Midrange/Tempo or contol. Izzet a thing?
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 29, 2015, 1:38 p.m. by PValBlanc
So I really enjoy the flavour of Izzet, and I'm definately one of those terrible people who love countermagic. I've seen tons of lists for Izzet burn or aggro. But being more of a control player, I was wondering if midrange/tempo Izzet is or could be a viable thing in modern?
I mean, you just missed the boat (lolgetit) on UR Delver now that Cruise is banned, but UR Twin was a tier one deck, and probably is going to go back to being tier 1 now that Delver is bad again. Twin is a combo deck for sure, but it gets to its combo by tempoing people out with counterspells and card draw. As far as control goes, you'd want to go american, or maybe esper now with the new reprinted fetch lands.
Of course, there's nothing stopping you from going Izzet midrange. But it's going to be a brew. And that isn't a bad thing, but it won't be nearly as competitive as the other defined top dogs.
January 29, 2015 3:48 p.m.
I might brew, if only for shits and giggles. That said kyuuri117, any thoughts on what control deck is more likely to come out on top in the new meta between esper and jeskai?
P.S: got it, I love me a good pun.
January 29, 2015 4:11 p.m.
Haha, umm. I think that since most people who play control in modern probably already have American control sleeved up, it might have an edge over Esper, which would be a new deck. Lightning Helix and Lightning Bolt are big upsides. That said, Thoughtseize is also fantastic. Honestly? I think it depends on the meta. If jund is huge and people are slamming Dark Confidants and Tarmogoyfs, american will probably be better as it has the better removal suite. If Combo decks like Twin take off, then having Thoughtseize will be invaluable. My advice, is to buy the white/blue aspects of the deck (as those wont' change), wait a bit and see whats being played, and fill in the rest as needed.
January 29, 2015 4:14 p.m.
Delver was good before Treasure Cruise. Treasure Cruise just made the deck God-Tier instead of 1.5/2. Part of the reason Delver struggled before was its match against Birthing Pod, which is now banned.
But if you really like more of a midrange deck, Splinter Twin probably does a better job at fitting your playstyle. The deck was good even with Treasure Cruise in the format, it just fell out of flavor because it shares most of its cards with Delver. In other words, if you owned a Splinter Twin deck, you owned a Delver deck.
January 29, 2015 5:45 p.m.
I can see the argument for UR twin, but honestly, combo isn't really my thing. Combo is just too fragile in general. One surgical extraction is GG. I prefer something a bit more resilient. So I think I'll brew something, with keranos and that UR creature whose power is equal to the amount of instants/sorceries in you graveyard. There's something to do with that, and brewing is fun.
January 29, 2015 5:59 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #9
Spellheart Chimera is pretty bad in modern. It dies to literally every piece of creature removal in the format and it doesnt affect the board the turn it comes down.
Also 
twin is more of a tempo/burn deck with an oops i win clause. It also plays countermagic like Remand and Dispel to protect their Deceiver Exarchs the turn they try to go off. They have enough cantrips, Snapcaster Mages, Lightning Bolts, and (now that Treasure Cruise is out) Grim Lavamancers to finish the game if the twin exarch plan fails. You can also play 16 combo pieces if you go to an american variant with Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch Restoration Angel Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin to prevent a surgical extraction or extirpate loss.
January 29, 2015 6:21 p.m.
@PValBlanc: That's the thing about Splinter Twin though...it's a tempo/midrange deck that just so happens to have an infinite combo it can kill you with out of nowhere.
January 29, 2015 7:19 p.m.
True, I briefly considered playing the URG version of twin. But not having access to buckets of gold, a playset of goyfs is out of my budget.
January 29, 2015 7:36 p.m.
I'm on Grixis Twin and I have found it to be great. 3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang and 2 Terminate are the only black cards in the main but I have some nice SB cards in Deathmark, Rakdos Charm and Slaughter Games that really help out against opposing combo decks and grinding Rock(B/G/x) decks. It's a light splash but it really gives you the option of playing longer games if needed, and Tas cost a lot less then Goyfs :)
My deck for reference: Grixis Midrange-Twin
bigguy99 says... #2
Well, not really. UR is generally either a control deck that would be better run as UWR or a Twin deck.
January 29, 2015 1:39 p.m.