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Epic Experiment: Week Five

“People’s thoughts just come to me. Sometimes I don’t know if it’s them or me thinking.”

Grixis Waste Not 3 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 4 Snapcaster Mage 1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang 4 Burning Inquiry 3 Fatal Push 3 Funeral Charm 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Thoughtseize 1 Cyclonic Rift 1 Rise // Fall 1 Terminate 4 Waste Not 4 Liliana of the Veil 1 Blood Crypt 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Island 2 Lavaclaw Reaches 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea 1 Mountain 4 Polluted Delta 1 Reflecting Pool 1 Steam Vents 1 Sulfur Falls 2 Swamp 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1 Watery Grave

Sideboard 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Dispel 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Shattering Spree 2 Collective Brutality 1 Pyroclasm 1 Terminate 1 Anger of the Gods 2 Kolaghan’s Command 1 Slaughter Games Round One: Grixis Death’s Shadow (David)

I started by losing the die roll and playing the entire first game without finding a Waste Not. I was able to disguise my deck as if it was a terrible version of Grixis Control or Grixis Shadow, so my opponent didn’t really know what I was trying to do going into game two. I brought in Dispels and Engineered Explosives. Game two was quite different. I resolved two Waste Nots and rode the value to victory. Liliana was an all-star. Discard plus removing threats. Game three was similar to game two, except I only had one Waste Not. But Liliana is still a fantastic card in the matchup. (2-1, 1-0)

Round Two: Jeskai Control (Matthew) I had hopes going into this matchup. Matthew has recently been playing Jeskai, but I also know he could be on Smallpox/Lingering Souls. I lost the die roll and discover he’s on Jeskai again. I start with some hand disruption and take a Geist of St Traft, but I can’t really do anything else or resolve any meaningful spells. Game two was a repeat of the first, except I couldn’t even find a discard spell to prevent Geist from wrecking the game. I couldn’t find any Waste Nots, but I don’t think it would have mattered too much. (0-2, 1-1)

Round Three: 8-Rack (Taylor) I actually won the die roll and started with my discard plan, only to realize I was facing 8-Rack. I couldn’t ever recover and lost to a couple Rack effects. I brought in Engineered Explosives hoping to blow up Racks, but to no avail. I was able to Kolaghan’s Command away one Rack while also killing a Mutavault, but could never get over the hump. I would say this is almost the nightmare matchup. I never felt like I had a chance, even if I got Waste Nots online. (0-2, 1-2)

Round Four: RG Ponza (Will) I thought Will might be playing Affinity, but I was wrong. He started with Birds of Paradise, which I Fatal Pushed. I was able to get my Waste Not engine online and had just enough interaction to stop some of his big monsters, including Inferno Titan. Game two we both mulliganed, me to six and Will to five. I got to a fairly low life total before I was able to turn the corner with double Waste Not. I don’t think Will was a fan of losing to this deck, but we both had fun. (2-0, 2-2)

This week we learned there is a reason nobody plays Waste Not competitively in Modern. Any deck that relies solely on one card and doesn’t have a particularly good way to find it quickly is bound to lose. The games when I had Waste Not in play seemed great. The games where I couldn’t find one felt unwinnable. Waste Not is a fun card, but not a good one in Modern.

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Epic Experiment: Week Four

“Greatness, at any cost.”

Tribal Gideons 4 Dark Confidant 4 Wall of Omens 4 Fatal Push 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 3 Path to Exile 2 Thoughtseize 1 Collective Brutality 1 Bontu’s Last Reckoning 4 Gideon of the Trials 4 Lingering Souls 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Wrath of God 2 Gideon Jura 4 Concealed Courtyard 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Godless Shrine 4 Marsh Flats 3 Plains 2 Shambling Vent 2 Swamp 1 Vault of the Archangel

Sideboard 3 Fulminator Mage 2 Relic of Progenitus 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Collective Brutality 2 Stony Silence 1 Anguished Unmaking 3 Leyline of Sanctity Round One: Jeskai Geist (Matthew)

