Modern Horizons Overview

Well...that is certainly some list of cards, isn't it?

This is the first time, to my memory, that Wizards has produced a set that deliberately skews high on the power scale, in order to "compete" with eternal formats. Oh sure, ostensibly this set is about Modern but there's also no denying that Commander, Pauper and even Legacy stand to benefit from Modern Horizons in a way that most Standard sets don't roll out the carpet for.

So let's talk about 'em.

White
I don't see any reprints that I'm glad have made it into Modern: they don't suck (Shelter, Dismantling Blow, Battle Screech, Guided Light) but they're all draft role players.

Some of the colorshifted(ish) cards bring good stuff to the table: Generous Gift and Recruit the Worthy (as Beast Within and Lab Rats{ish}, respectively) might give some dimension to White that wasn't there.

I don't think Giver of Runes is being respected enough, as I believe the ability to protect creatures from colorless is not to be underestimated. How much impact that has I'm not certain, but it does give an out against the Eldrazi decks. Winds of Abandon will be an absolute blowout against so many Commander decks that are unable to take advantage of the land search. Sisay already has Commander players buzzing so I don't think there's much for me to add there, though I want to make a sixty card deck with it, because I'm contrary. Maybe worth considering in Oathbreaker?

Segovian Angel might be one of the best common one drops White could ever get and King of the Pride is something I'm fairly certain my friend Caitlin will be adding to a cat deck. Hell, I should make a cat deck. Reprobation is some fantastic creature removal and while I know Trustworthy Scout isn't constructed material, I still want it.

Vesperlark is the uncommon I'd look out for and Force of Virtue is really narrow and I don't think will see a lot of action. Still, it's free and free is a very good price, especially in decks with Monastery Mentor. Astral Drift has the most potential for creating a new decktype in Modern but I hesitate to look at its impact elsewhere. Still, making a new decktype in Modern possible is no small feature!

Blue
The reprints and colorshifted(ish) cards honestly seem really solid! Fact or Fiction has a very strong history and despite what some are saying, I think will be useful in the format. Sure, there's more draft stuff but a reprint of Future Sight? That's some spice, I say. I doubt it can be broken but again, it gets the deckbuilding gears turning. Plus, we're getting an unblockable ninja! Players have only been wanting that for fourteen years. (Yike. 2005 seems like a long way away).

Is Archmage's Charm the real deal? Triple blue isn't easy to come up with and I'm not sure there are decks that are asking for the choices it's offering. But, smarter people than I are saying it's the new hotness, so maybe I'm just blind. Scuttling Sliver will be in demand, though: there's always some way to create infinite mana from untapping creatures. It's just a matter of time. Mirrodin Besieged is incredibly cool, and I don't think Marit Liege's Slumber or Mist-Syndicate Naga are going to go unnoticed for long. The Naga will be great in Ninja decks (which Commander players have been hoping for support for) but the Slumber? It's easy for me to imagine having four snow permanents in play by turn two. Getting to ten shouldn't be hard.

I want a copy of Oneirophage because that artwork is great. Watcher for Tomorrow is a solid uncommon. A body that nets you a card for two mana and sifts through the top four cards seems really, really good. Pair it with Read the Runes or Perilous Research for extra good times. Pondering Mage might not seem like too much but a 3/4 body is decent, and the effect helps a lot of decks. It'll find a lot of use in Commander and with anyone playing blink effects.

All in all, I think Blue got a lot of really good stuff across rarities and playstyles.

Black
Yike, that new artwork for Carrion Feeder is naaaaaaaaaaaasty.

I can't identify anything colorshifted and most of the reprints are merely serviceable, but Nether Spirit anchored a mono-Black control deck back in the day, so maybe that'll open up some space for Black in Modern?

Umezawa's Charm probably has the best "Hey there," look I've ever seen on a Magic card. I'm down. But the most exciting cards for me are Endling (a 20 year old cycle complete!) and Force of Despair.

