[Community Discussion]: Modern Chat
Modern forum
Posted on April 25, 2015, 8:42 p.m. by Epochalyptik
This thread is dedicated entirely to Modern. Feel free to post your thoughts on the meta, ideas for your next decklist, and just chat generally about the format!
Of course, you can always start a new thread if you're interested in discussing one particular aspect of the format; this thread should be used for the quick thoughts and informal questions about the format.
This discussion will be ongoing; you are free to post here as long as you're on topic.
This is NOT a deck help thread. Please do not spam deck help requests.
Considering I dont need to play 3 colors, JexInfinite. :P And I do it without fetches... Course I am using a 
ability... but.. eh..
April 29, 2015 4:21 a.m.
I think I need to switch away from burn and go zoo with the few pieces I bought.. and have.. like a Domri Rade.
April 29, 2015 4:38 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #4
Big Zoo should work. (But try Tribal Zoo, because then you can be super greedy with your mana, and get especially screwed by Blood Moon.)
Big Zoo is pretty decent, though I prefer Small Zoo in terms of playability, because it can often be faster than a burn deck.
April 29, 2015 4:41 a.m.
JexInfinite I keep trying to go zoo for some reason and always forget.. Tarmogoyf...
(Also I hate tribal zoo just cause Siege Rhino is jammed into it.. Id go Naya probably..)
The real problem I face is losing to my own deck... Not losing to others.. There is just nothing to solve with burn.. Vexing Devil is just so bad... and its price despite it not being popular I dont understand.. No way to draw cards..
I must be playing it wrong..
April 29, 2015 5:10 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #6
Ryotenchi Are you saying that you're putting Vexing Devil in Zoo, or other people are? Because that's just wrong. Vexing Devil is not a card you should be playing in Zoo. It can work, sure, but more often than not, it's a Flame Slash to the face. Not worth losing a value creature in the deck.
What Lantern from MTGSalvation likes to do is play utility creatures, like Scooze, Qasali Pridemage, and Grim Lavamancer, which works alright. Knight of the Reliquary and Steppe Lynx also work as a wombo-combo.
April 29, 2015 5:15 a.m.
No... Running it in Burn..
Burn is what Im working with.. and I love what Im doing different with it.. but hate that it runs out of gas and fizzles.. Currently looking through all the mtgtop8... Found this crazy dude maining a 1 of Soulfire Grand Master... too bad that didnt stick around.. :( I could get it modified into a assassin's creed reference..
April 29, 2015 5:24 a.m.
Might as well test it... It dropped off the face of the earth in February.. clearly its unplayable.. but its also still 17$. >.>
...and Im only considering it as a 1 of for the buy back and as a 4 drop creature... when I can respond to its removal..
April 29, 2015 5:33 a.m.
I'm sorry but if you're looking to innovate you should probably not be playing burn.
April 29, 2015 6:57 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #10
What Chief said.
Find an interaction and just go with it. Build around it. I tried making the previously mentioned Righteousness + Bushi Tenderfoot. Didn't work out so well. But it did give rise to a decent first strike/double strike aggro deck. Realizing that Basilisk Collar and simple Giant Growth effects are awesome with 2/2 first strikers. Going Naya so I can run Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. Currently iffy on Test of Faith and Colossal Might. I just really like Test of Faith's ability to make a 2/2 first striker into a 5/5 first striker. Give it double strike and BAM! Chuck on some trample and win.
April 29, 2015 7:04 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #11
ChiefBell Definitely. Trying to force Tasigur in burn didn't work out great. It worked, but not great, and felt a little too restrictive on how to play the games. The closest thing to innovation with burn is trying different colours for a great sideboard, and Naya just does the best job of it.
If you play Zoo, you can innovate. There is a lot to work with, and sometimes playing Bitterblossom in a Zoo deck might pay off.
April 29, 2015 7:12 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #12
I feel like janky naya (But fun.) aggro isn't comparable to tier one burn but I kinda get what you're saying.
More or less that burn builds itself and you can't edit thw deck too much without compromising the effectiveness of the strategy.
April 29, 2015 7:13 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #13
Sorry if that sounded a tad hostile, Not my intentions.
April 29, 2015 7:18 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #14
bijschjdbcd That's basically it. Burn is a deck which very much plays itself. The required skill level to play the deck is low compared to the rest of the format, and every deck will run the same 40 or so base cards.
Zoo, on the other hand, has no shell, apart from Bolts, Nacatls and 1 mana 2/3s.
April 29, 2015 7:18 a.m.
@ JexInfinite I partly agree with you. Playing burn is easy. However if you want to play burn perfectly it's one of the most skill-intensive decks you can play. (And only players who constantly lose against burn but never played it before argue otherwise).
April 29, 2015 7:36 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #16
@Putrefy I would argue that Affinity and Faeries are also at the top of most skill intensive decks.
April 29, 2015 7:40 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #17
Fae? Care to elaborate.
Affinity couldn't agree more.
April 29, 2015 7:42 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #18
Putrefy I think it goes without saying that most modern decks require you to understand them fully for you to master them. For a player going into modern from standard, Burn is a good option, because it's cheap, and easy to learn. Playing Twin requires you to know the format, and know what you're doing. With burn, you just play spells, and win.
