How to Build Sultai
Modern forum
Posted on Dec. 29, 2016, 5:19 p.m. by SwaggyMcSwagglepants
I just want to jam some BUG in modern. As much as I like Infect, it loses its luster after a bit. What I want to do is jam a Sultai Midrange deck that just plays the best cards, yet has enough cheap interaction to keep up with the linear combo decks.
How can we build Sultai Midrange in Modern?
Sultai is a T2 deck in Modern iirc. It's basically Jund but instead of Lightning Bolts, Kolaghan's Commands, and Terminates, you have Remands, Cryptic Commands, and Pact of Negations.
December 29, 2016 7:39 p.m. Edited.
cosmokai2000 says... #4
Not even T2. It's a slower combination of grixis and jund. Both decks just outclass it. The usual builds I see are grixis minus red, plus green. This lets it pick up Abrupt Decay and Tarmogoyf. It's usually just good-stuffy
December 29, 2016 9:23 p.m.
I new someone who ran a bug fight deck with Phyrexian Obliterator.... Saw some massive rage quits apparently.
December 29, 2016 10:05 p.m.
TheDuggernaught says... #6
As stated above, it just kind of winds up being a slower version of Jund and Grixis. The reach that burn can give these midrange deck lists is typically overlooked -- but can be a game changer. Not to say that Sultai is terrible. It is probably the most recursive of those three color combos and can rather easily grind games out with its access to big beats (Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Hooting Mandrills, Tarmogoyf, Grim Flayer, Scavenging Ooze, ect...) targeted discard, ways to recur your big beats (Liliana, the Last Hope, Tasigur, the Golden Fang), counterspells, and ability replay spells from your graveyard (Snapcaster Mage, Tasigur, the Golden Fang). It has countermagic and the ability to flashback spells over Jund and Abzan, and more/bigger beats than Grixis.
In short, I think Sultai is fine. You just have to realize what it can and cannot do. What it can't do it be super explosive as it has no access to red. It also does not have super efficient removal like Path to Exile or Terminate (makes Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek super important to slow down the early game)... or signiture beaters like Siege Rhino. What it can do is be extremely resilient as it can recur and reuse just about everything in the deck. Relying on this can make you soft to graveyard hate, but I do think that is where the identity of Sultai lies. Slow mill with Thought Scour/Grisly Salvage, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Grim Flayer, and Liliana, the Last Hope, and then use your various recursion engines to generate card advantage out of your graveyard while using delve and Scavenging Ooze to exile the cards you do not want back off of a Tasigur, the Golden Fang activation. Combine this with the general card draw you can get from blue with cards such as Ancestral Vision, Remand and a few Cryptic Commands, and you can find yourself swimming in available cards while your opponent is top decking.
December 30, 2016 12:26 a.m. Edited.
My biggest issue playing BUG midrange (other than Tron, though counter magic helps a lot) are opposing manlands. Decay and pulse can't target them, doom blade doesn't hit vents or tarpit, throat can't hit inkmoth or blinkmoth, dismember can be really painful (dismember a goblin guide on turn 1-2? You've already lost) murderous cut may or may not have the delve available and hurts a LOT when flipped to Bob (which I run) and downfall is just flat out too slow. Print a BB or UB that kills unconditionally, and bugs in much better shape.
December 30, 2016 3:20 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #9
Twanicus, Smother hits all manlands and a lot of other stuff in modern.
Fulminator Mage is also a viable card.
December 30, 2016 7:07 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #10
Also the card you want exists but in the more appropriate colors. Terminate
December 30, 2016 7:08 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ, I like smother, unfortunately it competes directly with decay for the 'kill tiny things' slot. And decay wins out for its ability to deal with non creature threats like ascension and moon. I agree there are better spot removal options in other colors, I run path AND terminate in my Mardu build, I was speaking strictly with Sultai's options. Fulminator's OK, but turn three to deal with an inkmoth feels bad.
December 31, 2016 2:36 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #12
Victim of Night hits all manlands save Mutavault. It hits most of modern save Gurmag Angler.
December 31, 2016 3:51 p.m.
Ooh, good pull! Forgot about victim, double black shouldn't be too much of an issue for most bug builds, either. I run base blue, but between eight fetches and a playset of darkslick, Ima hafta test that. Lol at not hitting mutavault, "I'm EVERY creature type!"
December 31, 2016 4:57 p.m.
SwaggyMcSwagglepants says... #14
Double black is gross tho.
Wizards, just give us a Strix and Instant Target creature gets -5/-5 until eot
Maybe Grasp of Darkness? But still double black is gross. Agony Warp looks pretty good, especially since sultai plays a lot of beef
December 31, 2016 6:05 p.m.
I would like UB better as "counter target spell cmc 3 or less", a dimir version of decay, of sorts. I wouldn't mind the double black if it were truly universal, but even dismember has problems with some eldrazi and wurmcoil, let alone -4/-4. If agony warp's text read -0/-3 twice, that would be awesome. And prolly broken. Yeah definitely broken.
December 31, 2016 10:18 p.m.
jace vryn prodigy/architect of thought, fathom feeder, thought scour, serum visions, spell snare, mana leak, snapcaster, and vendilion clique
January 1, 2017 8:23 p.m.
SwaggyMcSwagglepants says... #17
Yeah. I also think we can go just midrange though since we have black path in AER.
I like the idea of Scooze/Tasigur so I can get a finer selection of cards I want.
MindAblaze says... #2
Delver and Gurmag Angler, Tas and Hooting Mandrills?
December 29, 2016 5:38 p.m.