Modernism - The Post-Banning Brewer's Battles
Challenges and Articles forum
Posted on Jan. 23, 2015, 8:13 a.m. by Boza
Hello all, after the new ban list has been announced, it seems the meta is quite unknown at the present time.
So, this begs the question: how do we break it? The answer is with a challenge of course!
So, I have been thinking about making a new deck to waddle in these Modernistic seas, but I am unable to come up with a good idea. I have a couple of Modern decks I use, but I feel it is time for a change and some outsourcing. I want you guys to give me a submission that qualifies on the following conditions:
- Deck must be Modern legal - DUH!
- Deck must be no more than $200 - I am not Scrooge MCduck here, using TCG prices from this site. I know it is inaccurate but using other resources is tedious, since it has to be done card by card.
- Deck must not be one of the top archetypes! This will be too easy otherwise. I will list the archetypes below in the first post.
- Submissions close on 31st of January or when 16 decks are submitted.
- The decks will face off in a single elimination tournament.
- Decks will also be judged on their originality and quality of build.
- Anyone can volunteer to be a judge on those criteria.
The final composite score will determine the winner, but for obvious reasons it should be performance over flavor - results in the tournament will matter more than the other two factors.
The aggro that are banned: Delver decks (RUG, UR, UWR, all of the variations), Affinity, Merfolk, RDW, Burn, Aura hexproof.
The midrange and combo decks that are banned: Soul sisters decks, BW tokens, Junk Midrange Scapeshift, jeskai Ascendancy, Twin, Bloom Titan, Living End (too easy), UR storm, Vengevine/Dredge decks.
The control decks that are banned: UWR Flash, UW Control, Tezzeret control.
This arbitrary banlist was just thought up to exclude the commonly played decks - I would not like play a budget version of a top deck.
Prize pool:
1st place - the deck will get made IRL and played in FNMs and more. Plus feature tokens.
2nd place - a bit less feature tokens.
3rd place - a bit less tokens than 2nd place.
4th place and below - A Megaton of FUN!
That is all! Do not forget to have fun with this, collaboration is encouraged. Submit as a group of people even. If you want to help out with playing out the matches, please tell me.
Boza I have a junk landfall type deck w/o an SB (i would have to make budget version btw). Does that fall under junk midrange or scapeshift. It is not done yet but: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-01-15-landfall/. Like i said i would have to make a budget version.
January 23, 2015 8:30 a.m.
No junk deck right now plays any of those. By Junk decks that are excluded, think Pod (without the Pod obviously).
Remember to include the deck as something visible for the rest:[ [ deck-large:23-01-15-landfall/] ] and remove the spaces:
Knight of the reliquary is quite underrated right now, this is a good example of something that is perfect for this challenge.
January 23, 2015 8:34 a.m.
Countertop says... #5
this is a modernized version of the greatest standard deck (for a period of time)
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-01-15-rb-fun/
... that moment when only space for 2 bobs in the budget XD
January 23, 2015 8:41 a.m.
Boss sligh feat. Bobx2 is plenty unique enough, well done sir!
Let me remind of the wonderful opportunity to be a judge on this contest for originality and build - originality will measure the uniqueness of the brew, while build will focus on well you have streamlined your deck.
Remember, the submissions are not necessary to be finalized before the 31st, so you can make changes until then.
January 23, 2015 8:51 a.m.
The Army of Amsnad 2.0 Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 3 | 2 COMMENTS | 162 VIEWSI have to fix up some sideboard options. If for some reason this isn't legal in the challenge, I'll fix it up so that it is when I can get to a computer.
January 23, 2015 9:09 a.m.
nighthawk101 says... #8
January 23, 2015 9:23 a.m.
EddCrawley says... #9
I would like to put forward my favourite Modern decks, all of which i have piloted at my LGS FNM, to varying degrees of success.
Tolnedran Legion Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 4 | 0 COMMENTS | 1048 VIEWSIs a Boros Aggro beat-down
Mallorean gospels Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 175 VIEWSIs a Dimir Combo Mill deck.
January 23, 2015 9:25 a.m.
Behold!
Infinity ∞ze: Modernism Version Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 1 VIEWSIf you have any questions about it, just let me know and I'll be happy to answer.
January 23, 2015 9:39 a.m.
Ok, perfect we got a Knight/Human tribal deck and 8rack deck! Very cool additions! We are up to 3 decks!