I'm sure Fuz will be happy to see Undead Augur; will it be enough to push zombies forward in Modern? Probably not, but I'm glad they're trying.

Sling-Gang Lieutenant is the card that screams the loudest; RB GOBLINS, DUDE and yeah, why not make that deck? Goblins are cheap to produce and the activation of the Lieutenant is free. It probably won't work in any competitive deck due to the 4 mana casting cost but I've got my eye on you, Lieu. Certainly as a final "burn" spell, Sling-Gang might work.

Red
As with Black, the reprints/shifted cards aren't eyebrow raising. I am surprised to see it took this long to get Juzam Djinn shifted to Red, though (Ravenous Giant). I'm also pleased to see Pillage make a return. I don't think that it will have a big impact on Modern, but Pillage has always been a solid, versatile card that could slot into a lot of decks.

Pashalik Mons; now THAT is the card that might make goblins work in Modern. It's on curve and has a free activation. The only issue is that it's competing at the 3 slot with a LOT of really good goblins.

This is where the Slivers get exciting for me, too: Hollowhead and Spiteful Sliver could give the Sliver deck some legs to see play across formats and that's very exciting! Bladeback Sliver could also be helpful in Pauper-just aggro that deck out and then if the board stalls, start tapping your slivers to finish off opponents.

Aria of Fire is weird and I'm here for it. I'm so glad Wizards still brings these cards to the game.

There's a little undercurrent that Planebound Accomplice might be overpowered but I'm not quite seeing it. Planeswalkers get value when they stick around, giving you instant/sorcery effects that you don't need to pay mana for. It's good, don't get me wrong: paying R instead of anything else for a Planeswalker is usually nice but I don't see it as broken, unless you can get another card to blink/bounce the Planeswalker.

It's a lot of work, for what reward? And once we've figured out the reward, is it broken enough?

Green
I was definitely surprised to see Regrowth on this list! Of the green cards I thought they'd reprint, that effect is often thought of as too powerful-but maybe that's part of the statement being made. Spore Frog coming back is certainly welcome too, since that card was going for $5 just a year ago. Five American Dollars. I cannot believe it.

I don't know that Modern decks were clamoring for Nimble Mongoose but it's not a bad card. As opposed to Nantuko Cultivator which nobody wanted and is clearly here to reinforce Modern Horizon's 'land in graveyard' themes for R/G. That said: Krosan Tusker is an underrated card and more people should get on it.

It seems like Green got a lot more reprints than the other colors-9! compared to Red: 6, White and Black: 5 each, Blue: comes closest at 7- and I wonder if that's because there is a lot of filler needed, or because there are more gems in Green from pre-Mirrodin times than we thought and this was a chance to show off. Maybe both.

Null Rod as Collector Ouphe I ain't mad at though. Artifacts have long been too powerful, so gimme those hatebears.

Speaking of: Yes, Ayula is cool and yes, I want to build a bear deck (again). Force of Vigor will probably be a decent sideboard card and Genesis will allow for graveyard shenanigans-though will they help existing decks (obvoiusly Dredge)? Probably not. Llanowar Tribe is aggressive and I like where they went with it, and Treefolk Umbra is a gem, as far as I'm concerned.

I like Winding Way, since that seems like a good card whenever you draw it and while I know it won't do what I wish it would, I still want to cast Weather the Storm in response to someone trying to storm the game out.

It's a little things, but the little things get you through the day.

Multicolor
Now here's where the slivers get some real boosts and I'm sure I don't have to convince anyone that Cloudshredder and Lavabelly Sliver are good. The First Sliver is funny and I admit, I want to give that a go in a straight up 60 card sliver deck.

But sliver diversion aside; It's great to see Kess reprinted because that should boost a new deck and while I don't know that anyone wanted Eladamri's Call it's a solid card none the less. One honest to god 'no, no don't do that' is Nature's Chant. I just don't know that anyone was hoping for a Disenchant/Naturalize that could use either mana. Not very interesting, and not very necessary, I just don't see where this card slots into a deck. It must be for draft but it's so booooooring.

