I challenge the Modern community
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 10, 2016, 9:23 p.m. by ninjaclevs13
I have spent the last 2 months or so trying to settle on a deck, but it just is not happening. I have looked at many decks, and none really have appealed to me. Perhaps I haven't found the right deck. Perhaps I'm looking at decks wrong. Here's where the challenge comes in: SELL ME ON A DECK! My entire modern future may depend on your sales pitch! I need YOUR help to become a better magic player. Here's what I'm looking for in a deck:
-Consistent (doesn't have to rely on a good draw)
-Doesn't have multiple matchups that are just horrible
-Doesn't burn out after 4 turns
-Multiple wincons
Not all of these have to be true, but the more, the better! LET THE CHALLENGE BEGIN! Who can give the best sales pitch??!?!
I can truly say that I love my land control My deck:
mono red where the hell are your lands?
Modern
SCORE: 13 | 10 COMMENTS | 860 VIEWS
. It's resilient consistent and considering how all the "best" decks use multiple colors it almost never has a terrible match up(emphasis on almost). The only thing that it doesn't have is a boat load of win cons. Its mainly up to Seismic Assault and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to do the hard work. That being said there are a plethora of burn spells and things to sit on. Its beaten a lot of good decks that don't run a greedy land base so I cant wait to run it against a deck that has no basics.
February 10, 2016 9:31 p.m.
TheFoilAjani says... #5
Kiki-chord has an infinite win-con, so it can fight unfair decks. It has a versatile tool kit with Chord of Calling, and a really strong sideboard to combat the fair and unfair decks in the format. It also can beat down with its combo pieces and Voice of Resurgence-type creatures. It doesn't even rely on an insane hand. The main problem is that you need to be super familiar with the deck, and player skill is a huge consideration.
February 10, 2016 9:31 p.m.
If youre looking at modern, chances are youre sick of the standard meta... well bad news, modern has it own brand of meta... my advice is, learn as many cards as possible and just build decks... they dont have to be amazing win turn 3 with no mana decks or something crazy, just find a card that makes you think. The first deck i ever built was built to kill my opponents by me drawing cards... the larger your knowledge base on mtg cards in general, and more specifically, the mechanincs involved, the easier it becomes to build your own decks that not only win but are super fun to play. Once youve built 50 or so decks, start messing with commander ;)
February 10, 2016 9:49 p.m.
amazingdan says... #9
Well, I don't want to be that guy, but Eldrazi fits every one of those categories. It can have incredibly explosive starts, but even with a normal hand, you're usually getting a 4/4 or a 5/5 on T2 or T3 with upsides. Lots of big Eldrazi=multiple wincons. It won't burn out, because you either draw a land to fuel searches in the late game with Eye of Ugin, or you draw a big ass Eldrazi to go along with the ones you already have out. Land destruction/Free Win Red are the only absolutely horrible matchups, but it can come back from land destruction eventually, and Free Win Red/Land Destruction aren't widely played anyway. It gets VERY consistent T3-T5 wins even with an okay hand. All that being said, there has been a lot of talk about things getting banned from it, so it might not be the safest investment longterm. However, even with a banning, it will still probably be a pretty good archetype. I'm in no means an expert on this, I just saw nobody had mentioned it(although somebody may have while I'm typing this) and decided to throw my two cents in.
February 10, 2016 9:54 p.m.
ninjaclevs13 says... #10
I am seeing a lot of abzan and jund...are they really that good? I never really thought Dark Confidant or Liliana of the Veil were appealing. What do you guys think of the following decks: abzan company combo, bw tokens, merfolk, Grixis control or Delver, naya zoo, or gw beat down?
February 10, 2016 9:54 p.m.
abzan company is intersting its like kiki chord where it can beat down and combo but more in on the combo I like this the most out of the bunch because its multi-faceted. Bw tokens is just kind of boring and linear to me same with merfolk except merfolk is faster. Grixis control plays the best cards in modern very powerful but in essence is a control deck so kind of slow. Delver is boring I dont like delver decks same with burn and maybe naya zoo depending on your list its just all face all the time until you get highly competitive and even then its just maximizing damage. Gw beat down is fine aggro decks tend to lose or win easily and thats just too much of a 50/50 for me plus its just not the best deck in teh world.
February 10, 2016 11:21 p.m.
KillDatBUG says... #12
Eldrazi. Why?
Because Mishra's Worksh- I mean, Eye of Ugin is a card. And Ancient T- I mean, Eldrazi Temple is a thing too.