Matthew almost always plays decks with Dark Confidants and Lingering Souls and he usually beats me. This was the Upside Down match. I lost the die roll and he played a land that definitely didn’t go into his usual decks. I cast Inquisition and confirmed he was playing some version of Jeskai. I was shocked and gladly took the Geist. I managed to land some Lingering Souls and Gideons and powered my way to victory. Game two was a bit scarier. He actually played a Geist and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stabilize, but the value was just too much. Lingering Souls, Gideons, Bobs, all the value. This match felt great. I finally got my revenge on Matthew for doing this exact thing to me so many times. (2-0, 1-0)

Round Two: BW Tokens (Katlyn) I had never played against Katlyn before and I was not sure what she was playing. I won the die roll and started with Inquisition. I didn’t like what I saw in her hand. She had a combination of token makers, Intangible Virtue and Zealous Persecution. I panicked a bit and worried about the one sided wrath, so I took the Persecution. That was a mistake in retrospect. I should have taken the Virtue, but it really didn’t matter. Even with a board wipe, I didn’t have a chance. Game two was virtually a replay. I held on for a while with Gideons and Lingering Souls tokens, but never had a real chance. I can’t imagine any scenario where Gideons can beat a deck like this.  (0-2, 1-1)

Round Three: Affinity (Ricky) Ricky is the best player at the LGS, and likely the best player in the city. Very rarely do I beat Ricky, but I always enjoy learning. I figured Ricky to be on Ad Nauseam, a deck he plays regularly and has a lot of success with. Instead he starts the game by dumping his entire hand. Great. My discard spells are all useless. I cobbled together a plan with Fatal Push and Dark Confidant before I started to stabilize with Gideons. He was one turn away from killing me with Inkmoth Nexus when I landed Gideon of the Trials and made an emblem. I was able to wrath the board and start beating down with Gideon. Very close game and I was extremely lucky to live as long as I did. Game two was pretty brutal. I have exactly two Stony Silences in my sideboard, and of course I play one on turn two. Ricky has Blood Moon and I only have one basic Plains in play. Back to my turn and I play a basic Swamp. This game included a barrage of Wrath, Lingering Souls, Dark Confidant, Gideons. The deck was firing on all cylinders. The real winner of course was Stony Silence. The matchup against Affinity seems solid for Gideons. (2-0, 2-1)

Round Four: TitanShift (Brendan) Not like this! I don’t have a ton of interaction with the TitanShift plan. I lost the die roll and had to mulligan to five on game one. The only reason I even stayed at five was because I had lands, but no interaction. He ramped and combo killed me pretty quickly. Game two was a repeat. I brought in Fulminator Mages, but I had to mulligan to six and never found any meaningful interaction. I died again to Scapeshift. I think winning this matchup would involve a combination of early game hand disruption, Fulminator Mage, and Surgical Extraction on the Valakuts. Follow that up with some Gideons and Path to Exiles for Primeval Titans. But it would take a perfect storm. Needless to say, that didn’t happen here. (0-2, 2-2)

We learned a lot. When Gideons are good, they’re unbeatable. When they’re not good, the deck completely folds. Some matchups are free wins, but others are virtually unwinnable. If you enjoy playing a deck that every match is a virtual coin flip, this might be the deck for you. If you enjoy decks that have game against most other decks in the format, look elsewhere. I can’t say Tribal Gideons would be a good plan for a major tournament. Depending on your matchups, you’re very likely to scrub out quickly.

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 5?

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 4?

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Epic Experiment: Week Three

“Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble.”

Treefolk 3 Birds of Paradise 4 Treefolk Harbinger 2 Ulvenwald Tracker 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 2 Doran, the Siege Tower 4 Dungrove Elder 2 Fulminator Mage 1 Heartwood Storyteller 4 Dauntless Dourbark 4 Leaf-Crowned Elder 2 Timber Protector 3 Abrupt Decay 2 Nameless Inversion 3 Cavern of Souls 7 Snow-Covered Forest 1 Misty Rainforest 4 Murmuring Bosk 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard 2 Gaddock Teeg 1 Fulminator Mage 1 Heartwood Storyteller 2 Wickerbough Elder 1 Nameless Inversion 3 Rest in Peace 2 Stony Silence 1 Thorn of Amethyst 1 Choke 1 Maelstrom Pulse

Round One: UR Storm (Bernardo)