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis looks VERY interesting and again: thanks for printing a weird card, Wizards.

Colorless/Artifact
What tribal fan isn't excited about Morophon, the Boundless? (I consider myself a fan of the lesser {non Elves, Merfolk, Goblin} tribal strategies, as you'll see in a moment).

Altar of Dementia was not something I expected but it's possible it does open up a mill strategy for Modern, plus the price was getting very high. I'm also psyched to see a new scarecrow, as my Reaper King deck could always use a new one-and this has the untap symbol on it!

It's easy to dismiss Universal Automaton, since the competitive decks that could use a one drop have them already. However, for every tribe that doesn't have a one drop, I'm glad it's here! Something for everyone, right?

I'm also glad they figured out the lessons of the underwhelming Swords from the Scars of Mirrodin block as the new swords look really cool, even if the Sword of Truth and Justice is inherently more playable due to protection from White characteristic.

Lands
Reprinting the cycling lands from Onslaught was a great idea! These are useful cards for any deck and I'm glad to see more players have access to them.

I think Prismatic Vista is overcharging for what it does but I can't argue that it might bring some utility to decks that need it. The Hall of Heliod's Generosity should definitely find a place in my Brawl deck!

As for the new dual lands: Hey, glad they're here. They should do good stuff and hopefully won't break the bank to acquire.

So: it's what we thought it would be, a strong set with impactful cards. How it translates to draft or sealed, I don't know but from a pure brewing perspective, it's interesting and it definitely adds some cards for decks I have that could use the boost.

Casual Sighs

We'll just start with this, which I am glad R&D found amusing. Yes, that's my tweet. (Should tweet be capitalized? Damn.) In a moment of irony I have to note that following the #mtg7 thread on Twitter I have realized; 90% of suggestions are not made with the long term survivability of the game in mind, or are just terrible because they are self-centered (I want X, instead of the game needs Z.) So here I am with just that... Anyway; Onward!

I use the Legacy banned list to dictate what is acceptable for me to build. Even though I wasn't breaking Survival of the Fittest when that card was banned, I started playing it in Commander decks, replacing it with Fauna Shaman. So while I am not competitive in Legacy, I keep up with it because it innovates with a card pool that is reflective of what I own.

However, Legacy has it's drawbacks; the synergies are so high that every deck might as well be a combo deck. The upside is that every decision becomes critical but the down is that every game moves either really fast or mind crushingly slow, with the game frequently decided by turn 2. Playing casually means my games move slower but still include aspects of innovation that Legacy brings up.

The other part of Legacy is the critical component that Blue has in the format. So when I see an interesting article like this on cards that the Legacy format could use that focus on Red and White with very little for Green...I think, um, wait!

It's not that the ideas are bad in colors that don't fit. Planeswalkers, stack interactions and library manipulation are all ones I agree with. I dislike the execution of 'Better early game defenses' but I can see the point. I even appreciate that there is a push to make Red and White matter more, as those colors are ones that are frequently less relevant to the format. But only one Green card in the lot suggests that something bigger is wrong, something that goes back to the earliest days of the game, when Green was the worst color and Blue was the best.

This isn't new: part of Magic's problem has always been that Blue is a powerhouse. This is for three reasons:

1. Card draw
2. Stack interactions
3. Affinity for artifacts 

Card draw is the most powerful mechanic in the game. Not to take away from the strategic element of Magic but many, many games can be boiled down to; the person who draws the most cards will win. This is because card draw does two things; a) decreases randomization and b) increases resources. The more cards you see, the more likely it is that you will find the cards you want (decreased randomization) while ensuring you have the mana to pay for it (increased resources).

Black was second in this but Green in recent years has been catching up to Blue in Standard environments. I think it can be fair to suggest that Green even surpasses Blue occasionally-but it is hard to make that case for Legacy. Spreading card draw to every color is only part of the solution, though.

