beardfulstrix

[beardfulstrix]

1+1+1=7

My first ever Modern deck was Tron.

While Eldrazi Tron is currently top of the (Urza’s) Tower, it was Big Tron, or Mono-G Tron, that gave me my first taste of competitive Magic.  I would soon learn just how polarising the Tron deck was (is) amongst the Magic community, but back then it was the low-cost mana base (relatively speaking) that made it the choice for me.  Fetches and Shocks were a world away from my initial budget but I was assured that Tron was competitive.

Perhaps it was.  But not necessarily the version I was running.  Not for me the fully tricked-out, stock list.  Not even a partly tricked-out list if truth be told.

There were no Karns or Ugins for this noob.  Instead, I was running such Modern staples as ‘Bane of Bala Ged’ and ‘Myr Battlesphere’.  The confusion on my opponents’ faces when they saw me tapping my natty-Tron for 7-mana on turn 3, only to be facing down a shambling ball of Myrs.  I also had a number of Steel Hellkites, which I have to confess, I still believe is underrated.

Of course, Oblivion Stone is ubiquitous in good Tron lists.  As is clear, mine was not a good Tron list and even O-stones were out of my immediate range.  Instead, I had to make do with ‘Perilous Vault’.  There’s a good chance you don’t know it, because it’s just so much worse than Oblivion Stone.  Just compare the two for rate and efficiency and you’ll see the sort of quality gap my list had over its more established brothers and sisters.

I did have a couple of Walking Ballista though, that I’d actually pulled from Aether Revolt boosters - the most recent set in Standard when I started playing Magic.

Fast-forward a couple of years and my Tron list has been lovingly updated over a number of iterations.  So now it’s pretty stock, with the requisite Karns, Ugins and Ulamogs etc.  The only real question now, is should I be running Once upon a Time or not?

I have to say that the advice I got in the early days about Tron being competitive has stood me in good stead.  It has its bad match-ups of course.  And it has its very good ones.  But all in all, it will always have a chance in a broad field and, yes; sometimes is does just do some ridiculously Tron-like things.  Karn, into Ugin, into Ulamog.

Tron will always have a place near to my heart.  And that’s why I struggle to understand the scale of the hatred and vitriol it comes in for.  As a Tron pilot, of course I know that its best draws can seem broken and unfair.  But whilst ‘Turn 3 Tron’ is often labelled ‘game winning’ - it isn’t actually.  Yes, Karn Liberated on turn 3 can effectively end a game, but not literally.  Compare that to some of the decks we’ve come across in the 3 years that I’ve been playing.

Storm - turn 2 win occasionally; turn 3 win regularly KCI - Turn 2 win regularly - through disruption Burn - Turn 3 win occasionally Hogak - Turn 3 win Ad Nauseum - Turn 2 win with Thassa’s Oracle NeoBrand - Turn 1 win occasionally; turn 2 win regularly ... and all the other broken and busted things I’m not remembering right now ...(pretty sure Hollow One was capable of a Turn 3 win..?)

What I’m getting at is despite all of this ‘ships passing in the night’ rhetoric around the Modern format, it is Tron that is perennially named the bad boy of the format.

Watching people happily lose on turn 1 to Allusaurus Rider into Neoform; only to get super salty when I lead off with Urza’s Mine into Expedition Map is genuinely puzzling.

Plus, Tron is easy to disrupt.  Spell Pierce, Thoughtsieze, Disdainful Stroke; or any disenchant / stony silence effect on our maps or eggs can slow us down considerably.  And that’s before you set your sights on disrupting the actual mana!  Blood Moon, Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Alpine Moon, Damping Sphere, Fulminator Mage - all capable of busting up Tron.  And then there’s Surgical Extraction and Crumble to Dust for those that take their tron-hate particularly seriously.

Take a look down any “which card should be banned next” list, or, “which card should never have been printed” and you’ll regularly see Urza’s Tower amongst the most vehement clamouring.  Those shouting loudest are often the same people that call for Eldrazi Temple to be banned because it leads to busted plays - and yet are perfectly happy with the printing of Mystic Sanctuary so they can loop Deprive / Cryptic Command repeatedly.  Horses for courses I say; live and let live.

Clearly, I’m no expert on the Magic meta-game but I tend to agree (obvious bias noted) with those commentators that believe that having Tron around is good for the broader health of the format.  But others may disagree.

In any event, I’ll continue to fly the Tron flag.  Maybe not every week - because as regular readers will have noted, I’m curating a shortlist of 3 Modern decks to focus in on - Tron therefore being one of the three that I’ll be looking to get reps in with. But you never forget your first!

