http://manadeprived.com/titan-shift-primer/
http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/madcap-experimentation-in-modern/
Gameplay
Its pretty straightforward but I have seen people mess up on sequencing. Im going to list a few things to keep in mind. Dont be afraid to get Mountains. The deck has the count it does because its rare to run out and not being able to finish off an opponent. You can always fetch Valakuts to amplify Mountains if youre getting low on them. If you have 2 Valakuts and no win conditions play the first and get to the Mountain threshold before playing the second. Having multiple Valakuts out is nice but not being able to activate them is a problem and you would rather be closer to using it once per turn a turn sooner than twice a turn a turn later. Hands with a Scapeshift are where youre more inclined to get multiple Forests. People always ask me which ramp spell to play on turn 2. Its contingent on your hand. You should only play Explore if you have multiple lands in hand and you can guarantee that you can make future land drops. You should play KHE if you have to play a tapped land on turn 3. You should play Sakura-Tribe Elder in matchups where stopping the damage that turn is relevant. In all other scenarios you play Farseek.
Matchups
Midrange (Jund, Junk, GB, Mardu)
Black discard attrition decks that use creatures to try and disruption to try and kill you.
Board out 2 KHE
Board in 2 Obstinate Baloth
Control (UWx, Gifts)
This matchup is all about resolving threats. Dont go for it until you have a window of opportunity to resolve multiple win conditions in one turn
Board out 4 Lightning Bolts
Board in 2 Obstinate Baloth and 2 Natures Claim
BurnIn this matchup you can take one of two roles and its dependent on whether or not you were on the play. If youre on the play you should use your ramp spells as quickly as possible and try to turn 4 your opponent. The Courser gives this plan a lot of game.
Board out 2 khe
Board in 2 Sudden Shock
Ou
Out 4 Mad 2 platinum
In 2 Obstinate Baloth 2 Sudden Shock 2 Chalice of the Voids
Bant Eldrazi
Board out 2 khe
Board in 2 Obstinate Baloth
Obstinate Baloth can block Thought-Knot Seer.You can also target a Reality Smasher with a Lightning Bolt and then discard Obstinate Baloth to block it.
Dredge
Board out 4 Lightning Bolts
Board in 2 Anger of the Gods 2 Obsitnate Baloth
Obstinate Baloth can beat Prized Amalgam and Bloodghast in combat. The off chance your opponent is playing Burning Inquiry you have a non-zero chance of ambushing an Obstinate Baloth for free. Anger of the Gods slows down any clock.
Merfolk
Merfolk uses their lords to power out a small contingent of creatures that are boosted to large proportions.
Board out 2 Farseek (on draw)/2 Explore (on play) 2 khe
Board in 2 Anger of the Gods 2 ratchet
Using Anger of the Gods and Engineered Explosives to get rid of all their creatures is a great way to slow them down. Engineered Explosives can also get rid of Spreading Seas so its very tough for the Merfolk player.
Infect
Board out 4 Mad 2 platinum 2 scapeshift
Board in 2 Sudden Shock 2 Anger of the Gods 2 ratchet bomb 2 void
Its all about killing off their Infect creatures. You have to keep a hand with at least 2 pieces of interaction otherwise youll just get rolled over. You dont want to draw too many win conditions and Infect doesnt do enough damage to itself to ensure a Scapeshift is always lethal. Chalice on 1 should take away a lot of the play our opponent has but it will not end the game.
Suicide ZooThis is not a good matchup and will require being crafty to get the win.
Board out 4 Mad 2 platinum
Board in 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Chalice of the Void 2 baloth
Similar to other aggro matchups you just dont want to saturate your hand with win conditions. Drawing 2 is usually a death sentence. Engineered Explosives guarantees you can kill all their threats regardless of how large the Death Shadow gets. Chalice of the Void on 1 basically stops the opponent from playing any more creatures.
Affinity
In this matchup you can take one of two roles and its dependent on whether or not you were on the play. If youre on the play you should use your ramp spells as quickly as possible and try to turn 4 your opponent.
Board out 3 Scapeshift 2 khe 2 Farseek (draw)/2 Explore (play)
Board in 2 Anger of the Gods 2 Sudden Shock 2 Natures Claim 1 Ancient Grudge
The game revolves around stopping their most important threats. Memnites and Ornithopters are hardly worth consideration when they arent combined with Arcbound Ravager or Cranial Plating. Besides not wanting too many win conditions with Scapeshift, Affinity will often bring in Blood Moons rendering our Scapeshifts useless. Playing the control route and knowing which creatures to remove is key. Also you can just have ramp spells, Anger of the Gods, and Primeval Titan on turn 4 and cruise control to the win.