WotC doesn't like to do 'punishing' mechanics, like Underworld Dreams, but I think these kinds of cards can fill vital roles and are important-in addition to being a space to explore in design, even if a limited one. There must be more space to explore there, if on a limited basis.

Stack interactions is probably the most difficult arena to deal with, because WotC (rightly) considers naming the stack on the cards to be inelegant. Nevertheless, it is a place where Blue has near to total dominance and to balance the game out, the other colors are going to have to have ways to strut their stuff a bit. Bind is a great example-that nobody cared about until it was printed in Blue and made better. Yet it was great and in line with Green's color philosophies, as activated abilities tend to come from permanents, not spells. It expanded that color's role, while defining Blue as well-a color that should have trouble with permanents. Alas, it did not seem to to stick.

On the positive front, Red now is getting more 'copy' effects, giving it access to stack interactions, White has been dabbling in soft countermagic for years now but never really given a toehold and Black...doesn't really have anything. However, Black has access to hand destruction, which is probably the second most powerful mechanic in the game so an argument for Black needing stack interactions is difficult to make. Still; Green is left in the cold here.

Finally comes the stuff that nobody seems to talk about; Blue's affinity for artifacts. Going way, WAY back, Blue has been the color that has been best able to access Artifacts to 'shore up' places where the color would naturally fail. This strength becomes more apparent in artifact heavy blocks (Urza's, Mirrodin, Scars) but never really goes away and is, I believe, one of the reasons for continued success in Blue. The color essentially has easier access to an extra color-one that up until Mirrodin, the others couldn't match and post Mirrodin, when White starts to have a thing for Equipment, Blue finds an easy partner to work with.

However, I see time and again when Blue is given access to powerful artifacts, card drawing, and powerful stack interactions, it dominates formats. Over and over.

Now, maybe you don't play Legacy. But if you play long enough, you will probably play Modern. And what Legacy is, Modern will become, unless WotC addresses the Blue problem. Not necessarily by simply nerfing Blue, because the game needs Blue, in order to keep combo decks from running over the whole format, ending games on turn 2. However, I think by rounding out what the other colors do in order to keep decks from strangling everyone from turn 2 on.

4-3 or Advocate For Yourself

I went 4-3 at the GP and all in all, I have to say it was a pretty good time.

My wins were in:

Match 2: Tron-his game 1 he had to mulligan down to 3 cards. He still got the Tron but I cast Unmake on the Wurmcoil Engine and that was that.

Match 3: RWG aggro-where I learned how awful Gobin Guide is against me, drawing no less than six but possibly eight lands as a result. The critical moment in game 2 was when he swung at me with two Guides and a Tarmogoyf and after I resolved the Guide triggers (drawing two Godless Shrines), I cast Sudden Spoiling, blocking and killing 2/3rds of his attackers, taking zero. The response was "Oh you and your combat tricks."

Those combat tricks won me the game, baby. Why don't you have any?

Match 6: Elf Combo-I kept killing combo pieces until he used Summoning Pact and, unfortunately, forgot to pay for the upkeep. Game 2 my opponent was on tilt and did not give a fuck about the game.

Match 7: Merfolk. This was the only match that went to three games, but if there's one thing I can do with this deck it's kill tiny creatures. The games I won I managed to resolve a Deathbringer Liege and untap with it. Which lead to sushi. The game I lost I had Spreading Seas cast on two of my five lands, keeping me off black mana for a chunk of the game and allowing for unblockable attackers.

My losses went like this:

Match 1: RUW control, playing a list a lot like Brian Kibler's recommendation from his SCG article, gave me more than I could handle. My biggest mistake was not sideboarding out the Liege for cheaper discard. I was never going to land a 5 mana spell and I was foolish for thinking I could, even with 11 discard spells.