EddCrawley, both those decks are a bit over the price (and by a bit I mean double the price limit). So they have to be budgetized to participate - the sideboard does not count towards the 200 dollar limit, but it has 50 dollars of limit on its own. So do not include the redenculuosly expensive Glimpse the Unthinkable in your deck.
January 23, 2015 9:40 a.m.
Ooze deck is technically a dredge deck, but I assume there will so few combo decks, that small similarities to (future) top meta decks can be omitted. Nice one!
Up to four contenders, keep them coming!
January 23, 2015 9:42 a.m.
Boza The dredge aspect was a very recent addition (as it was not possible up until a few days ago) to the deck and merely plays a supporting role. If you'd rather, there are modifications I can make to the deck in place of Golgari Grave-Troll to be rid of that aspect of the deck without hurting its playability. Darkblast is just really good removal so I plan to keep it.
January 23, 2015 9:47 a.m.
No, no, it is fine, rules are meant to broken or at least bent, especially by the one who set them out!
Anyways, Ooze's are always fun and a little dredge never hurt anyone! Plus, this is a challenge for brewing successful decks under constraints, not all top cards should be automatically excluded (for example, someone managed to fit 2 Dark confidant in a build).
Combo decks will be few and far between anyways, so this much deviation is fine for the health of the tourney.
January 23, 2015 9:51 a.m.
I present my humble Rakdos Aggro deck. This deck has been majorly fun, and the only alteration I really want to make is adding Vexing Devil...but a playset is hard to pick up. Haha.
Rakdos' Sadistic Society Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 8 | 10 COMMENTS | 2257 VIEWSLet me know what you think! SB is tuned to my local meta, not tournament ready, if you want to change that up feel free.
January 23, 2015 10:10 a.m.
Ok, Aggristocrats are up for the challenge! It will be great to have some midrange or control, just for representation's sake ;)
SCytec, you are at about half the budget, sideboard included, so feel free to pimp out the deck before the 31st.
January 23, 2015 10:23 a.m.
In all honesty this is my deck in cardboard form, I'd like to see how it compares. As is I've outraced Infect, destroyed Gifts Ungiven control, and completely screwed a graveyard interactions deck. Haha. It may not be amazing, but it is consistently powerful. I'd like to see how it fairs.
January 23, 2015 10:27 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #18
Much Budget: Do Maze Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 7 | 20 COMMENTS | 538 VIEWSMaze's End, because Bloom titan isn't allowed.
January 23, 2015 10:33 a.m.
Ok, we got a combo-control deck into the mix! Superb, we are up to 6 contenders! Woot woot!
January 23, 2015 10:37 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #20
I hope that my deck is acceptable. I've been running it since Khans, and I recently changed it up to survive Dig Through Time being banned. I use a different sideboard in person, but I left the sideboard for the challenge in the maybeboard. Mainboard is $177 and sideboard is $44.
I'm just hoping that I can race other people fast enough. I have a feeling that this will fold really badly to the 8rack deck posted above.
Heartless Myrs of the Brood Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 39 | 0 COMMENTS | 3132 VIEWSJanuary 23, 2015 11:01 a.m.
That is a combo without a heart - unacceptable! Jokes, aside a great submission, bringing us to a total of 7 decks!
January 23, 2015 11:13 a.m.
January 23, 2015 11:42 a.m.
UrbanAnathema says... #23
January 23, 2015 11:42 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #24
January 23, 2015 12:25 p.m.
I saw "rules are meant to be broken or at least bent". So here is my U/R/W storm deck @ the 275 price range (or so it says)
Stitching together a perfect Storm Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 3 COMMENTS | 146 VIEWSJanuary 23, 2015 12:40 p.m.
All I wanna say is....
DORAN FOR THE LULZ!
You know what to do with that big fat butt! Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 2 COMMENTS | 262 VIEWSJanuary 23, 2015 12:50 p.m.
Programmer_112 says... #27
January 23, 2015 12:56 p.m.
As-Above_So-Below says... #28
I'd like to volunteer my Death's Shadow combo deck as tribute!! :D
Красивая Смерть Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 26 | 13 COMMENTS | 2484 VIEWSPotential T3 combo win, with an upside of potential self-kill T1!! :D
January 23, 2015 1:47 p.m.
Havok.Bane says... #29
So I don't know how everyone else is posting theirs but here's mine: It's an aggri Vamp deck. Things That Go Bump In The Night
January 23, 2015 2:02 p.m.
