Why splash a third color and pretend like you need anything more than a 5/5 for ? GB Rock has the advantage of being far less painful to itself than the standard Jund or Abzan list while maintaining the attrition play style and big creatures of the archetype. Any suggestions are welcome as I am interested to see how this deck plays in the coming months.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
Powerful removal spells, big under-costed creatures, and a simple mana-base give this deck a powerful attrition style of play that excels against creature based decks and combo strategies. This deck has an amazing mirror match against similar decks like Jund due to
Phyrexian Obliterator
being a tough customer and the simplistic mana-base dealing less damage than a typical mid-range deck.
Weaknesses
This deck is not overtly aggressive and the early turns are spent playing Dark Confidant, Inquisition of Kozilek, and removal. Burn, Infect, Zoo, and Affinity can be fast enough to slide under the wall of kill spells and sneak a victory. These decks are not bad match-ups by any means but they are among the matches that can be the most challenging. And, finally the real weaknesses...
Like all mid-range decks, The Rock does not particularly fare well against RG Tron. This match-up has been the bane of this archetype for quite a while and the introduction of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger has made it all the more harrowing. Most of the games you win against Tron will come from overly aggressive disruption hands and the rare occurrence that you see more than one Fulmiator Mage. It is a hard match that I would rate at a 30% likelihood of success.
The other bad match-up is the bogeyman that looms over modern proper: Eldrazi. Eldrazi is a midrange deck that plays like an aggro deck and produces mana like a combo deck. It's fast, big, mean, and unfair. This deck is a nightmare and almost as bad as Tron. A lot of this deck's recent changes have come from keeping Tron and Eldrazi at bay. We may not have to deal with this deck forever, but until the day comes that we are saved from our Eldrazi overlords we have to be prepared.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update(2/1/2016):
This deck went undefeated at the modern tournament we held last night. Managed to even take down tron in the second round through some lucky top draws and a severe amount of sideboard hate game 3. The mana base needs to get a bit tighter and I have added a second Twilight Mire. I am also contemplating using Hissing Quagmire.
Update(2/5/2016):
Tested this deck in our Friday tournament, but did not post results as good as the Monday tournament. Ended up getting eliminated in the Top 8, but it showed me a few things:--I didn't like Hissing Quagmire in the slightest as it seemed like a weaker Treetop Village that costs more.--I tried Dismember, hated it. Never wanted to cast it and seemed to go against my game plan.
Update(2/26/2016):
Started revisiting the possibility of this deck thriving in the Eldrazi meta. Re-tuned it to include wider removal spells like Go for the Throat and Victim of Night. Will be testing the deck to see if
Phyrexian Obliterator
can force a stall and allow the attrition to roll on.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creatures:
Dark Confidant- Solid card draw with limited to high risk of killing you. (gotta live dangerously)
Tarmogoyf- It's Goyf... Giant Vanilla dude for 2.
Scavenging Ooze- Eats Snapcaster's food, buries Finks so it can't come back, runs counter goyf measures for those pesky traitors, and is generally a reliable creature.
Kitchen Finks- Early beats with life gain and a second chance attached for 3, what's not to like?
Phyrexian Obliterator- Typically uncastable, but in this deck he is your best creature. Best case scenario for your opponents is to path him otherwise the game begins to end and fast.
Removal:
Abrupt Decay- Check.
Dismember- Sometimes we need to pay 4 life to get a 5/5 haste Trample off the board as early as turn 1 so we run dismember sear the wound to prevent bleeding out against the Eldrazi menace.
Go for the Throat- Simple easy to use kill spell that hits every creature in the Eldrazi decks, less good against affinity though.
Victim of Night- Same as Go for the Throat but works quite well against affinity. Can't kill Kalitas, Olivia, Huntmaster, or Gravecrawler; however that is something we can live with.
Maelstrom Pulse- Clear out doubles or whatever doesn't belong on the board.
Slaughter Pact- Less powerful than it used to be with the twin banning, but the old tap out for a bomb and smack a creature in the dome is still a pretty good trick.
Geth's Verdict- A very silly card. Is an instant speed edict that pokes your opponent for 1. Great for picking off turn 3 geists on the draw or generally dealing with untargettable creatures.
Disruption:
Inquisition of Kozilek- The best disruption spell in modern. Almost nothing escapes its grasp past a few odd cards, but that's why we run our next entry.
Thoughtseize- Is a more powerful card than IOK, but that 2 life is not negligible. Between fetching and shocking, the 2 life could mean the end for us especially against a deck running bolt.
Liliana of the Veil- She's disruption, removal, and a win condition all in one. She's early, feared, and has no downsides. The Lili lock destroys most opposition and when not in a lock Lili acts as a fog and a kill spell.