Match 4: Back in the day we called this deck Enchantress, though it goes by Boggles now. Whatever: they play something you cannot target, then Kor Spiritdancer and then enchant the heck out of a creature to swing for victory. The mistake I made in game 2 is understandable but clear in retrospect (retrospect being about two minutes after I made it); I cast Mortify on the Leyline of Sanctity instead of the Kor Spiritdancer, so I could use my Tidehollow Scullers.

Note to self: Kill the draw engine, always, unless the option is to lose instead. The draw engine is the machine that tears the bones from your muscle.

Match 5: Against R/b burn...this one was a heartbreaker. I had a solid game one despite losing. I figured I had a good game against this deck because anything I had with lifelink made his life miserable. So I sideboarded, shuffled, presented and then realized I hadn't done my pregame ritual of counting my sideboard!

So I asked my opponent to hold up a moment and he graciously did. Neither of us had drawn cards, we had merely randomized the other person's deck. I counted my sideboard...14 cards.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

So I called a judge over. And got a game loss. So that was that.

Two matches later, a man named Michael Simon would call a judge over in Game 1, admitting to his horror that he had been playing with an illegal deck for the past six rounds. He had a deck of  61 cards, writing only 60 on his decklist.

His penalty was downgraded upon appeal and he went on to post a 10-0-0 record, and losing in round 11.

I didn't realize that this was the kind of penalty I could or should appeal. After checking in the Monday judge thread at Reddit, it was confirmed: I should have appealed, especially if I "didn't understand" or "thought something was off".

The next question is: How the hell am I supposed to know if something is off? I certainly understood what was happening so that wasn't an issue. Moreover, I really feel like I got screwed for being honest. I caught my mistake before we'd started the game! If we had begun play, then there's no way to remove the doubt of cheating and I would accept that as my fate. Since I caught the issue before, shouldn't that have mattered?

Apparently yes, but only if I had appealed. 

Still, my ego will recover from that bruise and my integrity matters more. I can say that I learned from the experience and next time will appeal decisions I feel are too rigorous, knowing that it's an option and that judges won't have an issue with it.

Modern Nightmare Redux

The cat pissed on my iPad. This lead to a situation last night, where, after letting the iPad sit in rice for 24 hours, I had to leave it plugged in overnight to see if the machine would power up and if the Home button would work. Signs were pointing to No but research suggested this might fix the problem.

A Limbo state existed, where both possibilities were true: Schrodinger's iPad, if you will. And this Limbo did nothing but make me anxious. I can't afford another iPad but at the same time: I need it in order to blog. I slept poorly.

Which leads me to this, which is what I'm going to run on Saturday:

6 Swamp
4 Fetid Heath
7 Plains
2 Bojuka Bog
4 Godless Shrine

2 Mortify
3 Unmake
3 Zealous Persecution

4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Nip Gwyllion
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Deathbringer Liege
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
2 Tithe Drinker

4 Edge of the Divinity

3 Duress

1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

And the reason I'm running this deck is because I feel my sideboard options are stronger than my GB deck.

4 Castigate-for control matchups, more discard is better.
3 Sudden Spoiling-vs aggro matches I can shut down the offense for a turn, block the worst offenders and give myself time
4 Oblivion Ring-against Tron and Jund these should be helpful planeswalker removal
4 Suppression Field-this is the big questionmark

Suppression Field seems like it would be helpful against Pod, Jund and Karn-based Tron decks. I know Tron will be there. However, I've been playing against a lot of RUW control decks and some RU Splinter Twin and Torpor Orb does a number on them, whilst also being good vs Pod decks. 

I don't have a proper answer and I've run out of time to reasonably test. Experts are saying that cards like Blood Moon and Stony Silence don't really matter vs. Tron because those cards dilute the deck (and I think we know how opposed to dilution I am) leaving the Tron deck with enough time to win. All I can think of at this point is that if Deathbringer Liege is allowed to resolve, then every spell I play kills all the creatures and I can win.

That's a big if.