I wasn’t excited about this match. I don’t have a lot of interaction for Storm, mostly just some removal in the form of Abrupt Decay and Nameless Inversion. Game one I managed to get out my Heartless Storyteller and then draw a bunch of cards while my opponent looked for combo pieces. I made sure to kill his creatures and was able to win with big trampling trees. Game two I brought in quite a few cards from the sideboard: Rest in Peace, Thorn of Amethyst, Maelstrom Pulse, Choke, Heartwood Storyteller, Nameless Inversion. I went down Fulminator Mages, Timber Protectors and others that didn’t seem as good in the matchup. I felt pretty confident going into game two. I landed Rest in Peace and backed it up with a second copy.  (1-1, 0-0-1)

Round Two: BW Eldrazi (Bryce) I wasn’t sure about this match. Trees get pretty big and can block Eldrazi’s pretty effectively. But the combination of Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher and efficient removal ruined my dreams. I had to remove his Eldrazi Displacer to even have a chance, but he kept playing good threats and I couldn’t ever get anything going. This one is certainly winnable for the trees, but not on his day. I managed to get a game, but the match never felt in doubt. (1-2, 0-1-1)

This was a short night for me. I had another event to attend, so I was only able to play two rounds. But the weaknesses in the deck were already apparent. Treefolk doesn’t have a very good answer to combo decks. Ordinarily it would shine against creature decks because they get so large and have trample and/or indestructible. But Modern is full of very efficient decks across the board. Even as a creature deck, Treefolk feels a bit slow and is usually playing from behind.

Trees are fun to break out on occasion. There is some novelty with the deck, but otherwise the deck is mediocre. Other tribes are just better or faster. Merfolk, Goblins, Slivers, Eldrazi...all are better in Modern than Treefolk.

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 3?

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Epic Experiment: Week Two

“There is no loftier ambition than the pursuit of knowledge.”

Battle of Wits I’m not posting a deck list. If you want the list I used, send me a message and I’ll get you the list. The list I ran was most RUG, but used cards across all five colors.

Round One: Grixis Death Shadow (David)

I lost the die roll and was not very excited to see turn one fetch, shock, Thoughtseize. My opening hand had a Battle of Wits, which he took. My opponent stalled out at 13 life and was unable to play his Shadows. I drew another Battle of Wits, played it, and won. Game two, my opponent starts with Thoughtseize and takes my Engineered Explosives. It was my only way to interact with the Shadows, and I proceeded to lose to two Shadows and one Gurmag Angler. Game three I was on the play and landed my Engineered Explosives turn one before he could grab it from me. My opponent mulled to five, but I was able to take care of his only threat, a Shadow, with the EE. I played another Battle of Wits and won the match. Nothing better than top-decking a Battle of Wits twice against a very powerful deck. (2-1, 1-0)

Round Two: UR Storm (Ryan) I’ve played against Ryan many times. As soon as I saw I was matched up against Ryan, I marked this round up as a loss. Ryan is a very competent player and he has been playing Storm lately, which I have almost zero interaction with. This round shows the raw power of Battle of Wits. We could play this match 100 times and these two games wouldn’t happen like this again. I had Mana Leak, Dispel, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, etc. Ironically, it was the perfect storm. I was able to kill the creatures, Dispel two Gifts Ungiven, and win off a Lightning Bolt game one after doing some real damage with a Tarmogoyf. Game two I was quick to counter his early spells and paid by having a Blood Moon land on turn four. I was finally able to draw a second basic island which allowed me to land a Battle of Wits. I was in complete shock by the result, but I beat a good UR Storm deck with a very good pilot 2-0. The first two rounds were nothing short of amazing luck. (2-0, 2-0)

Round Three: U Tower Control (Hutton) Hutton has been playing a mono-blue control deck for a while now. I wasn’t confident going into the round because I need to be able to resolve a Battle of Wits to really have a chance. Game one, my opponent gets out two Dynavolt Towers and starts making tons of energy. I’m able to resolve a Glittering Wish which gets me a Slaughter Games. I choose Cryptic Command knowing he has some number in his deck. Thankfully my opponent taps down and I have a window to play Battle of Wits. He goes on a string of Repealing my Battle of Wits, but he has to tap out each turn to keep the game going. I get down to 7 life and he can double activate the Towers to get me to 1 life, but not enough to keep the Battle of Wits from doing its thing. Game two was a combination of Tower and Torrential Gearhulk and a flurry of counter spells that kept me from doing anything. He also was able to Shadow of Doubt my fetch activation on my second turn, and then finished off my other land with a Ghost Quarter. Double Sinkhole feels pretty bad. Our third game went to time and neither of us could win fast enough. This was caused by my deck being impossible to shuffle quickly enough. A lot of time was wasted just fetching for lands. Hutton was very nice about it, but I’m sure it was very frustrating to play against. After we had gone to turns, I tried a Scapeshift knowing Hutton had a fistful of cards. He countered it. Match finishes as a draw. (1-1, 2-0-1)

