Wrench Mind in Modern?
Modern forum
Posted on May 18, 2016, 8:18 p.m. by aeonstoremyliver
As an Abzan player, I'm looking at Wrench Mind as a potential discard spell replacing a few Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek. I realize that Wrench Mind is horrible against Affinity... But what about the rest of the field? It's essentially a Hymn to Tourach for Modern, which is why it appeals to me.
Is it worth it? Will it hold it's Sowing Salt against other Tier One decks?
I won't say I have any experience with the deck, so don't take my advice as fact.
That being said, I think the strength of the discard in Abzan is better suited for dealing with individual threats; you have a lot of 2-for-1s or simply better 1-for-1 game, so it could be a good sideboard option. I feel like against a lot of decks you want to be turn 2 Goyf turn 3 Liliana; the Wrench Mind doesn't quite have the spot and stretches your mana base so the burn cards you are discarding basically did their damage form all the fetch/shock you've done.
I probably wouldn't slot it in, but try it and see how it goes!
May 18, 2016 8:26 p.m.
KillDatBUG says... #4
Mind Rot is a horrible Magic card. Why would you want to play a cheaper version of Mind Rot with a downside?
May 18, 2016 9:43 p.m. Edited.
I will say that it is a bad card mainboard but you could try siding a couple copies against combo decks to try to poop on their hand. Its not really spectacular but its not the worst option in the world. Also it is SIGNIFICANTLY worse than hymn dont compare those two the fact that one is random and one is a choice is the difference between one of the most powerful cards and an alright card.
May 18, 2016 11:58 p.m.
Wrench Mind is a good card. Comparing it to Mind Rot is just as ridiculous as comparing it to Hymn to Tourach.
The problem is, an Abzan/Jund player shouldn't be playing a discard spell on turn 2. Turn 1 (with TS and IoK) and T3 (with Liliana) are when you do that. T2 is for playing an early threat that demands immediate response (Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Scavenging Ooze). I mean, if you strip the opponent of their single Path to Exile on your first turn and can land a 3/4 Tarmogoyf on the next, who cares what else they have in hand?
May 19, 2016 1:52 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #7
The problem is, unlike Thoughsieze, Inquisition, or Hymm, they get to choose what cards to discard. You cannot remove their combo piece, removal spell,or threat from their hand unless thay only have 2 cards in hand, and thats just not good.
May 19, 2016 2:48 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #8
KillDatBUG if Mind Rot is horrible, then why is Hymn to Tourach being played in legacy (a much faster format mind you), if having your opponent's discard 2 cards is "bad", I don't want to be right.
I feel like Wrench Mind is meh in modern. The Artifact clause may come up more than you think. Just about every deck runs some number of Spellskite. Tron runs a ton of artifacts. Thopter/Sword combo is again a thing. Tezzerator is a viable deck. Affinity of course. All I know, is that the meta right now is too diverse to use Wrench Mind. Yes I understand the last open had few showings of Affinity or Thopter/Sword because there was a bunch of testing with Nahiri and Kalitas. But Affinity is still a tier 1 deck. Thopter/Sword hasn't had its breakout weekend yet. And Spellskite...enough said. Plus, in Abzan, I'd just rather have 2-3 Thoughtseize and 3-4 Inquisition of Kozilek take care of bizzzzness.
May 20, 2016 12:14 a.m.
UpperDeckerTaco Mind Rot is indeed horrible. Hymn to Tourach sees play because 1) It is cheaper, and 2) It is a random discard. Mind Rot isn't even used in 8-Rack decks, whose entire gameplan is discard.
As for Wrench Mind, the artifact clause is not usually a huge deal. In an Abzan deck you are not going to be firing off this bad boy on turn 2 when they have 5+ cards in their hand. You still want to land your turn 2 threat. You would be playing this late game when they have 2-3 cards in their hand. I play it in 8-Rack, so obviously I like the card, but it is definitely a powerful effect.
May 20, 2016 1:23 a.m.
Its not terrible, stating that Spellskite is in a lot of decks as a downside to this card is just dumb. Its a sideboard card more often than not, i doubt people would mainboard it against this card, and even then most don't run 4.
The problem is that its ~useless early game, or against players with full hand.
But i could see it work in a control shell for late game (definietly not 4 copies of course.)
APPLE01DOJ says... #2
I've been running 4x Thoughtseize and 4x Wrench Mind in a few of my decks. I'm quite happy with it.
May 18, 2016 8:25 p.m.