So now I wait to see if this is going to work out, a state of working and not working, where I get no data to tell me anything. Schrodinger's Deck. It's leaving me anxious and I think this leaves me with two appropriate options: have a beer or go walking. I'm going to walk for now, as that always gives me good ideas.

Once More

Here we go again:

5 Swamp
7 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Bojuka Bog
4 Twilight Mire

3 Duress
4 Putrefy
4 Rancor
3 Distress
4 Doom Blade

1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Thragtusk
3 Predator Ooze
2 Strangleroot Geist
3 Vault Skirge

SB: 3 Underworld Dreams
SB: 4 Torpor Orb
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Sudden Spoiling
SB: 2 Rootgrapple

I don't want to give up on Predator Ooze but perhaps I should. It seems like anything that gets bigger and is damn near invulnerable would be good, right? But between Path to Exile and Karn, it just seems silly.

Then again, I am considering Massacre Wurm in my sideboard. This is an awful idea, merely because I have no reliable way to cast the card on turn six, which if I need it, I absolutely have to be able to do. One issue is that Rootgrapple just isn't cutting it at all. My thoughts for secret tech? Aether Snap. Stonethorn has been thinking that BW tokens is going to be big, while I keep running into planeswalkers. This kills both of those. The trick, as always, is getting those spells to resolve and I just don't know that I've got enough discard to ensure that happens.

This deck also might suffer from being a bit off theme. Hypnotic Specter fits in better than Vault Skirge, but Vault Skirge turn one, Rancor turn 2 is pretty amazing. Getting in early beats and gaining life is very important when facing aggressive decks, which I still believe will be out there.

I'm feeling desperate. Maybe that shows? I don't have the resources to play an 'established' deck, nor do I want to. I want to play a deck I like and am reasonably comfortable with, because I feel that those things might be the only edge I really have. And damnit, money shouldn't be the defining characteristic of a good Magic deck...but I accept it is part of the game.

While I have been practicing and testing and I feel my gameplay is getting better, I am not a pro Magic player. This is not to say that I'm going to just cut my losses, this is about being realistic about what I need to do to win.

And I would like to win. Stonethorn and I had a brief conversation about that last night, when he questioned running Ulamog, because it felt like 'win more'. I responded with: when it's just us playing, it's fine to be suboptimal. In the tournament, you're there to win, and you can cast Ulamog and win of him. Do it.

I fear I may be too attached to my 'ideas' to actually make those cutthroat decisions about card selection. But damnit, these things don't seem bad. I've had people choke on Predator Ooze because their removal wasn't enough. Plus, it blanks out most destroy effects. Same with Thragtusk: I run that because it creates such problems for anyone running removal. I love Blood Moon but as Noah pointed out: I don't want to run a deck that's 56 other cards that support Blood Moon. That's a terrible deck.

No deck can do everything though: that's impossible. My goal is to eliminate all the decks that I don't think will be played and focus on what will be played and how to beat that. Choose wisely, as they say.

Can't > Can

That's one of the baseline rules in Magic when it comes to figuring out how cards interact with one another.

It's also one of the most powerful strategies in the game and Blue has the lion's share of that mechanic. Testing Eraser this week has been an exercise in butting up against this problem, the problem that Blue represents as a whole as a matter of fact, and failing. It finally came together for me last weekend, playing against stonethorn's U-Tron-Karn deck. Cards like Wildfire didn't matter, because they would be countered. Even Obliterate didn't matter! Because Gifts Ungiven would be played in response and he could recover faster than I could do anything about that.

And so many of the decks I've been testing against are running some Blue; Remand is an especially popular spell and Snapcaster Mage is still the best 2/1 creature ever. In a format like Modern, Snapcaster virtually guarantees the extra use of cards like Path to Exile and Lightning Bolt-a card that should be 'difficult' for Blue to access but because mana bases are so powerful, a lot more is within reach. On top of all of that, the card draw in Blue allows it to reduce randomness and boost the timetable of it's win, while finding answers to any problem.

