My First Modern:/
Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 28, 2014, 12:40 p.m. by Rhinowarrior
Hey guys, so yesterdat I decided that I wanted to take a crack at a format that I previously knew nothing about. I decided to build my first modern deck. It is based off the deck that Reid Duke used to get second place at a pro tour or something. Except that I splashed red. Please help me out here. What can I do to make this competitive and an all around better deck. So far, i like the direction it's going and has had decent playtest results. If you would playtest it as well, that would be great. Thanks.
August 28, 2014 12:51 p.m.
I don't know how much I can stress this, but lands are everything... I suggest (for budget) pain lands (Brushland , Battlefield Forge ); and check lands (Clifftop Retreat , Sunpetal Grove , Rootbound Crag ). The main board looks good, except I would replace the two Raise the Alarm with two more Silhana Ledgewalker ...
August 28, 2014 1:08 p.m.
Oh, and for a draw engine check out Eidolon of Blossoms ... plus protects against removal (sacs)
August 28, 2014 1:10 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #8
Hmmm... very intersting propostition. I will have to consider that Eidolon deeply. I will do that with raise the alarm. You better be right kid. should i put some raise the alarm in the sideboard?
August 28, 2014 1:12 p.m.
If you expect a lot of hexproof hate, yes...
If you're worried about hexproof hate, the cards you should look out for are: Spellskite , which is the go to for almost every deck out there, Liliana of the Veil , and Back to Nature . Raise the Alarm protects against liliana very well, but isn't great against the other two... So for sideboard, I'd think about 1-2 Raise the Alarm , 1-2-3 Boros Charm (to give double strike, or avoid instant speed removal), and possibly some artifact hate other than Flamespeaker's Will . Flamespeaker's Will is good against affinity, but if they resolve a spellskite, you're toast... I would put Ancient Grudge in it's place.. If you are very worried about artifact decks (affinity) you should consider Stony Silence ... shuts them down hard and pumps your Ethereal Armor 's...
Good luck! :)
August 28, 2014 2:08 p.m.
Also, before going to a tournament, I suggest playtesting it against some decks on http://www.untap.in/lobbyui/?frY ...
August 28, 2014 2:09 p.m.
The red splash definitely hurts the deck A LOT and adds absolutely nothing.
August 28, 2014 2:29 p.m.
@xlaleclx: The red splash improves the big red matchup, the control matchup, the affinity matchup, the mirror matchup, and the jund matchup... It doesn't do much for the pod matchup (which was already great) or the junk matchup (also great), so I see it as a very good idea unless your meta consists of only BG/x rock decks...
August 28, 2014 2:52 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
If you can afford them, fetchlands should be in the deck, namely Arid Mesa and Verdant Catacombs (Marsh Flats maybe). Horizon Canopy and Dryad Arbor to go with the fetchlands are also strong options for inclusion.
I think the red splash isn't particularly worth it. You're missing Daybreak Coronet , which is infinitely better than Madcap Skills , and the mana gets worse in a deck that already mulligans badly.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast is a terrible sideboard card. Beat Infect with Path to Exile and Dismember , which are more versatile. Stony Silence is the best artifact hate card in your colors. It's probably incorrect to bring additional creatures out of the sideboard. Grafdigger's Cage is an excellent sideboard card against Pod for this deck.
August 28, 2014 3:24 p.m.
I do have to agree with thispersonisagenius on the red splash not being worth it... it's a good idea if you can't afford Daybreak Coronet , but once you get your hands on some of those, you should switch to selesnya... also, I have to agree with Melira, Sylvok Outcast not being good against infect... If you selected her because of her showing up in a lot of pod decks, that was because she's part of their infinite combo...
Also, the Grafdigger's Cage is amazing...
August 28, 2014 4:05 p.m.
The red splash gives you exactly 0 cards worth playing in this deck and hurts the mana base extremely bad while making 100% of your matchups worse with your awful manabase.
August 28, 2014 5:31 p.m.
Actually, the red splash gives you Madcap Skills , Ancient Grudge , and Volcanic Strength . Madcap Skills is an obscenely good card against jund and the mirror, Ancient Grudge is the best answer to any deck that runs artifacts, Volcanic Strength is great against jund and big red... I agree that it might not be the best idea, but until he has more money to spend on modern, it will work...
August 28, 2014 6:05 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #19
Ancient Grudge is a great card thanks for the suggestion. I will switch that out. Btw guys, I am 16 and jobless. No daybreak coronets for me anytime soon:/ that's why i splashed red.
August 28, 2014 7:02 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #20
Daybreak Coronet is an obscenely good card against everything. You will never play a mirrormatch. No one plays Hexproof.
Stony Silence is arguably a better hate card than Ancient Grudge . They can't do Arcbound Ravager shenanigans, equip Cranial Plating , activate Steel Overseer , Springleaf Drum , Mox Opal or even their Darksteel Citadel .
Mountainwalk is only good when your creature isn't already hard to block. Spirit Mantle already does the job much more consistently. I don't know what deck you mean by Big Red, so once you explain what that is I can explain why any card you could play is better there as well.
August 28, 2014 7:06 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #21
Here are some alternatives that keep your manabase cheaper (only two colors) and are better than any red enchantments you could play:
Spirit Link - This only grants lifelink, but can be used on your opponent's creatures to neuter the damage they deal. Yes, it works like that. See Armadillo Cloak . If you want it to be like Rancor , Spirit Loop is good as well.
Keen Sense - This keeps your card flow going, as you have a tendency to peter out after dumping your hand.
You can try playing Ordeal of Heliod and Ordeal of Nylea as budget options, but they aren't that great.
If you can, work up to acquiring Kor Spiritdancer , as it is the best card in the deck.