Burn certainly takes a while to learn, but something like Amulet Combo, Pod, and control have a higher skill cap. Burn is not one of the most skill intensive decks, but it still requires a decent amount of concentration and awareness to pilot it well.
lemmingllama I would agree that Affinity is very skill intensive, along with Storm, and Pod. Since Pod is no longer around, and nobody plays Storm, Affinity is currently one of the most skill intensive decks, easily in the top 3.
April 29, 2015 7:45 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #20
Fae doesn't seem to be any more skill intensive than UWR Geist is.
April 29, 2015 7:46 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #21
Whoa, wait a sec, "nobody plays Storm"? That's definitely not true. On Untap alone, about 10% of my modern games are Storm decks.
April 29, 2015 7:47 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #22
FAMOUSWATERMELON And I also play against vampires on untap. Storm is not prevalent at all in the modern meta.
April 29, 2015 7:48 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #23
Storm is under represented in the moder. format as a whole.
April 29, 2015 7:49 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #24
MTGTop8 says Storm is the third most prevalent Combo deck, above Scapeshift and Infect. So no, I would say it has a decent place in the current meta.
April 29, 2015 7:50 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #25
If I wanted to play Storm, I probably would, but it's not particularly fun for the opponent, nor is it difficult for the opponent. It's not on the level of eggs, but you either win, or whiff.
April 29, 2015 7:51 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #26
For traditional UR Storm, yes. As you mentioned though, other types of Storm (eggs, Jeskai Ascendancy) require a lot of decision making to work. It's never going to be fun for your opponents though :)
April 29, 2015 7:55 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #28
And that, my friends, is now a site requirement for every affinity deck. They must all use the Etched Champion breathing gif, because look how awesome that is.
April 29, 2015 8:18 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #29
You know what I just realized? That in this animation of Etched Champion and presumably the card itself, The blue mana circle is the one that is covered up. Is this WotC hinting that they are giving the big middle finger to blue in modern? If so, then white is the next colour, with WotC like Red, Green and then black.
April 29, 2015 8:20 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #31
Femme_Fatale WHAT IS THIS SORCERY!
Is there one for Mana Leak? That would be the sickest thing.
April 29, 2015 8:22 a.m.
Yeh yeh. Illuminati confirmed.
BGx used to be hard to play. Pre rhino. Back in the good old days.
April 29, 2015 8:22 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #34
I really admired the deck design of pre-Rhino BGx. Rhino sort of just turned it into a more complex midrange deck, rather than an attrition based control deck which won with midrange elements.
April 29, 2015 8:28 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #35
@bijschjdbcd Faeries is hard due to the sheer number of decisions you need to make. If you mess up on a counter/hand disrupt/let them kill your creatures/etc, you just lose. You can't win with Faeries without playing a very tight game.
@JexInfinite Oh right! I forgot all about Bloom Titan, that is definitely up there for most difficult deck.
April 29, 2015 8:41 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #36
I feel like that speaks for the power level of the deck more than anything.
April 29, 2015 8:43 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #37
I'm with bijschjdbcd. From that description, you have to work for your wins with Fae, rather than needing to know the deck in and out completely, and understanding every interaction, and when to play your spells.
Fae is comparable to Geist decks. It can get out of hand, and compete pretty well against a lot of decks, but it's really just a glorified aggro deck with counterspells.
April 29, 2015 9:07 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #38
I like Geist sodeboard to bring in against Control decks.
April 29, 2015 9:10 a.m.
I like Geist mainboard to wreck kids (and other demographics).
April 29, 2015 9:27 a.m.
ChiefBell... Like I would innovate anything.. Im mearly attempting to make it playable..
If I want to play something Ill lose with.. why dont I just go dig up 40 of whatever card and 20 of whatever card and go to fnm and hope those cards are all legal..
I think Im switchin to skred.. see if I can do anything with it.
April 29, 2015 3:42 p.m.
slovakattack says... #42
Are we talking about difficult Modern decks?
4-gifts is something I play a lot, and I'd be wrong not to at least mention it in contention for one of the more difficult decks out there. The mana base choices are extremely punishing, and it's namesake, Gifts Ungiven is a real mental workout for both you and your opponent.
April 29, 2015 3:46 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #43
April 29, 2015 3:47 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #44
Also you'll find that most people advise against it but I personally like Needle Drop in burn. If you build Jund burn it'll work better than Naya.
April 29, 2015 3:52 p.m.
slovakattack says... #46
You should splash blue, and run Treasure Cruise. No idea why people aren't using that card, it's really strong, even if it's a common.
April 29, 2015 3:56 p.m.
I heard something about that card being good.
In other news there are so many cards I want to build around in modern. Predator Ooze and Blood Baron of Vizkopa come to mind.
I also want to do simic control. 4x Tarmogoyf, 4x Snapcaster Mage, 4x Eternal Witness, counterspells.
JexInfinite says... #1
The mana in modern is really, really good, which also makes Shadow of Doubt way better. Not playing 3 colours will hurt you, but not being able to get that third colour is worse. Sniping fetches is more legit than Tectonic Edge right now.
April 29, 2015 4:05 a.m.