Matsi883 says... #16

My name was linked?

May 8, 2014 8:05 p.m.

@Matsi883

No, but it is on this now. You may be subbed to the page. Idk why else it would tag you.

May 8, 2014 8:13 p.m.

Matsi883 says... #18

I think you commented and I misread what it said.

May 8, 2014 8:33 p.m.

Please login to comment