February 11, 2016 12:02 a.m.
Does it have to be a super competitive deck? Build your own deck with Sylvan Advocate and Dryad Arbor. 3/3 (or bigger) Dryad Arbors seems good. Sakura-Tribe Elder provides consistent ways to get more lands fast.
February 11, 2016 12:05 a.m.
Maybe you should check out some youtube users, "TheManaSource" puts out budget modern decks all the time that are legit. Another one I like is "Strictly Better MTG". They both put out budget deck techs all the time. Mana Source just put out a mono green deck under 80$ that definitely seems consistent, and powerful. Overtime you can upgrade the cards, while still having a solid structure. If you're on a higher budget, wait till the newest GP.. And just look at all the well preforming decks, and pick which one you like. I am an Esper player mostly, and love the synergies I get from those colors. It all depends on what YOU like.. Which you didn't really give us any hint about to push us in a direction.
We can tell you to play burn all day, but if you hate the way RDW decks play out.. It's not really going to help you out.
February 11, 2016 12:24 a.m. Edited.
Grisel Cannon, ENRAGED!
Modern
SCORE: 71 | 10 COMMENTS | 12096 VIEWS
I pick up my Doran, Pure Steel Storm, Suicide Zoo, Quest Cats, bad Mono-Red Burn, and bad Affinity just for fun, now and again, but the only 3 decks I would ever REALLY play competitively are Modern Merfolk, Affinity, and my Grisel Cannon deck above all.
Fish qualifies your categories in my eyes the most, more or less. A brew I've been working on lately is Blood Fish, which is Merfolk deck with Lightning Bolt and Blood Moon.
February 11, 2016 4:16 a.m.
I'd say i have to agree that Jund and Abzan are very good candidates, although you could go for a control deck (with wich you can put any wincon in). G/W aggro is also competiteve but not a top 8 deck like Jund and Abzan are.
i'll link some of my decks so you can get a taste of what they are like if you are interested. (they may not be the most optimal decks)
- Jund: Survivor's Guide (jund)
- Selesnya Solids (G/W aggro)
- Controlled Turbofog (control with damage and mill wincon)
Hope you find your type of deck GLHF
February 11, 2016 4:17 a.m.
so youve gotten some very good suggestions already , but i noticed that you showed a particular interest in these deck "abzan company combo, bw tokens, merfolk, Grixis control or Delver, naya zoo, or gw beat down". that got me thinking , have you had time to try these out? the choice is yours , afterall.
you also mentioned that you want the deck to fit these criteria:-Consistent (doesn't have to rely on a good draw)-Doesn't have multiple matchups that are just horrible-Doesn't burn out after 4 turns-Multiple wincons
out of those decks, most fit at least 2-3 of your criteria , so they should be fine.
the thing is , we dont exactly know what the meta will look like for the coming few months. im expecting a lot ( read : A BOATLOAD ) of Eldrazi variants, as well as Tons of Aggro in the for of affinity , infect , zoo , and company decks , as well as the occasional Kiki Chord / Archangel Spikefeeder decks.with this Assumption in mind , its reasonable to pick a Deck that has A good Aggro matchup , as well as means to fight the eldrazi menace.
First up , if you like Abzan company ,its an amazing deck and very well positioned right now. i believe it had an 50% conversion rate at the last Pro tour ( 50% of alls the company decks made it to day 2 i believe).it can beat the eldrazi deck ( read : not a hopeless matchup) and it has fair game against most of the aggro decks.
that being said , in my experience , you need to get a good hand and really NEED to see those collected companies , or you can fall behind quickly.
well , but now for the REAL salespitch ....
Blood Hope and Death
Modern
SCORE: 8 | 4 COMMENTS | 1943 VIEWS
yes , you said you dislike Dark confidant and liliana of the veil, i havent forgotten about that. Mardu is becoming a THING right now. several Articles have mentioned its good Aggro matchups and excellent sideboard options against the eldrazi decks.A very similar Mardu list ALSO had a 50% conversion rate at the recent Pro tour!it is very consistent ,has multiple winconditions , doesnt require you to have a god hand , and has very few really terrible matchups. the only decks that are hard to beat ( but very beatable indeed) are jund and junk, but those are actually not as favored against the rest of the field right now. So by joining the Mardu Revolution , you could be at the forefront of a new Meta , besides your Mardu Brethren !. there are also variants that dont use Dark Confidant and Liliana of the Veil , and instead run Gurmag Angler and Painful Truths , or Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor variants! each version has its distinct features and benefits, and slighty different win % against the different Matchups.if youd enjoy a Deck that almost never feels hopeless , and lets you play interactive Magic even in the more unfair matchups, try some Mardu !
