How to deal with Liliana of the Veil?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on May 5, 2017, 2:48 p.m. by Xica
Lately i have been tinkering with a deck that revolves around Madcap Experiment & Platinum Angel.
The angel dodges a surprising amount of removal in modern, as many people opt to play stuff like Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, Collective Brutality... etc.
Sadly there is Liliana of the Veil and her 2nd ability.
The deck can handle her if she is resolved late, via Earthquake redirect, Kher Keep's kobolds, but early game she just grows faster than i am able to damage her.
What options are to deal with a liliana resolved early game beside Imprisoned in the Moon for my deck?
Blood Angel's Pact <- Here is a link to it
I can't play any artifact answers, because i play Madcap Experiment, and if i manage to hit an artifact other than Platinum Angel the loss of ~30 life will cost me the game.
May 5, 2017 2:59 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #5
Alternatively you could run Mutavault or Wooded Foothills and Dryad Arbor?
Or even Faerie Conclave?
May 5, 2017 3:04 p.m. Edited.
Khayon7970 says... #6
There are not too many "anti-sacrifice" cards...
They are 1. Tajuru Preserver2. Sigarda, Host of Herons
Angel of Jubilation also prevents sacrifice in certain instances, but will not help you in this one
May 5, 2017 3:25 p.m.
Option 2 would be just don't let it resolve but that's just cheeky.
May 5, 2017 4:47 p.m.
Snapcaster Mage is really one of the best answers to Liliana of the Veil. If your opponent ups her, you discard a Lightning Bolt, flash it back at the end of their turn, then clock Liliana of the Veil with your Snapcaster Mage to kill her.
If they go for the -2, you flash in a Snapcaster Mage and sacrifice it.
Basically, it comes down to hanging onto Snapcaster Mage for stopping Liliana of the Veil, instead of using them right away like you normally would.
I'm not sure why you're only running 3, but bumping it up to 4 and cutting something else might be the best thing to do. That's especially considering how obnoxious Snapcaster Mage is with 0 mana spells, Cryptic Command, and Glorious End.
May 5, 2017 5:16 p.m.
Wilt-Leaf Liege, Loxodon Smiter are nice to play against her and of course Lingering Souls are a value house against her. Fetch into Dryad Arbor is always nice too.
May 5, 2017 5:17 p.m.
I don't get why you guys are suggesting Lightning Bolt as an answer... When a player plays a planeswalker, they always have priority to use their ability first. If you have Platinum Angel out and they play Liliana, there is not answer for not losing your creature. Unless you have another creature out, there is no removal spell that will beat her -2 because the player who played the planeswalker has priority to have their ability go off before your spell resolves.
As for having answers of killing Liliana before you play Plat Angel, lightning bolt isn't that effective unless your opponent uses her -2 as soon as she comes out. Dreadbore really is the best option, unless you do as sylvannos suggested, which would be to play Snapcaster Mage.
May 5, 2017 6:29 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #12
Lightning Bolt can still answer Lilly. Even if they -2 away a Platinum Angel it gets her off the board. If she stays, she can take over the game making recovering impossible.
Also I disagree about not wanting to use Pithing Needle because it interferes with cheating Platinum Angel into play. If it happens you still have the rest of the match to get the Angel.
Another alternative, again not in your colors is Suppression Field. It slows Lilly down quite a bit ...as well as Taz, ScOoze, and fetches.
May 5, 2017 7:50 p.m.
Dear APPLE01DOJ
You seem to have a dire misunderstanding about how Madcap Experiment works, it takes cards from the top of library until it finds an artifact, then puts an artifact in play, then i lose life equal to the number of cards it took from the top of library (somewhere around 20), then it puts the nonartifact cards on the bottom of the library.
Thus it necessitates that if you play Madcap Experiment you have to find Platinum Emperion (negates the life loss), or Platinum Angel (you can't lose the game thanks to negative life totals - or anything else).
If i manage to accidentally hit Pithing Needle with it i lose the game.
Liliana of the Veil is bad news becaue her 2nd ability, as once she ramps up enough loyalty i have hard time removing her, and if i cheat the angel in play with no other creatures in play, my opponent can just -2 liliana and i lose on the spot.
(Glorious End could save my sorry ass but that is not gonna happen below 7 mana, and at that time i could just blow up liliana with stuff like Earthquake anyway)
May 6, 2017 6:55 a.m.
Are Guerrilla Tactics or Burst Lightning good ideas against liliana, to warrant replacement of some bolts, or some place in the sideboard?
May 6, 2017 7:07 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #15
Funny I worked on a similar build when Experiment was spoiled. However, I think the Platinum Emperion use of Experiment is stronger. Hence why I never even considered building the deck
I run Pact of the Titan and Hive Mind for extra combos.
You could still run Leyline of Sanctity as it shuts down Liliana's minus ability, 8-rack, burn, storm and ad nauseam. No artifact so no worries with Experiment.
Wurmlover says... #2
Pithing Needle
May 5, 2017 2:53 p.m.