Round Four: Slivers (Blake) Blake is a great opponent. He’s a smart player, plays a number of fun and competitive decks, and always has a good attitude, win or lose. I was worried about which deck he would be on because he’s known to play Death & Taxes, which would completely shut down my deck. The whole deck is search effects. Thankfully he was playing Slivers, which I can at least interact with. I have a lot of Angers, Pyroclasms, Pushes, Lightning Bolts, etc. Game one I got overwhelmed by a Sliver horde. I was a bit disappointed that I never found any of my sweepers. Game two I had an outrageous hand. It involved Fatal Push, Snapcaster Mage, and a number of other removal spells. I finally found a Battle of Wits before he could kill me. He cast a desperation Collected Company but couldn’t find any Harmonic Slivers. Game three was a combination of the first two. I had some removal spells including a Pyroclasm and an Anger of the Gods. The difference here was Blake had two Aether Vials and a Blur Sliver. I got down to five life, and he was able to swing with five hasty damage and my sorcery speed sweepers weren’t enough. (1-2, 2-1-1)

Battle of Wits is fun. People seemed to enjoy seeing a giant stack of cards acting like a deck. I was extremely grateful to my opponents who were overly patient with my dumb deck. All of my opponents were nice about it, even if they lost. This is not a deck you can play at a major tournament. It’s impossible to shuffle quickly enough. But it was a fun and enjoyable Friday Night Magic deck and it performed much better than it had any right doing. The real stars of the night were David, Ryan, Hutton and Blake who were all very kind and helpful.

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 2?

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Epic Experiment: Week One

“In the case of violent deaths, kami offered a chance for revenge if the deceased offered up its corpse as a host to the invading kami.”

Bubble Hulk 1 Mogg Fanatic 2 Viscera Seer 4 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Stinkweed Imp 2 Body Double 1 Reveillark 4 Protean Hulk 2 Woodfall Primus 4 Faithless Looting 3 Thoughtseize 2 Cathartic Reunion 3 Collective Brutality 3 Izzet Charm 4 Footsteps of the Goryo 3 Makeshift Mannequin 2 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 2 Darkslick Shores 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium 2 Island 4 Polluted Delta 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Spirebluff Canal 1 Steam Vents 1 Swamp 1 Watery Grave

Sideboard 1 Venser, Shaper Savant 1 Sundering Titan 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Pact of Negation 1 Darkblast 2 Lightning Axe 2 Pithing Needle 1 Thoughtseize 2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1 Gemstone Caverns

*The ideal list runs a third Woodfall Primus in the sideboard in place of the Sundering Titan, but my third did not come in the mail on time, so I went with Sundering Titan instead. The switch did not matter in this tournament.

Round One: Infect (Jackson) The week started off with such promise. I faced off against an old nemesis in Jackson. It’s extremely rare for me to beat Jackson. He has this ability to play decks that perfectly match up against mine. I thought this match would be no different. Game one he got me to 9 poison counters. My only way out was to top deck a Footsteps of the Goryo. The Magic gods were nice to me and I top decked the “I win” card. Game two he Thoughtseized me and decimated my hand. It didn’t go well from there. He was able to fairly easily overwhelm me with poison. Game three I found some sideboard cards in Lightning Axe and I was able to keep Jackson off his creatures. I pulled out the win by the skin of my teeth, although I don’t think this is a particularly good matchup. This is also not a matchup I would imagine many people prepare for going into a tournament. Based on this one match, I would say Infect is favored slightly. But in all honesty, neither deck should be played in a serious Modern tournament. (2-1, 1-0)