Tune in next time for discussion of deck number 2.  This one does run Fetch lands, albeit the cheapest ones; not that this was the deciding factor in me picking it up.  But more on that next time.

Beardful Strix   

[beardfulstrix]

Making the cut - ‘the Big 3′

As per my previous post, I’m giving serious consideration to ‘settling down’.  Currently, I have at least six viable, established modern decks I could pick up (rising to about 10 with a bit of creativity and making a few key purchases).  And the temptation to keep running them all in some sort of random rotation has proved too hard for me to resist thus far.

But I want to be a better player.  Part of that is just being a better player ... studying more, learning more of the cards that I don’t play with but that are features of the decks I’m facing.  Slowing down in making my decisions.  Reading my opponent’s cards more thoroughly so I understand their impact beyond just the current board state.  Acknowledging which cards in my opponent’s deck I’ll need to account for in sideboarding - and making a note so that I don’t blank when it actually comes to sideboarding.  I need to do all of these things better - because, I am not a very good Magic the Gathering player at the moment.

The other thing I need to do is to become proficient in the decks I’m playing.  And that means narrowing my ‘go-to’ decks to the ones that I either really, genuinely enjoy playing (even if they aren’t the strongest decks in the meta), or those decks that I feel have a chance of posting a winning record, and that I have some experience in playing.

So, how to choose.  Firstly, it’s worth categorising the decks I have access to.  I’m using three categories:

1)  Fun (decks I just enjoy).  These may have win equity but I like them mainly for their play style.  Mostly, non-tier.

2)  Solid (decks that can post wins in most fields).  Usually acknowledged archetypes or decks that have free-win percentage against certain other decks.

3)  A bit of both (decks that I enjoy playing but that also are known decks with reasonable win chances)

In camp one (1) I have access to:

- Colussus Hammer combo - Eldrazi & Taxes - Death & Taxes (Mono W) - GW Hatebears - Martyr Proc (mono W) - RG Eldrazi (Eldrazi obligator) - Polymorph (transformative sideboard)

In camp two (2)

- UW control (T3feri / Narset / JTMS) - Esper control (Esper Charm / Snapcaster / Cryptic) - Jeskai Saheeli (Saheeli Rai / Felidar combo in Jeskai control shell)

In camp three (3)

- Eldrazi Tron - Mono G Tron - RG Ponza

The first thing you’ll notice is that there are no, what I’d call. ‘obvious’ choices - with maybe the exception of Tron.  What I mean is there are none of the decks that you regularly see competing in the finals of GPs or SCG-tours etc.  No ‘Humans’, or ‘Death’s Shadow’, no ‘Prime-time’ decks or ‘urza’ builds.  That’s due mainly to my bias of not wanting to play ‘tier decks’ and not being a ‘try hard’.  A strategy that I realise I’ll need to overcome if I want to develop a winning record at this game.

You’ll probably have noticed that camp 2 - those decks that are ‘good and solid’ and capable of winning, but aren’t necessarily what I’d call fun - are where I list the control strategies.  Fair to say then, that whilst I appreciate the power level of a good control deck, I don’t consider myself a control-mage.  I’m neither skilled enough to pilot, nor enjoy playing it enough as a strategy, to overcome this skill shortfall.  Safe to assume then, that control decks won’t make it into my shortlist.

Of those in camp 1, I am willing to concede that ‘Colossus Hammer’ is purely a meme deck, so won’t be in consideration.  As for the combination of ‘Taxes’ and ‘Hatebears’ decks - they are capable of winning games but they just seem to be under-powered in the current Modern meta-game and again, I’m not a skilled enough pilot to overcome that shortfall at present. (Shout-out to the taxes decks though for being the ones that taught me most about how to use the stack, and instant speed activation).

Which leaves Martyr Proc and RG Eldrazi in contention for the shortlist in Camp 1.  Both are decks that are hugely enjoyable to play.  ‘Martyr’ being a grindier play style, looking to go into the mid / late game; whilst RG Eldrazi wants to curve into threats such as TKS and Reality Smasher early, paired alongside efficiency from BBE.  All whilst having answers such as Lightning Bolt and Dismember available.

From Camp 3, I think all are reasonable choices.

Mono-G Tron (or big Tron as I call it) is basically an ever-present in Modern.  It has some great match-ups and some not-so-great match-ups.  That will always be the case, but becoming a true Tron-pilot and ‘knowing’ the deck and its match-ups, and having a solid sideboarding guide will be massively helpful in increasing its win percentages. 

Eldrazi Tron is currently right at the height of its success - posting 5-0s online with regularity, having a good deal of representation on the pro-circuit and having some success, even in the face of Amulet Titan.