Seriously: there is not a permanent in Magic that Blue cannot handle, which coupled with the stack tricks-specifically countermagic which is all but exclusively Blue- and the affinity for artifacts Blue has, all but doubling the possibilities for the color, presenting a very steep hill to climb.

Eventually, the whole exercise became moot last night while testing with Fuz because I could not beat Affinity. In the image on the left, I knew the game was over on turn 2, when my Sudden Shock was Thoughtsiezed. If I can't win versus blue and I can't beat the best aggro deck in the format, it's time to change.

So where does this leave me? The first possibility is to go back to aggro-either RG or Affinity or anything that can get set up before turn 2, cast multiple spells in a turn, or cast creatures as instants so I can force my opponent to do things on my terms instead of theirs.

The second is to tweak Eraser into cards that always present problems, that can never be allowed to resolve, because I can win off them. That is: cut Wildfire for Gaea's Revenge, Great Sable Stag or something similar. Use them to force over committing to the board then Obliterate and enjoy anything I have left over that they do not.

Finally, I can run discard. Discard has two benefits: it is cheap enough that I can cast a discard spell and then another spell in the same turn and it trumps not just countermagic but anything that isn't an instant. I'm running out of time and I need to pick something soon.

Break You

I tested Eraser against strangers in Cockatrice, which felt like a bold move because of how mentally challenging it is for me. It also wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked, with most players quitting after one game. I like to do best of 3, even if there isn't a sideboard, because that starts to show some data. One win or loss just doesn't tell me enough.

Still, I went 1-1 against a UR storm deck, and man, does playing vs Storm decks suck. The game I won, my opponent did nothing for 5 turns until I cast Obliterate and won off Garruk. The game I lost I was a turn away from casting Obliterate and then had to sit through a very long turn where my opponent had an active Pyromancer's Ascension until they dug up their win condition. I went to the bathroom, got a beer and came back, because I had no way to interact with that board.

Fuz piloted a BW tokens deck which I had a rough time with, and Jund, which I was able to post a winning record (3-2) against. That felt good, because Jund is really popular. I still need to work on that matchup but at least it's something I can power through. I need a way to work around Planeswakers though, because they were problematic in the Jund and later in a Naya matchup where I was starting down a fully powered Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Domri Rade along with an Ajani Vengeant. As you might expect, I lost that one.

I am not terribly worried about this: there are cards, especially in green, to help shore up that problem.

I'm much more concerned about the aggro matchup. After the BW tokens deck, Fuz played a souped-up version of his B/W aggro deck and I found myself unable to win that match, pre- and post-sideboard. His deck was not Modern legal but still, it concerns me. Aggro is often a default choice for new players who aren't sure what they want to do and with the potential to see more than 1,200 people at the Grand Prix, I think it's fair to say that there will be a solid selection of aggro decks.

The cards that might be best in giving me a better aggro matchup are probably Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap but I just don't know if they will do enough. Redcap is especially problematic because it costs 4 and most aggro decks have you dead by then. I need a way to beat Affinity at least and waiting until turn 4 to do anything isn't going to work. This means sweepers and the best sweepers effect me, too. Losing Birds of Paradise is OK if I can still win but if not, then I've made a big mistake.

PS: I will be traveling this week, so no Thursday post. If I haven't had a chance to keep testing, then I'll talk about Dragon's Maze on Tuesday!

Eraser

I've been attending Modern events at the local level because there is a Grand Prix coming to Portland in early May and I'm going to take a crack at it. I don't expect I'll win but I wanted to practice so that I didn't go in and embarrass myself with bad play and an 0-6 record. I want to play well for that 0-6 record!