Round Two: 8-Rack (Matthew) I had a bit of an unfair advantage here. Matthew was waiting on some cards to come in the mail, so he borrowed a bunch of cards from me for this tournament. I knew exactly what he was playing, but I was still pretty certain there was no way to win this one. Game one he mulligans. He still gets out some number of Rack effects and gets me hellbent. I get down to two life and have only one draw to find exactly Footsteps of the Goryo. And I draw...Footsteps of the Goryo! Now that I have game one, all I need is one more lucky game in the next two. Game two starts with turn zero Leyline of the Void for my opponent. Game over. Game three starts with Leyline of the Void again. I stayed around long enough to Venser back his Leyline to his hand forcing him to discard it to his own Liliana of the Veil discard activation. Didn’t matter. I couldn’t cobble together any of the combo pieces. Bubble Hulk has an almost impossible time beating even one piece of graveyard hate. (1-2, 1-1)

Round Three: Abzan (Isaac) Another matchup here that’s not ideal by any means. Isaac plays a turn two Scavenging Ooze that essentially ends the game. A combination of Tarmogoyfs and Grim Flayers finish me off. Game two I bring in Pithing Needle and play it turn one naming the dreaded Scavenging Ooze. He responds by playing Nihil Spellbomb on his turn one. Oh boy. He also brings in Engineered Explosives and plays it on one. I find a second Pithing Needle and play it. He cracks his Spellbomb in response and lets it resolve. I name Engineered Explosives. He plays Goyfs and Flayers and beats my face until I die. (0-2, 1-2)

Round Four: Grishoalbrand (Anthony) I haven’t seen Anthony in quite a while and we both share a love and appreciation for fun combo decks. We each know what the other is playing. He knows I won’t have any graveyard hate and he’s right. He combos off game one without any interference from me. He combos off a turn faster than I can. Game two I have a pretty good hand. He proceeds to cast Lost Legacy taking my Hulks. It’s ok, I can win without them. He then casts Surgical Extraction on my Reveillark, which I can’t win without. My Pithing Needles on Griselbrand and Borborygmos Enraged aren’t doing anything here. He casts Through the Breach and attacks with a 15/15 Worldspine Wurm. I’m at 3 life and he gets to keep three 5/5 Wurm tokens with trample. This match was a combination of his deck being faster than mine, AND he had effective hate for my deck.  (0-2, 1-3)

This deck is exactly what I remembered it being. It’s hilarious. It’s fun. It’s extremely fragile. If the opponent has Rest In Peace, Grafdigger’s Cage, Relic of Progenitus, Tormod’s Crypt, Nihil Spellbomb, Leyline of the Void, or any form of graveyard hate, the game is immediately over. I can’t imagine too many tournaments where the majority of players won’t have some sort of graveyard hate somewhere in their 75.

In a vacuum, the combo is good. It’s relatively fast, possibly happening as early as turn two. It’s resilient to removal and other strategies to stop it. But it completely folds to graveyard hate. And for that reason, the deck will always remain a fringe deck that brings joy to people for FNM, but won’t see much success.

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 11?

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Epic Experiment: Week Ten

"Etherium is limited. Innovation is not.” -Tezzeret

UW Thopters 1 Snapcaster Mage 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 1 Engineered Explosives 4 Serum Visions 2 Spell Snare 4 Path to Exile 3 Muddle the Mixture 3 Sword of the Meek 2 Talisman of Progress 4 Thopter Foundry 1 Detention Sphere 1 Oblivion Ring 4 Thirst for Knowledge 3 Gifts Ungiven 2 Supreme Verdict 1 Unburial Rites 2 Academy Ruins 4 Flooded Strand 3 Glacial Fortress 1 Ghost Quarter 4 Hallowed Fountain 1 Polluted Delta 1 Prairie Stream 3 Snow-Covered Island 2 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Tolaria West 1 Watery Grave

Sideboard 2 Dispel 2 Gut Shot 1 Celestial Purge 1 Hurkyl’s Recall 2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 2 Negate 1 Timely Reinforcements 1 Wrath of God 2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

*The ideal list runs at least two Celestial Colonnades, but I don’t own any. So I forged ahead with Hallowed Fountains in their place.