August 28, 2014 7:13 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #22
Overall, how is it for my first deck? Will it do alright at FNM's?
August 28, 2014 7:14 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #23
hey, thispersonisagenius armadillo cloack is good but is not modern legal according to tappedout:/ keen sense is a must have, i will add that to the maybeboard until i can actually get my hands on them!
August 28, 2014 7:37 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #24
I know. I was comparing Spirit Link to Armadillo Cloak . The ability is different than lifelink.
August 28, 2014 7:43 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #25
I have two questions. How is it different? I don't understand how lifelink is different. Also, I don't get spellskite. Why is it good against my deck?
August 28, 2014 7:46 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #26
It's a different ability in that any creature you enchant with it will gain you life. Enchant your opponent's Tarmogoyf to neuter it's damage. It's a better ability than lifelink, but it's very similar.
All your enchantment spells target when they are on the stack. Spellskite can take them all and keep your creatures small. That's why Stony Silence is better than any other Affinity hate. Plus, it's an enchantment for Ethereal Armor ! Speaking of which, consider Suppression Field and Leyline of Sanctity .
August 28, 2014 7:49 p.m.
thispersonisagenius. I never said Daybreak Coronet was bad, I just said he probably couldn't afford it... and I agree that Stony Silence is a better hate card, but Ancient Grudge seems like it could be better because Stony Silence doesn't remove blockers, where Ancient Grudge does... But I agree... Stony Silence is probably overall better... In no way was I trying to offend anyone... I was just trying to make points as to why certain cards could be, in certain situations, better than other, more commonly thought of as 'good' cards.
Once again, I apologize if I offended anyone :)
August 28, 2014 10:30 p.m.
Further on how lifelink is different, lifelink says "whenever this creature deals damage, it's controller gains that much life". If it is an opponent's creature, that creature's controller, (your opponent) would gain the life, whereas the other card says "whenever this creature deals damage, YOU gain that much life" so the caster gains that much life... that means you.
Also, yes I think it would be a relatively competitive deck at your LGS... I doubt it will win any GPs though :)
August 28, 2014 10:34 p.m.
Big red is basically red value creatures (Goblin Guide , Vexing Devil , Goblin Rabblemaster , Eidolon of the Great Revel , Mogg Fanatic ) supported by burn...
It's a fun deck to play, plus, it's incredibly fast...
August 28, 2014 10:36 p.m.
That's not what big red is, tat's red deck wins. Big red is a fringe mono red midrange deck
August 28, 2014 10:39 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #32
I thought you were referring to the Boros Reckoner Blood Moon Skred deck, but what you are talking about is just Burn, which doesn't play Rabblemaster.
August 28, 2014 10:42 p.m.
Highly recommend taking out a color. The thing with hexproof decks in general is that it does not take mulligans very well. Sometimes you get a lot of creatures and no enchantments and sometime vice versa. All assuming you mana base is okay(gonna guess you are on a budget and can't get fetch lands) By cutting a color, you are more consistant with mana and the ability to cast stuff. Adding red for madcap skills and a few red sideboard card doesn't justify screwing up the mana base for Do recommend the spirt dancer over the eidolon. And if you can get your hands on Daybreak Coronet
August 29, 2014 8:35 a.m.
I have seen big red both ways... Sorry if I got two decks confused... my local LGS refers to what I was talking about as 'big red' but it seems like most people here agree that it is RDW... i will refer to it as that from now on...
August 29, 2014 10:48 a.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #37
My deck mulligans decently actually, since i don't know what my lgs modern meta looks like iw as thinking of taking my standard deck there and getting my ass kicked for one night to see what im up against.
August 29, 2014 2:15 p.m.
@Rhinowarrior: I would not suggest that... I did that my first night of modern and well, it wasn't fun. Most people aren't prepared for hexproof, so you should do decently, all you need to do is instead of gearing your sideboard towards what you think might be there, put versatility cards in the sideboard... Cards that would work well against say both Pod and Affinity should go in, and cards that are ONLY good against certain decks should stay out.. Examples of versatility cards are: Dismember (pod, jund, junk, and UWR control), Ancient Grudge (pod and affinity), Rest in Peace (storm, pod. and dredge...) Boros Charm (junk, other aggro decks, UWR control... etc...
Oh, and good luck!
August 29, 2014 2:33 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #39
@Rhinowarrior Trust me when I say this, Hexproof is almost the worst deck in Modern at mulliganing. Goryo's Vengeance is worse, but you need to find a hexproof creature and some enchantments, making you kind of like an Infect deck, except that deck has considerably more creatures and only needs a couple "enchantments" to win. Don't splash a third color, because it makes the mulligans (not to mention the price tag) much higher.
August 29, 2014 2:35 p.m.
Just a note, thispersonisagenius, the Goryo's Vengeance combo deck is commonly referred to as 'Glass Cannon' by most of the magic community...
August 29, 2014 2:38 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #41
"Glass Cannon" is a general term that means a deck that can win very quickly, but is very fragile and folds to disruption. I know the deck is called Griselcannon by a lot of people, but I find Goryo's Vengeance to be more helpful to someone who hasn't seen the deck before. Also, most people just call it Reanimator. Get off of me.
August 29, 2014 2:40 p.m.
thispersonisagenius... sorry... I'm just trying to be helpful :( and my bad :)
I wasn't criticizing you at all... once again sorry.
August 29, 2014 2:43 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #43
@ rorofat is that a challenge? lol just watch me go 3-1!
Rhinowarrior says... #2
My deck is not linking for some reason, it should be at the top of my profile though. Sorry. ni'll keep trying
August 28, 2014 12:43 p.m.