Which deck to use in a PPTQ?
Modern forum
Posted on June 20, 2017, 6:43 a.m. by GeminiSpartanX
So my local shop is holding a modern PPTQ next month, and I need to decide on a deck to use. I'm only 4 Death's Shadows away from owning Grixis Shadow, but I feel that I might not be able to get in enough reps once I get those cards to be proficient with that deck by the time the tournament starts. My other options include: Infect, UR Storm, Burn, GR Ponza, BW Tokens, Abzan Company (old version), Bogles, or if I just want to have fun, Cheerios or UB Mill. It's a lot of decks to choose from, but let me know which you think would be the best in an unknown meta. I'd like to have a good matchup vs death's shadow, affinity, and burn if possible with plenty of GY hate in the board for Living End, Storm and Dredge. Which would you pick?
Tally:
Burn- 5
Storm- 3
Grixis Shadow- 2
Abzan Company- 1
UBw Mill- 1
GeminiSpartanX says... #3
I unfortunately don't have the Devoted Druids to make that version of Abzan Company (hence the 'old version' label). However I'll start the tally with 1 vote each for Burn and Storm!
June 20, 2017 7:26 a.m.
Of all the ones you listed I think Storm has the highest chance of winning, but with a few tweaks that Esper Mill deck could be pretty competitive and rather difficult for people to effectively sideboard against because of how low radar it is.
June 20, 2017 9:19 a.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #6
I find that what you've mentioned about sideboarding against mill is often the case Zaueski! Unless their SB is packing Leyline of Sanctity that is. Which tweaks would you make Zaueski? I've been having decent success with storm lately, although I haven't finished 1st yet in a weekly modern event. There's always one loss each week that stains my perfect record lol
I'll add 1 vote for each of those decks!
June 20, 2017 9:29 a.m. Edited.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #7
Of those, burn and company seem like your best bet. Infect, storm, and bogles are really soft to the discard in shadow decks (storm less so than the others). BW Tokens is awful against anything eldrazi or tron or company. I don't know how ponza's matchups are, so I can't say how good that would be in an unknown meta.
June 20, 2017 9:33 a.m.
If the PPTQ meta is representative of the overall meta, I think Burn is probably your best bet. You can do battle against most of the top decks.
June 20, 2017 9:38 a.m.
The problem with Burn is a lot of sideboards pack a ton of specific counters to Burn (Thragtusk, Spellskite, Kitchen Finks, Wurmcoil Engine, Feed the Clan, etc). Not to say it doesn't work, but it's also one of those decks where if you're playing well and moving up the rankings and play against a very refined Eldrazi Aggro, Death's Shadow or Devoted Company deck and miss your 1 drop, you are more or less screwed.
June 20, 2017 9:49 a.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #10
ToolmasterOfBrainerd- I've noticed that many grixis shadow decks are skimping on the black discard. I've been seeing more lists go down to just the set of Thoughtseizes while omitting IoK's in favor of more removal/counters/etc. I've found BW Tokens to be really good against shadow, which is why I'm considering it, but it does fail against any version of Tron and some faster aggro/combo decks. It's main benefit is the traditional black/white control scheme- Push, Path, + 7 MD discard spells and good white SB cards. Ponza is good in any matchup where Blood Moon is good, but doesn't have much consistency if disrupted. I'm also hesitant to run old-school Company since grave hate seems to be on the rise again, although I know that the deck is perfectly capable of winning without the combo.
rothgar13- I'll put another vote for burn!
June 20, 2017 9:52 a.m.
@vishnarg: Even if true, look at the options presented. Bogles, Ponza, and Storm go belly-up against Shadow, Tokens goes belly-up against E-Tron, his Abzan Company list is out of date (and the deck has a massive target on its back), and Infect is more or less unplayable in a meta this fair. Burn stands the best chance against the field.
June 20, 2017 10:24 a.m. Edited.
GlistenerAgent says... #12
Burns not great, you are unfavored against both Grixis Shadow and Affinity, with Jund Shadow being a bit better but still solidly unfavorable. Eldrazi Tron is favorable but you seem less concerned about that deck. Company is your worst matchup, though less bad than before. Dredge is fine, but another deck choice can win more matches against that deck. The mirror is of course a toss up.