Round One: Blue Tron (Matt) I hate this matchup. Matt loves beating me. He has counter spells and I have very little. Nothing I play will resolve. Lost both games to Mindslaver lock. The only reason I even got paired with Matt was because the tournament organizer forgot to sign both of us up for the event, so he just matched us up after the pairings were posted. I’ve only ever beaten Matt once in my life. Perhaps it’s time to play Infect just so I can have a favorable matchup for once. (0-2, 0-1)

Round Two: Naya Burn (Ryan) This matchup is insanely close. If I can stabilize with life gain, it’s game over. Game one Ryan starts with Goblin Guide. Great. Turn two Eidolon of the Great Revel. Yikes. Turn three another Eidolon. On to game two. I side in the Iona for obvious reasons. I manage to survive to Gifts for Iona. On to game three, which was exactly the same as game one. (1-2, 0-2)

Round Three: Bogles (Angelo) I wasn’t sure how this matchup would go. Surprisingly Supreme Verdict was a big help in this one. He wasn’t able to find Totem Armor and I was able to keep the board mostly clear. At least long enough to make lots of thopters. I brought in some Negates and lost in a classic Bogles blowout game two. He assembled his own Emrakul by turn three or four. Game three was similar to game one. I managed to stabilize and win off thopter combo. Elesh Norn was also good in this match. (2-1, 1-2)

Round Four: Unknown My opponent dropped from the tournament. (2-0, 2-2)

This deck is much better than it performed this week. Thopter Sword combo has not made much splash since it was unbanned, but it fits well in a shell like this. It flows well with Gifts Ungiven. If I were a better pilot, it’s possible I would have won another game or two. As I prepare for an SCG Open in a few weeks I will be trying some different decks to see what I want to play, but I don’t think UW Gifts Thopters will be on the final list. It’s fun and good, but not my favorite.

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What deck archetype should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 10?

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Epic Experiment: Week Nine

No matter how much the slivers change, their collective might remains.

Slivers 4 Galerider Sliver 2 Darkheart Sliver 3 Diffusion Sliver 4 Manaweft Sliver 4 Predatory Sliver 1 Sentinel Sliver 4 Sinew Sliver 1 Spellskite 3 Blur Sliver 2 Necrotic Sliver 4 Sedge Sliver 4 Aether Vial 4 Collected Company 4 Cavern of Souls 1 Forest 1 Godless Shrine 4 Mutavault 1 Overgrown Tomb 4 Sliver Hive 1 Swamp 3 Verdant Catacombs 1 Watery Grave

Sideboard 1 Gemhide Sliver 1 Spellskite 3 Warping Wail 3 Harmonic Sliver 3 Syphon Sliver 2 Telekinetic Sliver 2 Sliver Hivelord

Round One: Dredge (Anthony) Anthony is usually playing Elves, Amulet Titan, or occasionally Jeskai Ascendancy. But tonight was different. Game one he kept a no lander and passed the turn to me. I started playing slivers and the horde became too much too fast. Out: Spellskite, Necrotic Sliver. In: 2 Syphon Sliver. Game two was the opposite. Anthony got his engine working much better and made too many zombies and overwhelmed me. Game three I kept a hand with Syphon Sliver hoping that would be enough to put me over the top. I managed to get to 36 life which put me out of reach of the zombies. Syphon Sliver was the real MVP here. (2-1, 1-0)

Round Two: Blue Tron (Matt) I hate this matchup. I hate playing against U Tron. It’s a hopeless situation. Neither game did I find a Cavern of Souls. Both games I lost to the Mindslaver combo. I took out my Collected Companies because there was no way those would ever resolve. I brought in Telekinetic Slivers and Harmonic Slivers but never had the chance to do anything with them. (0-2, 1-1)

Round Three: BW Bloodghasts? (Tim) I’m still not exactly sure what my opponent’s deck does. It seemed very interesting from what I saw, but I had ridiculous good fortune. First game I mulligan’ed to five and got Thoughtseized turn one. I still managed to top deck a pair of Galerider Slivers to give my team evasion. Game two was absolutely insane. Opening hand was Sliver Hive, 2 Aether Vial, 2 Sinew Slivers, 2 Predatory Slivers. He took a Sinew with Thoughtseize but then I drew into another Predatory Sliver. The slivers really got out of control very quickly. (2-0, 2-1)

Round Four: BW Monastery Mentor (Hutton) We agreed to draw into the top eight, but we played a couple games just to kill time. Game one I won off some slivers doing their thing. Game two revealed a big weakness of the slivers deck. If the slivers don’t win fast enough, the deck lacks any kind of interaction to stop a couple Mentors from making a zillion tokens that all get huge. I suspect that I would have lost game three had we played one. It would take a large amount of luck to win quickly enough. (1-1, 2-1-1)

That’s how the tournament ended. We drew in the top eight. Everyone was tired. Too many blue decks making the rounds go to time. I blame U Tron. Slivers is a fun deck, but pretty straightforward. It has some neat interactions for late game play, but the preference is always to swing for tons of damage in the air by turn four.