Finally, my RG Ponza deck.  I have to say, I really enjoy playing Ponza.  I think ... that what I really enjoy are tempo plays.  But, proactive tempo plays, rather than the reactive ones.  For instance, gaining tempo with a Utopia Sprawl feels great.  Whereas gaining tempo through a wall of ‘nope’ in the way of counter-spells doesn’t feel great.  I don’t know why, but I guess this is why people gravitate to certain parts of the colour-pie and certain decks and archetypes.

What I also like about Ponza is that the list is customisable.  Both in terms of being able to play a suite of cards that you ‘like’ - or being able to switch up elements of the deck to respond to a changing meta-game.  Bone-crusher Giant in favour of Scavenging Ooze or vice-versa.  Three Seasoned Pyromancer ... four Seasoned Pyromancer ... no Seasoned Pyromancer.  Stapled on to this flexibility is the core of the deck that is ‘free-win’ against some decks.  Turn 2 Blood Moon, Turn 3 Stone Rain is just too good for some decks on its own.

So what do I do?  Not playing RG Eldrazi means turning my back on my Noble Hierarchs.  Not playing Eldrazi Tron means not having access to maindeck Chalice of the Void. Not playing Martyr Proc means no more full art foil (HOU) Plains ... truly the best looking card art in all of Magic. And not play Big Tron means no more turn-4 Ugins or Ulamogs.

Good choices are never easy.  And so, at least for now, I will go with:

- Martyr Proc - Ponza - G-Tron

As a triptych, I think it offers range.  A scope to adapt to changing meta.  

Tron is the deck I have most experience in piloting and the deck I know best.   It will always be good in certain situations and not in others.  Drawing the right half of its deck, knowing how to mulligan and seeing the right lines of play (when to tick Karn up, versus when to tick him down etc.) will help even in those unfavourable match-ups.

Martyr Proc is very under-rated I think.  There are some passionate aficionados, but outside of that it seems to be considered ‘meme’ more than ‘fringe’.  Of course, I’m not saying it’s a Tier deck, but with recent additions such as Ranger Captain and Winds of Abandon, it definitely has game.

My limited experience with it is that it’s great in mid-range match-ups (of which there seem to be many now).  It has reasonable answers to ‘Titan’ and ‘Valakut’, with mainboard ‘Ghost Quarter’ and ‘Fields’ - as well as the ability to bring in Mindcensors and Leylines from the board.  Plus, crucially, it’s really fun to play.  Sure, there are those games where you curve Martyr into Serra Ascendant and just win.  But there are also those games when you have to use Mistveil Plains to endlessly loop Squadron Hawks as chump blockers until you find your sweeper or have enough lands to forecast Proclamation every turn.  And now, it comes with a built in combo potential thanks to Heliod (THB).

And then Ponza.  With it’s insta-win Blood Moon potential and flex spots.  Another deck that’s really fun to pilot, whilst having the potential to be actively ‘good’ in the hands of someone skilled in its nuances.

As I finish up here, my instincts are that Martyr Proc will be my current ‘A’ choice - allowing me to capitalise on the current ‘mid-range’ prevalence at my LGS, whilst refining the card choice and becoming a better pilot.  And I’ll interchange with Tron and Ponza, to keep up my reps with alternate strategies, but also acting as a nice foil for when the folks at my LGS start to bring specific sideboard hate for Martyr Proc.

Over the next few posts, I aim to share more detail of why I like these decks - my current builds (in a kind of ‘primer’ style approach, albeit with the caveat that I’m not an expert), as well as updating on my FNM results.  I may even fire up my MTGO account again.

Thanks for reading.

Beardful Strix.

[beardfulstrix]

Tumblr.com/blog/BeardfulStrix https://www.instagram.com/p/B8MaVvFH-1Q/?igshid=12xym7qfxvsr5

[beardfulstrix]

Monogamy is wood, not cardboard

If you read blog post #1, then you’ll know that what attracted me to Modern is the ability to play whatever I like.  In a reasonably small time-frame I became known at my LGS as the guy that doesn’t play the same deck twice.  I mean, that wasn’t wholly true - otherwise I couldn’t also be ‘the guy who plays Tron!’

But I have to admit, I did love the brewing process.  And rocking up - not necessarily with out-and-out jank, but with ‘my’ version of a certain archetype -became the thing I did.

One week I’d be on Big G-Tron.  Next it would be Eldrazi & Taxes.  Then Jeskai-Saheeli-control. Maybe Orzhov control (think Solemnity, Phyrexian Unlife, Lingering Souls and a lot of Gideons). I tried UW control`, Eldrazi-Tron.  I built the ‘Sigarda’s Aid’ / ‘Colossus Hammer’ combo deck and managed to Turn 2 kill a couple of people. I built a RG Eldrazi deck after Grzegorz Kowalski won GP Lyon with it.  How do you put Noble Hierarch, Birds of Paradise, Lightning Bolt AND Reality Smasher in the same deck and NOT win?

