Could this work in modern
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on April 18, 2016, 1:14 p.m. by Postmortal_Pop
A friend and I put this deck together the other day and we were wondering if it could be competitive.
With the right hand we have our combo set by t3 with Assault Formation turning our 1 drop creatures into essentially 4/4's and Behind the Scenes making them unblockable.
Without paying any other creatures or buffs this deck can be a turn 6 win.
My doubts about it come from the plays itself, if we lay down the combo fast then we don't have any mana to defend it from removal. We have to rely on chance to not hand them an Erase.
Also, I haven't put any lands in, I've just built an optimized basic land base.
Any advice would be wonderful and if there are any changes to the play strategy that could really push it into competitive we would love to hear it.
Gidgetimer says... #3
It looks good enough to try once you get a consistent mana base. It is going to take a bit of testing against the meta though. I don't see it becoming a meta deck. But a s a rogue deck I see potential.
April 18, 2016 1:44 p.m.
Postmortal_Pop says... #4
You know I thought it didn't look right but my phone kept insisting... Lol I'll fix that.
April 18, 2016 2:15 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #5
"Though" is a word, just not the right one. It is a secondary form of "although". As such I could have worded the last sentence of my original reply as "Though as a rogue deck I see potential."
April 18, 2016 2:31 p.m.
You right. Don't know how I forgot that. XD
Damn fake looking English words.
Yacht.
April 18, 2016 5:05 p.m.
Just a heads up: you don't need Shape the Sands or Tower Defense. Your creatures are big enough to have no trouble with blockers, so you're better off just controlling the board and swinging with them one or two at a time. You don't need a super pump spell to go all in (not to mention those two do nothing if you don't have AssForm or Doran in play).
Drop those two and add some hand disruption, Abrupt Decay or draw spells. I'm not a fan of Mana Tithe (it's cute on the first few turns, but after that it's the worst topdeck ever), so I'd think about swapping it for better spells too. But hey, you're on the right track with this. It won't be terribly competitive, but it can be pretty solid, especially if you treat it like a midrange deck instead of a combo deck.
April 18, 2016 7:17 p.m.
I would argue that Shape the Sands needs to stick around, at least in the sideboard. It's a great way to stop Affinity from flying over you or stopping Kiki-Chord from getting in the pre-combo Angel beats. Also stops all his guys from being savaged by Tarmogoyf.
April 19, 2016 11:39 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
I would actually prioritize saving the Tower Defense over the Shape the Sands. It is 1 more mana for all his creatures instead of target.
April 19, 2016 12:08 p.m.
TheRiddler says... #10
Or with a low enough curve, Ensnaring Bridge to stop opposing creatures.
April 19, 2016 3:02 p.m.
I built a deck that's kind of similar, but splashed red for mardu ascendancy. I don't think the skulk enchantment is good, and playing defender creatures seems bad to me. I think that playing 3-4 doran and then some treefolk harbingers is better than assault formation, since the beefy 5/5 body is much better than the 2 mana you save, I think. I don't want to take over your deck though. I like the use of the toughness boosts spells as ways to end the game fast, and TheRiddler's suggestion of ensnaring bridge seems fantastic in the sideboard.
April 19, 2016 4:25 p.m.
Murpy - What precisely do you not see good about Behind the Scenes?
It makes his whole deck exponentially more deadly.
April 19, 2016 4:35 p.m.
I'm stupid, I wasn't thinking. That's actually awesome. Forget I said that. However, I do think 4 is too many. The effect is definitely powerful, but redundant copies do nothing and you need another card for it to combo with in order for the card to be effective. I'd probably play 3.
April 19, 2016 5:14 p.m.
TheRiddler says... #14
The card looks really cool, but I'd relegate it to a 2-of in the side for grindy matchups. That's my personal opinion as someone not completely sold on taking a turn off for a card that only works when you're in a position to win.
April 19, 2016 9:45 p.m.
Tundrahawk says... #15
The problem I see with Behind the Scenes is that it's strictly a much worse Ensnaring Bridge. Maybe it's fine if you're on a budget, but not if you want maximize effectiveness. Shape the Sands is also a little bit situational for my liking. Probably would be better off with more creatures in there.
Spellskite is amazing to mainboard in this style of deck as is Wall of Blossoms although you want to minimize creatures that have defender to probably no more than 4.
April 20, 2016 11 p.m.
Postmortal_Pop says... #16
Tundrahawk how does Behind the Scenes equate to Ensnaring Bridge?
Bridge stops creatures from attacking while scenes will make cards like Disowned Ancestor earth essentially unblockable.
Also Shape the Sands isn't here for its intended purpose, with Assault Formation out my Disowned Ancestor is basically a 9/9 for a turn and can still skulk past almost everything.
April 20, 2016 11:29 p.m.
Tundrahawk says... #17
Sorry, I meant overall effectiveness for the same CMC. Bridge will be far more useful for more matchups, and your creatures don't really need to be unblockable since yours will be monstrous in comparison to the opposing field of whatever anyone else is running.
You often want to use cards that have a broad effectiveness so you don't get blown out by an unwinnable matchup like infect or affinity or combo or whatever.
Is this deck to play competitively or casually?
April 21, 2016 midnight
Postmortal_Pop says... #18
OK that makes a lot more sense, and you hold a good point about needing something with a broader effect, but it's here more as a cheap and dirty win.
I'm not aiming to left field the modern meta with this but rather take home some store credit from my lgs's weekly modern tourney. If it turns out strong that's cool but honestly I think somewhere In between is better.
TMBRLZ says... #2
You misspelled "Tough."
What you have written isn't a word. It's Thought without the last T and Through without an R.
Just a friendly tip.
April 18, 2016 1:42 p.m.