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What Modern deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 9?

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Epic Experiment: Week Eight

Buckle up for this edition. This is not only one of my favorite decks so far in Epic Experiment, but one of my favorite modern decks I’ve ever played.

Grixis Waste Not 3 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang 4 Burning Inquiry 3 Funeral Charm 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Thoughtseize 2 Terminate 4 Waste Not 3 Kolaghan’s Command 3 Liliana of the Veil 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 3 Bloodstained Mire 1 Island 2 Lavaclaw Reaches 1 Mountain 4 Polluted Delta 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls 2 Swamp 1 Watery Grave

Sideboard 2 Engineered Explosives 1 Salughter Pact 2 Dispel 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Vandalblast 1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Terminate 1 Damnation 1 Glen Elendra Archmage 1 Jace, Architect of Thought 1 Keranos, God of Storms

This deck is one of the greatest under the radar decks of all time. I sleeved it up and took it to the casual tournament on Wednesday night just to get some practice with it. Waste Not beat a Standard burn deck (2-0), Grixis Delver (2-0), and Living End (2-1). I was very happy with the deck and learned a lot. I tinkered a little with the sideboard and prepared for Friday.

Round One: Jund (Nick) I practiced against Nick online earlier in the week with the deck, so he was familiar with what I was trying to do. But on this night, it didn’t matter. I forced him into deciding what to destroy with his Maelstrom Pulse (Waste Not, Tasigur, Jace). Hint: there’s no right answer. My deck ran better than I ever thought it could. Game two I ended up with multiple Waste Not’s in play and then started a string of Buring Inquiries with my opponent hellbent. Even though my opponent brought in Obstinate Baloths, the zombie horde and massive card advantage were enough to swing things my way. (2-0, 1-0)

Round Two: UB Mill (Tim) I wasn’t sure how this matchup would go. Game one he only got me about halfway through my deck before I killed him with Tasigur and Bolt Snap Bolt. Snapcaster is amazing here, as well as Tasigur. Out: 2 Burning Inquiry, 1 Terminate. In: 2 Dispel and 1 Glen Elendra Archmage. I kept a borderline hand but it had Glen Elendra. I was able to Dispel an Archive Trap on turn two and then landed Glen Elendra on turn four. From that point on, the game was over. My opponent tried to refill his hand with Visions of Beyond, but Glen Elendra kept that from happening multiple times. Dispel, Snap, Dispel also did some serious work. K Command to return Glen Elendra after successfully countering two spells meant I had the lock on non-creature spells for the game. I can’t stress this enough: Glen Elendra in this type of match is a one-card combo. Almost unbeatable. (2-0, 2-0)

Round Three: GR Valakut (Brandt) Brandt helped me assemble my deck and I helped Brandt assemble his deck. We were very familiar with each other’s decks. Game one he got stuck on five lands and I was able to keep his hand empty with some good hand disruption. Game two I brought in Dispel and Terminate and took out some Burning Inquiry. I don’t know that I ordinarily would be able to win a match like this, especially not as convincingly, but this was not particularly close. Waste Not and Liliana and friends all performed well. (2-0, 3-0)* technically we agreed to draw into top four, but played for experimentation’s sake

This was a very small crowd due to graduation night, but the deck performed AMAZINGLY WELL. I had way too much fun with it. If anyone is looking for a fun brew, this is a great place to start. Waste Not is ridiculous. I will definitely be revisiting this deck in the future. I suspect this deck would struggle heavily against RG Tron and Burn. I think there is enough removal to give Affinity and Infect some problems. Engineered Explosives is very good against tokens strategies and Bogles. But I don’t have much of an answer for Tron or Burn. Their top decks are always going to be better than mine.

What Did We Learn? Please play this deck. I lost one game out of 13 that I’ve played this week. I lost an additional game online against Jund (went 1-1 against it). I am absolutely in love with this deck.

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What Modern Deck should be featured in Epic Experiment Week 8?