Karn locked my deck (and threw away the key...)
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 21, 2019, 6:35 p.m. by loricatuslupus
Ok, so quick disclaimer: this is not a post about how to get out from under the oppressive Karn, the Great Creator + Mycosynth Lattice combo. Sorry.
Instead I want to talk about what he's done to my deck (E-Tron, obviously). I was drawn to playing this because it fed my Timmy love of casting giant creatures such as Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger , made for some interesting choices about what to use my limited interaction on and had the possibility of getting my single copy of Karn Liberated out on turn three. At it's heart, though, it still felt like a fair deck - I cast stuff with mana from lands instead of cheating it out; my beatdown creatures could all be countered/killed and crafty opponents could play around Chalice of the Void . I got to try out Walking Ballista and Sorcerous Spyglass while adapting to play against Damping Sphere and Field of Ruin . The deck changed a bit and I'm absolutely convinced that's the sign of a healthy meta. Then War of the Spark hit and suddenly there was a new golden boy in town, who looked suspiciously silver. Almost everyone seems to see Karn and his wish-board as the next natural evolution for the deck, but I'm not so sure. Bringing in a playset of the K-man plus the mana rocks to cast him consistently on turn three means losing a lot of the payoff cards that make Eldrazi Tron what it is, and of course the sideboard is completely different. It's more like a new archetype that happens to share a lot of cards.
Am I just being sentimental for not wanting to change my deck and play with the new hotness, especially when said hotness is crushing out there? People have asked me why I'm not running Karn-lock, suggesting that by choosing not to do so I am actively making my deck worse. Do you think they're right? Is Modern too fast for a "fair" deck trying to cast fatties on a the turn it could just be stopping anyone else playing Magic?
Sorry for the long post, but I only recently realised how conflicted I was about this because I watched someone playing the deck online and caught myself thinking "wow, what an oppressive and un-fun strategy. I'd hate to play it. Wait, according to the deck name, I do..."
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #3
There are players who think Karn isn't the place to be. Including the most recent mythic champion winner, although he was on G Tron rather than E-Tron. Karn does have its downsides, such as the payoff being delayed an extra turn and no built-in protection. Some games he's a 4 mana wish spell that gains 3 life, which isn't that good unless your Ensnaring Bridge on the next turn is game-winning.
Oh, and as a Grixis Midrange player who suffered through Eldrazi Winter, Eldrazi will always be an oppressive and unfun strategy to me. But don't take it to heart; I've stolen a few wins from Eldrazi in the mean time, so I'm a little over it. Recently I have even toyed with eldrazi strategies.
But, as a midrange player, I can answer your question: Yes, modern is too fast for midrange decks. Somehow Jund is seeing play right now, but I suspect that's more parts nostalgia than the deck being good. Luckily, starting next week, after the bannings, modern should hopefully slow down.
August 21, 2019 7:14 p.m.
loricatuslupus says... #4
Thanks, they're both great answers that reaffirm my faith in the deck just as much as they make me concerned that the format may be the issue.
xtechnetia yeah having a static ability on walkers was a good idea in itself but just absolutely skyrockets their value on the board of they stick: especially the ones you mention because they're just so brutally one sided. Narset is actually quite an interesting case in Legacy but that's another matter.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd I totally feel for you, there is absolutely no way I'd argue for bringing back Eye of Ugin! I still feel that my deck is less oppressive than Hogaak or even Pheonix, neither of which really care what you are doing at all. Funny you should mention Jund as while it's not a great match-up for me (especially post-board) I'd still rather pay against that and lose after playing an actual game. There's no chance of them banning Karn - and, in fact, that's not what I want at all - but I'm eternally hopeful that they'll continue the trend of unbanning cards like SFM so that we can see other builds on the mix.
August 22, 2019 2:02 a.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #5
With Hogaak running rampant in Modern, it doesn't matter what you play...if it ain't Hogaak, your deck isn't fast enough to compete. Sorry, just the way it is right now with Hogaak seeing a nearly 75% win rate on MTGO, if you want to play competitively, it's either play Hogaak, or wait until it gets the BAN HAMMER to try out your "fair" deck.
xtechnetia says... #2
You're definitely not alone in your sentiment. I absolutely despise the WAR "curse walkers" (Narset/Teferi/Karn are the biggest offenders) for what they do to gameplay.
As for how suboptimal it is to not play the Karn/Lattice combo, I'm not knowledgeable enough to say.
But if you're not deadset on playing to win at all costs, I'd just play the version of the deck that you enjoy. Magic's still a game and while the deck matters, so does skill and experience. At a local level I'm sure you can get wins just by knowing your deck better than people jumping between new trends.
August 21, 2019 7:13 p.m.