Gaddock Teeg in Modern?

Modern forum

Posted on June 12, 2014, 5:13 p.m. by nbarry223

I've been considering using Gaddock Teeg as a modern sideboard card for a while now. However, I just don't see him being all that useful against too many decks. Sure, he might buy me a turn or more against Splinter Twin since they have to remove him first, but I just don't really see any decks he "hoses" since the ones he does hurt have a lot of removal for the otherwise vanilla 2/2.

I'm just looking for opinions on what match ups he'd actually be useful in, what cards he actually does stop (that see a decent amount of play in the format) that type of thing.

Thank you in advance for your time/advice! (hopefully)

vampirelazarus says... #2

Well, he makes it so pod can't play pod, or Chord of Calling . But they can still kill him super easily.

It stops Tron from playing Karn Liberated , Keening Stone . And I'm not sure how they would deal with him, other than ramp further into an Eldrazi.

June 12, 2014 5:18 p.m.

Blakkhand says... #3

It seems fine against a lot of decks, but spectacular against none.

Also, vampirelazarus, since when does tron play Keening Stone ?

June 12, 2014 5:23 p.m.

vampirelazarus says... #4

Oops, wrong one. Meant Oblivion Stone .

June 12, 2014 5:24 p.m.

vampirelazarus says... #5

Which it doexnt stop.

June 12, 2014 5:25 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #6

Red/Green Tron usually has some form of Pyroclasm or other boardwipe that could deal with him. I do like the idea of hitting Birthing Pod where it hurts too, keep them coming.

June 12, 2014 5:26 p.m.

Gaddock Teeg is commonplace in Hatebears sideboards.

June 12, 2014 5:37 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #8

Blakkhand

Mind giving examples? The only cards that see a lot of play that I'm aware of so far are:

Splinter Twin

Cryptic Command

Karn Liberated

Birthing Pod

Gifts Ungiven

Sphinx's Revelation

Through the Breach

in that order of scariness pretty much...

Anything else my list is missing?

June 12, 2014 5:38 p.m.

By the way. The argument that deck x has answer y for card z is irrelevant in most cases as almost every top tier deck has some kind of answer to a hate card that is relevant against it.

June 12, 2014 5:41 p.m.

Blakkhand says... #10

Most decks have a few cards he stops, but not a lot. UWR has cryptics, verdicts, and occasionally some revs. Pod has pods and chords. Twin has twin and cryptics. Even affinity has a few Thoughtcast s.

June 12, 2014 5:48 p.m.

Blakkhand says... #11

Almost forgot, Teeg is also somewhat useful against Scapeshift.

June 12, 2014 5:51 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #12

fluffybunnypants

I understand that. Even so, it is better to have than a Scavenging Ooze against certain decks which is the same basic hate slot. I'm just trying to figure out if it is better than my current Turntimber Basilisk as a "replacement" body for when main deck cards aren't as useful as I'd like.

Turntimber Basilisk serves as a pseudo-boardwipe right now (combine with Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion and multiple landfalls for best results), and an attack deterrent against some of the more zoo-like decks.

It's not like I'm going to be fetching him up with a Summoner's Pact because he's that useful, but I'd like to draw into a 2/2 with a relevant effect rather than a useless effect, essentially making it a vanilla creature.

June 12, 2014 6:04 p.m.

nbarry223 : In your Vigor Combo deck right?

June 12, 2014 6:35 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #14

Yes

June 12, 2014 6:44 p.m.

I would say maybe in the sideboard if you really wanted to as Scooze generally has more utility.

June 12, 2014 6:53 p.m.

nbarry223 says... #16

yes, I am only considering it for the sideboard, as I don't see teeg as useful enough for the mainboard in the current modern meta that is all about low CMC spells.

June 12, 2014 7:26 p.m.

Teeg alongside Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is pretty wicked.

June 12, 2014 7:30 p.m.

sylvannos says... #18

If you're in an aggro deck, Gaddock Teeg is a really powerful sideboard option. Not only does it stop the cards nbarry223 mentioned, Gaddock Teeg also stops:

...basically all of the problematic combo cards and board wipes in the format.

June 14, 2014 4:08 a.m.

nbarry223 says... #19

From that list, Ad Nauseam is the only one that concerns me, even though I haven't seen it in quite some time, and possibly Scapeshift to a lesser extent.

It looks like he pulls more weight than I initially thought, but I am still not totally sold on him, mainly because I used to have him in there, and he honestly rarely ever saw play. And when he did, he died the turn he resolved, or the turn after...

I think I should give him another shot though, as I see it as a mini-answer to a lot of combo decks, while it doesn't hurt mine at all (only card I currently run that he stops is a singleton of Tooth and Nail which I can easily move out). The only question is what to cut for him...

June 14, 2014 4:33 a.m.

This discussion has been closed