Graveyard hate sideboard
Modern forum
Posted on Feb. 22, 2019, 4:05 a.m. by PhotogenicParasympathetic
Hey all! I'm planning on dipping my toes into modern after played EDH for basically my entire magic career. In a RG deck that splashes just a touch of white, what should I be looking for in graveyard hate? Is Rest in Peace just generically the best? Should I also/instead run Relic of Progenitus / Tormod's Crypt / Grafdigger's Cage ?
Basically, in short... what's the difference in terms of what decks each option is more effective against?
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #3
All your options are good, but with the oppressive Phoenix variants running around, nothing's better than Leyline of the Void or Surgical Extraction . They're not in your colors but can both be played for free so it's doable. Those cards, however, are FAR from free from a financial PoV :)
February 22, 2019 5 a.m.
oh.. Leyline of the Void is $45? When did this happen? I collected them back in the days, i have like 50 :D
February 22, 2019 5:03 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #5
smackjack Dude you HAVE to sell those now. I think they'll reprint it and once they do they'll fall back into oblivion. I traded mine when they were around 25-30€ because I thought it was already a crazy price for this card...
And all of this happened with the 'comeback' of dredge but mostly because of the printing of Arclight Phoenix :)
February 22, 2019 7:05 a.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #6
As a storm player leyline and RIP are probably the most difficult to deal with followed by relic and crypt. Cage really isn't that bad more just annoying.
I assume the same would apply to dredge and Phoenix but I could he wrong
February 22, 2019 8:09 a.m.
First, welcome to Modern!
I've played a TON of Gruul in Modern, and there are definitely pros and cons to all of the options. Here are some thoughts:
- Scavenging Ooze : A little slow, but mainboard-able. I also play Dredge and FWIW this is actually the toughest card of all of them to play around or through.
- Grafdigger's Cage : Fast and effective. Downside is they can just fill the yard until they find removal. Also great vs. Collected Company , Summoner's Pact , etc.
- Relic of Progenitus : Kinda weak, but also mainboard-able. Deciding when to crack it may be one of the biggest skill-tests in Modern. :-)
- Tormod's Crypt : Weak, but soooo fast. When the T1 graveyard decks (e.g., Vengevine, Hollow One) are out in force, I like 1x in the side.
- Wheel of Sun and Moon : Weak (because they can still use whatever they got into the yard before it's played), but the foil version is probably the most beautiful Magic card ever printed, so there's that. Incidentally amazing vs. Mill.
- Rest in Peace : IMO, the best graveyard hate in Modern. Dredge 100% expects it though game 2 if they have any idea you're splashing White, so will bring in enchantment removal for sure. You can really mess with them though if they think you're on Sc'ooze or Artifacts, since they'll almost certainly misboard.
FWIW, I'm currently running 2x Scavenging Ooze in the main, and 2x Grafdigger's Cage + 2x Anger of the Gods in the side.
Good luck!!!
P.S. As others have said Surgical Extraction and Leyline of the Void are both great. I've played both in other decks and love them, but IMO the others are better options for your colors.
February 22, 2019 8:54 a.m. Edited.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #8
Something a little narrower, but nobody ever seems to see coming is Faerie Macabre ..
Personally, I run a single Grafdigger's Cage & a playset of Faerie Macabre s in the sideboard of my Legacy Eldrazi deck.. While Modern is not the same as Legacy, what a Reanimator player once told me at an IQ a couple years back is still valid; Artifact & Enchantment based GY-hate are expected & planned for accordingly in their own sideboards, but none of them know how to readily deal with Faerie Macabre because they don’t see anything (they’ll think the coast is clear to freely combo off) until it’s too late..
Yes, it can be responded to like anything else, but there’s no way to otherwise counter it in Modern outside of Trickbind & Disallow (Legacy also has Stifle ), and that’s it..
February 22, 2019 10:14 a.m. Edited.
Metroid_Hybrid,
It's an edge case for sure, but Modern also has
Nimble Obstructionist
.
//
Just noticed I mistyped above, Cage doesn't do anything vs. Pact :-D
February 22, 2019 10:27 a.m. Edited.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast,
IMO
Leyline of the Void
is overkill vs. UR Phoenix and marginal vs. Mono-R. They always expect some gravehate post-board so will generally trim a Phoenix or two to bring in their sideboard cards, which leaves us bringing in 4x cards to shut off 3x. Ugh. Mono-R usually has 2x
Bedlam Reveler
so it's maybe a little better there.
February 22, 2019 10:41 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #11
Depends on your list what the best choice is. If you share your list we could give you more valid input.
February 22, 2019 10:49 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #12
clayperce Though Obstructionist is a cool card, I've never ever seen anyone play it in Modern - maybe 1 copy in Blue Moon - and I think that's because it's very situational. Might as well play Voidslime ;)
February 22, 2019 11:03 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast,
I agree ... I've only seen
Nimble Obstructionist
played twice, ever. Once was just as a Cycler in Living End, and once was as a game-winner from UR Wizards. The Wizards game was interesting ... I was on Dredge and had a
Stinkweed Imp
up as a blocker, but Obstructionist turned off its Deathtouch-like ability :-(
I guess Mono-U Tron runs it often as well, but I've never seen it from them.
February 22, 2019 11:41 a.m. Edited.
Flooremoji says... #14
RGw: You should play RIP. It is the best GY hate in the format. Unless you want a maindeckabble one so it's not a dead card, I would go with RIP.
February 22, 2019 12:17 p.m.
pizzagod13 says... #15
Here’s my two cents on the matter
Crypt - it’s one time use which makes it risky. If you can’t kill your opponent soon after cracking it they will likely be able to fill their yard again.
Relic - has slight upside over crypt since it can remove one card at a time and you can crack it. Of course one card each turn is probably too slow most of the time.
Surgical - pretty good since it completely removes one specific threat that your opponent plays. Of course if they have many threats it’s less helpful.
Rest In Peace - completely shuts down the graveyard preventing anything from going in. Probably the best option but can be removed by stuff like Assassin's Trophy .
Cage - similar to rest in peace with the benefit that it shuts down deck based strategies also. The downside is that it doesn’t stop cards from going onto the yard so when it’s removed your probably going to die immediately.
Personally if your playing white you should probably go with Rest In Peace, but it’s up 2 you.
February 22, 2019 1:48 p.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #16
Thanks all for the comments! Y'all have already been a big help. This is my current list, but I haven't finalized it yet.
Decks that I know are in my LGS's meta, for which I'm trying to set my sideboard:
RGTron
Esper Mill
Scapeshift/Bring to Light
Burn
Affinity/Hardened Scales
Dredge
UR Phoenix
Bant Spirits
Jeskai Control
February 22, 2019 3:30 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #17
I run Nimble Obstructionist in U/B Kefnet & U/W Control on the side. The card is just too useful and currently undervalued.
February 22, 2019 3:53 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #18
With your deck, Rest in Peace is fine.
Your deck itself definitely needs a bit more fine tuning though.
smackjack says... #2
I like Grafdigger's Cage the most, but i play mostly Legacy. Dont know if its the best in Modern, RIP might just be better since you dont need it turn 1. Cage messes with Collected Company and Chord of Calling too which is nice.
February 22, 2019 4:29 a.m.