I was having lots of fun.  But I wasn’t winning much.

Part of that was due to the inconsistency in my decks.  I’d be playing a ‘version’ of the archetype, but if the ‘real’ deck had a card I didn’t like, I wouldn’t run it.  Or if there was a card that fit in the deck that I liked, I’d play that over something ‘stock’ and lose percentage points as a result. But the key reason for my lack of success was that I was making too many mis-plays.  Often they were out-and-out wrong plays, where I took the wrong line.  Other times, it would be a mis-play in not understanding the match-up properly ... because I hadn’t had enough reps with the deck to understand what I needed to draw to in certain circumstances.  When to hold certain removal for a better target.  When to use my life total as a resource to get me to the mid-late game etc.

Plus I’ve seen enough coverage on Twitch now to know the truth of the phrase, “in Modern, you get rewarded for knowing your deck”.

So, now I feel like my attitude has matured a little.  I’ve had my ‘adolescent’ fun - taking out a new deck every week.  If I want to be fulfilled, it’s probably time to think about settling down.  And whilst that’s unlikely to mean full-on commitment, with 100% fidelity to one deck or archetype, it will mean I’ll focus in on a couple of decks that I think will have some range in the current meta - and that retain enough creativity - either in flex-spots available, or play style - to ensure I don’t get too bored too quickly.

I think I’ve got a shortlist of 3.  Which for me is pretty good.  Keeping some variety means that the others at my LGS won’t always be able to anticipate how to sideboard for me.  And learning more than one deck will hopefully give me some flexibility to ride the ebbs and flows of the meta as new cards come into the format - and others leave.  So long OKO - you burned bright...but you were an absolute tool!

Tune in next time to see which decks I’m settling in on - and just how bad those choices are!

Beardful Strix

[beardfulstrix]

You’re gonna need a D20

That was the first thing I was told when I sat down to play a game of Magic the Gathering - around about two years ago.  It was a couple of weeks before the release of Aether Revolt.  

A ‘D20′?  Man ... I really didn’t expect to have to do paperwork in order to play this game.  I’m not sure I’m ready to commit yet.

“Here, you can borrow one of mine.”  And with that, I accepted the proffered dice (yes I know that’s the plural, let’s move on) - because that’s what a D20 is; obviously.  And therein commenced my baptism into the complexity and creativity that makes up Magic the Gathering.  I played two total FNMs before Aether Revolt pre-release.  What a whirlwind that was.  I was playing cards in a basement with people I didn’t know, with cards that nobody knew (outside of spoiler season) in a game that I’d only heard of a month earlier.

It didn’t go well.  I didn’t win a game.  I’m not entirely convinced that I ever even risked a single creature in combat.  I think I spent the entire day hearing variations of this sentence: “err...I’m sorry, you can’t cast ‘Siege modification’ with two forests and an island.  You need at least a couple of mountains for that’.

To which I believe my response was along the lines of: “Oh, is that the ‘mana’ thing they were telling me about.  OK, my bad.”

But it was fun.  And I’ve been here since.  Not in the basement .. but in the game.

I didn’t stick with Standard for very long.  Once I’d figured enough out to realise that I’d get crushed playing my janky pet decks every week at FNM, and also realising that I probably wasn’t going to be making the financial investment needed to stay at the pinnacle of the Standard meta, I began to look at the non-rotating formats.

And that’s when I found Modern.

I mention Modern specifically now, because it’s likely that this is where the majority of my writing on Magic the Gathering will focus.  Not only is it a rich and vibrant environment (hey, Hogaak Summer, I get it) with a thriving meta game where established behemoths such as Burn, Storm, Tron and Jund engage in a constant battle of supremacy with veritable new kids on the block; like Humans, Phoenix, Whirza et al ... but it’s a brewers paradise.

I love that Modern lets you build a pet deck that has a chance of winning some games.  Maybe not at GP level, but certainly at LGS level.  Heck, it doesn’t even have to be a pet deck.  Pick a pet card and see what you can do building around that for a couple of weeks with chod rares you have hanging around.

And that’s what I’ve been doing for nearly two years.  Learning the ropes with a few tried and tested strategies - and brewing some absolute trash that’s just a janky joyride.  [Mark my words, Approach of the Second Sun will be back!]

So please pull up a chair, drop a playmat down on this blog of mine and come back again while we discuss Magic, Modern and more.

Beardful Strix