protecting myself from Sowing Salt
Modern forum
Posted on Nov. 12, 2014, 9:48 a.m. by tyforthevenom
is there any way other than going Ghost Quarter my own land?
tyforthevenom says... #3
that does not matter, my deck mainly red green for actual colours but has access to all colours and lots of colourless mana
November 12, 2014 9:57 a.m.
Basically, you don't. It's like playing affinity, you end up forcing them to have it. But if they are full stop bringing in narrow hate cards then there's not a lot you can do to protect from it. It's just something you have to learn to accept for some decks. Sure, there might be some specific card that protects against it, but your sideboard slots are also valuable.
The best protection is that baring a weirdly tron heavy local meta no one is dedicating sideboard slots to Sowing Salt. Four mana double red keeps it out of many decks.
November 12, 2014 10:22 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #6
i'm the only tron at my meta these days and my deck beats most other players' decks so they board against me specifically
November 12, 2014 10:47 a.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #8
Countering it is one option... Targeted discard, Meddling Mage, Terra Eternal are other options.
November 12, 2014 1:26 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver Terra Eternal won't work in this specific case since Sowing Salt isn't destroying the targeted land.
November 12, 2014 1:44 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #10
Terra Eternal wouldn't help coz it'd be exiled still
November 12, 2014 1:44 p.m.
I would say you should try to get additional value out of whatever card you use to stop them... so maybe Arcane Spyglass or Shard Volley?
But my favourite would be to really surprise them... I would assume you already use Expedition Map...
As such, try using the bounce lands (Gruul Turf and their ilk.)
When they try to Sowing Salt... you crack the Expedition Map... get a bounce land, and return their target to your hand.
You lose nothing, they lose a 4CMC spell...
November 12, 2014 1:59 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #12
Rayenous major problem with your plan, the words "reveal it, put it into your hand"
November 12, 2014 2:06 p.m.
Expedition Map puts the land in your hand not onto the field I thought the same when playing against a friend who runs U tron and he was nice enough to be honest with the fact it doesn't work like that, it'd be too filthy otherwise. the best bet is some effect that counters it by either fragging your own land or bouncing it off a spell effect.
November 12, 2014 2:19 p.m.
frankly, the better plan is not how to deal with Sowing Salt, it's how to survive after it's cast. G/R tron doesn't prevent things, It rushes for Karn and Wurmcoil Engine, or whatever you are choosing to run. If you really want to prevent it, try switching to Blue Tron. Then you can just counter things all day.
As per usual with these kind of threads, seeing a decklist would be marginally more helpful.
November 12, 2014 2:20 p.m.
could Spellskite work? not sure since the skite would be incompatible with the spell being cast as an invalid target but i'll throw it out there for someone else who may know the answer.
November 12, 2014 2:21 p.m.
Yes, Spellskite's redirection would work and their spell would fizzle; same thing if someone casts Doom Blade on your Wild Mongrel and you discard a card to make it black until EoT - the spell is countered as it is an illegal target and nothing else happens.
November 12, 2014 2:37 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #18
you can't use the Redirect of Spellskite to change the target of a spell to an illegal target, it's against the rules of the game
November 12, 2014 2:51 p.m.
nevermind i looked up spellskite on the gatherer after the posting it says you can use its ability but because the target is invalid the targets of the spell will remain unchanged after the fact since it needs to target a land as opposed to a creature or artifact
November 12, 2014 2:52 p.m.
That is incorrect.
You can only redirect a spell to target Spellskite if the spell could legally target the Spellskite to begin with.
Changing the color of Wild Mongrel in response to a Doom Blade works because you are changing the attribute of the target.... with a Spellskite you are not changing the attributes, you are changing the target. The new target must be legal for the spell when the new target is chosen.
November 12, 2014 2:55 p.m.
....To clarify.... Spellskite's ability can be activated, targeting Sowing Salt, but the result would be that the target does not changes.
From Gatherer:
"You can activate Spellskite's ability even if Spellskite wouldn't be a legal target for the spell or ability. However, the target of that spell or ability will remain unchanged."
November 12, 2014 2:57 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #23
Since you're on RG Tron, the only real way is to have Ghost Quarter in play. You can also play a Llanowar Wastes and sideboard Slaughter Games if you're truly worried.
November 12, 2014 4:42 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #24
There's not really much you can do apart from generic hate like Slaughter Games.
gufymike says... #2
What are you playing?
November 12, 2014 9:56 a.m.