I would recommend playing Grixis Shadow. It's a good deck to learn if you intend on playing competitive Modern a lot this PPTQ season, and you can do well simply because the deck is very powerful. Just make sure to choose a good list and put thought into your flex slots.
June 20, 2017 2:15 p.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #14
GlistenerAgent- I thought burn was a decent choice against most forms of shadow decks. Do the 3-4 copies of Stubborn Denial in Grixis' 75 make that much of a difference in the MU?
I'm actively trying to get a set of Shadows on ebay, but there don't seem to be a ton of sets there. I'll be testing out the list linked above once I get them though.
One vote for Grixis Shadow, and another vote for Storm!
June 20, 2017 2:24 p.m. Edited.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
You can definitely win against Shadow (either variant), but you are fighting uphill against discard, Denial, Liliana (Jund), and of course their threats. If they stumble and can't clock you quickly, you can win the game.
I think Burn is still a reasonable choice. I'd go for that if you can't put Shadow together. I think the other options are simply weaker decks.
June 20, 2017 2:31 p.m.
I disagree with the assertion that Burn is unfavored against either variant of Shadow. It's a skill-intensive matchup, but my winrate against both in testing is very good.
June 20, 2017 2:47 p.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #17
rothgar13- I see you're listed as one who is familiar with Grixis Shadow on the list of Modern User Specialties. How do you feel about grixis shadow's position atm? Also, have you played grixis shadow against Sun & Moon? I lost to that deck last night as storm, and was wondering what that matchup is like from the Grixis side of things.
June 21, 2017 10:50 a.m.
I actually haven't gotten to play as Grixis Shadow against Sun and Moon yet. It's not a very common deck, especially online. That said, I can see it being problematic. Blood Moon is a problem, Gideon of the Trials is a problem, and Chalice of the Void can be a problem. Leyline of Sanctity coming out of the board will also be annoying. I think Game 1 is probably reasonable thanks to discard, but postboard games might be tough.
As far as the deck's positioning, it looks pretty reasonable at the moment. The tide is starting to turn in terms of decks like Death & Taxes packing dedicated hosers like Mirran Crusader, but overall the deck is just really tight and efficient, so it can sometimes overcome the hate. The only tech I'd recommend going forward are ways to deal with aggressive creature decks that go wide quickly - Elves, Humans, and Merfolk are examples of this. I like Kozilek's Return and Liliana, the Last Hope in those matchups.
June 21, 2017 11:25 a.m. Edited.
JexInfinite says... #19
I would run BW tokens, but the list you've provided is quite weak. Run Death's Shadow or Burn with mainboard tech.
June 21, 2017 1:14 p.m.
Bogles is terrible in the meta currently. Ponza is positioned well, but not sure if it could win a PPTQ especially against Dredge and Living end. It has a fairly good DS win % though.
Overall from those decks, I'd play Burn. Burn has traditionally had a good LE matchup, and the shadow matchup seems deece as well. Including GY hate seems easier than storm, so there's another benefit.
June 21, 2017 2:43 p.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #21
JexInfinite- How would you improve the BW tokens list (other than obviously adding Bitterblossom)? And what do you mean by adding MB tech with burn?
Bovine073- Another vote for burn! However, what do you mean when you say including GY hate is easier for burn than storm?
June 21, 2017 4:12 p.m.
What I mean is, Rest in Peace is a better GY hate card in most scenarios compared to relic or leyline, and the GY hate is better as there is less collateral damage.
June 21, 2017 4:22 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #23
GeminiSpartanX Auriok Champion, Bitterblossom, better sideboard cards. Relic is awful, sideboard Gideon does nothing, Duress is only good against Storm and you've got enough targeted discard mainboard, Anguished Unmaking is not a dead card, but it doesn't do a whole lot other than catching someone off guard.
vishnarg says... #2
Devoted Company is kind of a beast if you put it together right. Besides that, if I were you I'd go with Burn or UR Storm. I think those decks would all tend to do fairly well at one of those events.
June 20, 2017 6:58 a.m.