February 11, 2016 7:06 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #18
You want me to sell you on a deck... and you have standards in which this deck must meet. Well, I have some good news for you.
Look at this sexy son of a bitch, right here...
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/08-03-15-nemesis/#c2525058
Its like Catnip for assholes with a lot of extra money!
You want consistency? You got it, dude. This fucking deck has survived 3 bannings and still grinds its way to the top tables. Oh yeah, and you also get the added benefit of the best removal, disruption and dudes.
Doesn't have many matchups that are horrible? Fuck yeah! You probably only have 1 or 2 horrible matchups post board. and one of those is iffy. You pretty much can beat anything as long as you know the game.
Doesn't burn out after 4 turns? Bitch please. this deck was born to take people for a long grindy hell of a ride. they want to end the game fast? Fuck no. Your job is to slowly strangle them and then kick them in the nuts when they are down.
Multiple Wincons? Gotcha bro. You get access to 4 fucking copies of Tarmogoyf, 3 Scavenging Ooze, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Tasigur, the Golden Fang! Don't get me even close to started on those hoes in the Sideboard. There are so many wincons in this deck, you can even beat the shit out of someone with your fucking lands! You beat them like sick rats.
So yeah, buy this deck. You get to look like a rich dude AND shame other players like animals that routinely unrinate on themselves on the regular. Unless you don't like winning, then you can just make some other bullshit, like Twi-- oh nevermind.
February 11, 2016 9:04 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #19
I would also like to direct you to my other sales pitch. Here:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-forum/modern/sell-me-on-a-deck/?&p=1&page=1
You will see why I got tagged in this.
February 11, 2016 9:10 a.m.
ninjaclevs13 says... #20
Jund sounds like a fantastic option. The only thing is, I don't have $2000 to spend. Would it be worth it to build it up across, like, 3 years?
February 11, 2016 9:32 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #21
Yeah, when I built the deck I put maybe 700 dollars into it. I traded for the rest. It took me about 9 months to make. Its perfectly reasonable to work toward your "dream deck". I am foiling mine out currently.
February 11, 2016 10:06 a.m.
I recently made my own, rogue decklist. This deck is INSANE. It combines land ramp like Nissa's Pilgrimage with play-an-extra-land spells like Explore. Once you have plenty of lands out, you tap them all for mana and play Early Harvest. It can get out either a Elderscale Wurm or Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger on TURN 4.
Thats the selling point of my deck. Not to mention, it is incredibly budget even though it has 4x Nissa, Worldwaker. I'll comment later the link to it.
February 11, 2016 10:26 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #23
It sounds like you're into more interactive aggro decks (which is my personal preference), or midrange decks. It really depends on which of those you prefer. The former category pushes you towards Zoo and Merfolk, the latter is Abzan/Jund. There are other decks that meet these criteria, but those are the ones at the forefront and I'd see how you feel about those first.
As much as I love Merfolk, I'd say you'd probably prefer Naya Company/Zoo. Merfolk is going to win by punching people with fish. It has a lot of lines of play but ultimately ends in "fish to the face". Zoo has the option of winning with burn, since it packs in Lightning Bolt. You might also like Delver. It's got a ton of interaction! Not as strong as Merfolk or Naya Company, but play what you enjoy.
Merfolk is well-positioned right now, but it does have a really bad matchup with Affinity, which is seeing a lot of play since the banning of Twin and its showing in the Pro Tour.
Jund/Abzan (known to many as "Junk") are also good options but expensive to build. They're basically just big piles of individually good cards that play together nicely for a superb midrange plan. You rip apart your opponent's hand, kill their stuff and then beat them to death with Tarmogoyf or Siege Rhino. Jund is the more popular flavor right now and also has Lightning Bolt. And yes, Liliana of the Veil is really good.
It does have a couple of dreadful matchups though. Burn is rough, and R/G Tron beats the crap out of it. That's just how it goes.
Anyway, I'd actually see if someone will let you play their deck. Give some of these a try and go from there.
GlistenerAgent says... #2
Jund/Abzan fits everything. Done.
"I don't like Jund"
Kiki Chord is versatile and games are always interesting.
"I don't like Kiki Chord"
Merfolk is your classic dude beatdown deck, with some disruption mixed in.
"No"
Zoo's cool.
February 10, 2016 9:30 p.m.