War-Weary Weenies

Modern Sogatog

SCORE: 11 | 16 COMMENTS | 1061 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS

4-0 Thursday Night Modern —July 6, 2017

Strong showing for this deck's first night out. I'll report what I remember.

Rd 1 - 2-0 vs GW Tron

Won the die roll for the only time of the night and got to be on the play. Not much to say here- he never got a turn 3 or even turn 4 Tron, and I was way too fast for him to stop me. Arashin Foremost helped a lot with that.

Rd 2 - 2-0 vs Affinity

Game 1 I mull to six and keep an awkward hand with no threats except Herald of Dromoka, but it also has Path to Exile and Always Watching. I mostly flood out, but get some Mutavaults, which are actually excellent as they give me a creature that can attack through his Etched Champion, and then come back and block it thanks to double vigilance. Path to Exile on his Master of Etherium seals the deal. Game 2 I keep a much more reasonable hand, and his has no real threats besides two Arcbound Ravager. Arashin Foremost seals the deal.

Rd 3 - 2-1 vs GB Elves

Game 1 is very close. We both build rather large board states backed with multiple anthems. He casts two Collected Company in one turn, and hits a Shaman of the Pack for a load of damage, but otherwise just gets a lot of blockers. At this point Herald of Dromoka steals the game, allowing me to swing out and still keep blockers for the backswing, and letting me gain life with Glory-Bound Initiate each turn. Game 2 he gets an insane draw of triple Elvish Archdruid, two Collected Company, and two Chord of Calling. I have no removal, and die to a massive Shaman of the Pack before I mount much of an offense. Game 3 is almost the reverse. I open Champion of the Parish into Champion of the Parish into Thalia's Lieutenant, Path to Exile a blocker to save a Champion, Path to Exile his Elvish Archdruid, second Thalia's Lieutenant to seal the deal.

Rd 4 - 2-1 vs Grixis Control

Game 1 he gets stuck on two lands despite repeated Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip activations. Mardu Woe-Reaper delays it flipping and Tasigur, the Golden Fang being cast, and a surprise Chief of the Edge put down during combat lets a Mutavault boosted with Arashin Foremost trade with Tasigur when it is finally cast. He dies with two lands in play and 3 Kolaghan's Command in hand. Game two goes worse. He's able to stabilize with a Tasigur before I get much damage in, and flips Jace. I manage to kill Jace with a surprise Arashin Foremost off Aether Vial letting Mardu Woe-Reaper get in for enough damage, and later kill the Tasigur with the same method from game 1, this time using two Vials to flash in Chief of the Edge and Arashin Foremost at the same time. He proceeds to play another Jace the next turn, flip it, cast Damnation from his graveyard, and cast a second Tasigur for defense. I'm unable to recover. Game 3 I'm on the play. I open with Bloodsoaked Champion, and it dies immediately. Despite playing 1-2 creatures each turn, he's able to cast enough cheap removal to stop me from attacking to get it back. After 4 turns and 4 removals, he runs out of gas, and my last creature, an Arashin Foremost, gets the first hit in of the game, and the Champion returns. After this, I go on to draw more threats, where he draws primarily land. An awkward Rise / Fall to bounce the Foremost almost saves him, but he's forced to also give me a Thalia's Lieutenant from the graveyard, and I'm able to kill him the next turn anyway. Notably, this was the only match in which I saw Devoted Crop-Mate, but it just acted as a lightning rod, eating a Terminate immediately.

All in all I'm very pleased with the deck. Herald of Dromoka, Bloodsoaked Champion, and Arashin Foremost were all backbreaking cards that won multiple games for me. Mardu Woe-Reaper was so-so, at times being totally outclassed, but it's ability to block unlike the Champion, as well as incidental graveyard hate and lifegain, were relevant at other times. Always Watching was frequently sent to the sideboard, but in certain matchups having vigilance was crucial, so I want to keep it for now. Thalia's Lieutenant and Champion of the Parish, though not Warriors, still stood out due to their high individual power level and helped make up the backbone of the deck, and they aren't going anywhere. Glory-Bound Initiate was not outstanding, however I only saw it twice, and in one game it did help save me against an onslaught of Elves, so for now I want to stick with the full playset. However, while I'm happy with the mainboard, the sideboard could use some work. More than once I found myself wanting more removal, Stony Silence would have been prudent as there were several Tron players in addition to the Affinity player, and I found I was very weak to board wipes, moreso than I expected. I may include more Burrenton Forge-Tender, or perhaps swap them for some Selfless Spirit, as cards like Damnation and Wrath of God were at least as prevalent as red wipes like Anger of the Gods, if not more so. It's also much more common for me to have an Aether Vial on two counters than on one, for the surprise save.