Abzan Coco, Kiki Evolution/Chord
These matchups play out similarly and these heavy creature decks are usually good matchups because of their lack of interaction and their need for a critical mass of creatures in order to execute their game plan. Lightning Bolt on their turn 1 mana creature will usually ensure the other player is set back multiple turns. One way they can steal a game is if you Summoners Pact for a Titan and they Eldritch Evolution into a Magus of the Moon. They dont have many solutions to a Primeval Titan and if they burn an Eldritch Evolution in order to do so then youll be fine as long as you make sure you fetch 2 basic Forests.
Board out 4 mad 2 platinum
Board in 2 Anger of the Gods 2 Sudden Shock 2 baloth
Courser of Kruphixs life gain isnt relevant. Its body is good but the opposing decks arent trying to go under you. Anger of the Gods is a slam dunk against all of those archetypes. Sudden Shock works similarly to slow the opposing game plan and can stop either combo.
Ad Nauseum ???Outside of Infect this is the other deck that other combo decks dont want to sit across. A very powerful combo where one of the pieces shuts down other combo decks is really difficult. Taking Game 1 is really hard but its possible. Getting a turn 4 where they dont have a Lotus Bloom is the best way. If they have the Angels Grace you just need to hope they dont have the mana to also Ad Nauseum that turn.
Board out 4 Mad 2 platinum Farseek 1 kheBoard in 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Chalice of the Void 2 Natures Claim 1 Ancient Grudge
You want to disrupt their fast mana. Engineered Explosives on 0 will give you the chance to take out all their Lotus Blooms (Not ideal but relevant sometimes). Natures Claim gets rid of Phyrexian Unlife and Leyline of Sanctity. The hope is to Chalice for 1 to stop Angels Grace and a lot of their draw spells.
TronTurn 3 Karn can be rough but outside of that, your ramp spells start netting you lands right away. Game 1 they have a really hard time stopping what youre doing. Turn 3 Wurmcoil can be a factor but ultimately you can just Scapeshift for another land or you can kill the Wurmcoil with Valakut triggers from the Primeval Titan.
Board out 4 Lightning Bolt
Board in 2 Natures Claim 2 CTD
Lightning Bolt doesnt do much in the match outside of dealing 3 to the opponent and then Scapeshifting with 7 lands. It can also kill off Karns that have -3ed. Natures Claim lets us destroy Expedition Maps on the draw which is huge. Tron will bring in Warping Wails but getting a Scapeshift countered isnt the end of the world. Use the same caution as the midrange and control decks that have access to Crumble to Dust. The difference is even with 2 Valakuts in hand, Exploring and playing both might not be the best because they can tutor for Ghost Quarter and then use Crumble to Dust.
RG Breach
This matchup is favorable. Having a higher critical mass of ramp spells means that your path to a turn 4 win is much more consistent than theirs. They do have Simian Spirit Guide to power out a turn 3 Breach but those games are a small fraction of the total games.
Board out 4 Lightning Bolt
Board in 2 Sudden Shock 2 CTD
All our cards except for Lightning Bolt is good. Sudden Shock will do the same thing which is go to the face for enough points to ensure a 7 land Scapeshift. The upside is that Sudden Shock can also pick off a Sakura-Tribe Elder the opponent has been used to sacrificing end of turn. Obstinate Baloths are a moot point in this matchup because its all about ramping and win conditions so you can leave them in the board even if the opponent brings in theirs.
Scapeshift (Mirror, BTL, RUG, Prismatic Omen)The matchups vary greatly. Being on the play really does help tremendously in these matchups. If an opponent draws multiple Cryptic Commands then the matchup is pretty bad. If our opponent doesnt get one in the top 13 cards of the deck then the matchup goes much more smoothly. Its a close matchup but we dont have the luxury of a sideboard.
Board out 4 Lightning Bolt
Board in 2 Sudden Shock 2 C To Dust
BoglesGame 1 is just a race to see who can put their foot on the pedal faster. If they dont have a Rancor, Sakura-Tribe Elders act as Time Walks. Being on the draw is bad but theyre not nearly as bad as the other aggro decks of Modern.
Board out 4 Mad 2 platinum 4 bolt
Board in 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Chalice of the Voids 2 Natures Claim 2 baloth 2 anger
Engineered Explosives will blow up the vast majority of their auras. Unfortunately totem armor will protect the creature. Chalice of the Voids shuts off the vast majority of their spells. Natures Claim has the dual purpose of slowing down the opponent and also getting rid of Leyline of Sanctities.
Good luck at your events!