January 23, 2015 2:03 p.m.
nighthawk101 says... #31
@Havok.Bane: Use [ [ deck-large:your-slug-here ] ] without spaces. Also, use the slug in the url (the part after mtg-decks). For example, your slug would be 19-11-14-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night.
Things that go Bump in the Night Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 8 | 11 COMMENTS | 1343 VIEWSJanuary 23, 2015 2:11 p.m.
Jeez that is a lot of submissions - I am utterly dismayed at this daft display of daring creativity. Will check all the latest submissions and come back to you.
January 23, 2015 2:55 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #33
Mock under 200$ Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 7 VIEWSI may change up the lands a little not sure how many man lands are good but I don't have to. Deck is 195$ Sb is 40$
January 23, 2015 3:28 p.m.
UrbanAnathema says... #35
Mine might be too expensive seeing as how its posting a whopping $600 price tag...(I know I didn't pay that much for it...At least I hope I didn't...lol) so you might be fine SpartanCEL
January 23, 2015 4:28 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #37
UrbanAnathema well see lol. NorthernRaven he said 200 for the deck, and 50 for the sb in a comment so unless your sb is less than 2$ you're good!
January 23, 2015 10:42 p.m.
Jesus, all those combo decks! You guys will straight up Ok, lets go one by one:
SpartanCEL and his Mock - nice and innovative, I like it a lot. Up to 8 since I last counted.
klone13 and Landfall Budget - glad to finally get the submission of the first person to comment here :) 9 decks!
Havok.Bane and Things that go Bump in the Night - admirations for the name alone! Nice take on an under-the-radar tribe! 10 decks!
Красивая Смерть from TehCAnnable - I really hope this deck is not YOUR beautiful death. 11 decks!
Modernism: Balls Out Combo from Programmer_112 - can the lack of pod hinder Melira? Stay tuned to this challenge to find out! 12 decks!
You know what to do with that big fat butt! aka Beats by Dr.NorthernRaven - I really love this tribal deck and have thought about making it myself, well done sir. Just work on your SB, I do not think those 3 Black Lotus should be there :) 13 decks!
awesomeguy37 is going in with Soul Sisters - James Brown-style decks rock! We are off on the Night Train! 14 decks!
addaff made U/R/W Young Storm Ascendancy - an ambitious merging that is planning to melt my brain more than anything else. However, while I did "bend the rules" a little bit earlier, it was to allow a fairly different take on Dredge deck but the budget part is a bit too much. As stated, I am trying to limit my Magic spending a bit, so please work on the budget if possible. 14.5 decks!
For now, there is still room for at least one more deck and you have several more days to submit it. Gogo power brewers (nananana)!!
January 27, 2015 4:53 a.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #39
I'm not much of a modern player, but I love brewing! Here's my submission:
No Nonbasics Allowed Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 0 VIEWSThe deck costs $209 but the sideboard is only $15 so I figured that would be okay.
January 27, 2015 11:50 a.m.
Hate red is the 15th deck, technically. Still waiting on addaff to find out if we will get the 16th deck. Keep submitting, anything can happen :)
I will be doing some groups in the beginning of February, doing a round of matches per group per week. Each win for the deck earns a single point, so a maximum of six points can be earned. So, you will get 4 matches of this per week if I am able to keep on the schedule.
After 3 rounds, 2 decks will qualify for the quarterfinals (allowing 1 week for tiebreakers) with 1st place qualifiers facing off against 2nd place, so group standing is key.
January 27, 2015 2:07 p.m.
ascending on a budget Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 0 VIEWSLowered it $216, but it might lose its consistency.
January 27, 2015 2:53 p.m.
addaff, thanks very much for that!
And with that, we have our 16th deck! WOOHOO! This way faster than I imagined.
As said above, I will start next week with the battles and direct everyone to the new thread where they will occur.
January 28, 2015 2:18 a.m.
Yeah, real life has impeded my progress a bit, the first round is bound to come after this weekend.
February 13, 2015 2:27 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #46
Mind if I ask how this is progressing? I'm unsure if I should still leave the sideboard for this challenge on my deck or if I should remove it.
March 6, 2015 10:35 a.m.
PLease do leave it there, I am under a lot of real life pressure, so I have not had the time for this challenge, which makes me sad, I should though this week.
Boza says... #2
Forgot to mention Sideboards:
And let the Post-Banning Brewers' Battle Bonanza-Extravaganza (PBBBBE) begin!
January 23, 2015 8:23 a.m.