To that ends, I've been trying some stuff out in an attempt to approach things from a different direction. This is the current build I want to test:

2 Koth of the Hammer
3 Garruk Wildspeaker

4 Obliterate
4 Wildfire

8 Forest
8 Mountain
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Stomping Ground

4 Birds of Paradise
3 Hound of Griselbrand
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Vorapede
3 Predator Ooze

4 Gruul Signet

3 Blood Moon

SB: 4 Electrickery
SB: 4 Burning-Tree Shaman
SB: 4 Torpor Orb
SB: 3 Lignify

This deck is named after the Nine Inch Nails song, and because part of it's gameplan is to ramp up mana, cast Wildfire or Obliterate as a board wipe, then mop up with any Undying (or Persist, which I'm investigating) creatures that are left over. Blood Moon will help give me time, and the resilient creatures will do this too. When everything is gone, I could use Garruk for a beast, or to help boost my mana quickly back up, Koth for mana, a creature (if I have a Mountain) or even the emblem to have all my lands simply tap for damage.

The sideboard is there for mostly aggressive decks-damage, extra creatures, creature control-with a Torpor Orb thrown in for good measure. I don't think the sideboard is correct but there is time to work on it.

Modern Nightmare

I mentioned attending a Modern tournament last time so I thought that for the final look at this deck, it might be neat to see how I changed it to make it Modern legal. For reference, here is what the original deck looks like now:

10 Swamp
9 Plains
4 Fetid Heath

4 Dark Ritual
2 Mortify
4 Unmake
2 Zealous Persecution

3 Kingpin's Pet
4 Deathbringer Liege
4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Nip Gwyllion
3 Tidehollow Sculler

4 Edge of the Divinity

3 Gerrard's Verdict

And it's still a good deck. Granted, my testing last weekend was against Fuz's GW Aura deck again, which wasn't as informative as I would have liked but I know from previous tests, this is at least a solid build. It's just not Modern legal, so here's what I did:

8 Swamp
7 Plains
4 Fetid Heath
4 Godless Shrine

3 Mortify
3 Unmake
4 Zealous Persecution

2 Kingpin's Pet
4 Deathbringer Liege
4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Nip Gwyllion
4 Tidehollow Sculler

4 Edge of the Divinity

3 Duress

And, for the first time, a Sideboard:

4 Torpor Orb-for the Splinter Twin/Birthing Pod matchups
4 Castigate-vs RUW Control, or any situation where my creature kill wasn't useful
3 Sudden Spoiling-vs Affinity or other creature rush decks
4 Oblivion Ring-vs Planeswalkers or anything else that my regular removal would miss.

I wanted to push the discard elements a little more and Zealous Persecution has the benefit of killing a whole of of X/1 creatures, including Snapcaster Mage and Dark Confidant, along with a pretty good chunk of Affinity's team, so I tweaked the numbers to give me more creature removal, even though that meant taking out some of the neat stuff. Having to cast Deathbringer Liege on turn five is a little less 'In Your Face' than casting it turn two but you do what you can.

2-1-1

I took a modified version of All Nightmare Long to a Modern event at Red Castle games yesterday. I was doing pretty well, 2-0-1 going into the last round of the night. The tie had come against a RUW control deck and I don't feel too bad about that, though I probably should have played more aggressively.

I'm up against Kiki-Jiki/Splinter Twin combo and, in game two, I had dropped a Torpor Orb, which helped me lock the game up. I also had kept in my Tidehollow Scullers which meant that of the three I played, two did nothing but be 2/2 bodies to be swept away by Pyroclasm while the third arrived just in time to be boosted by Deathbringer Liege.

I had learned this lesson with Noah: Do not keep creatures that merely become bears in your deck when bringing in Torpor Orb. Since I had four Castigate in my sideboard, I realized those were the better choice and between games 2 and 3, put them in. We have under ten minutes to finish our match at that point.

It wasn't the best opening hand but it would do: lands, Nip Gwyllion, Nightsky Mimic, a Deathbringer and Duress. I open with Swamp, Duress, remove the copy of Splinter Twin from his hand, leaving lands, Spellskite and Deceiver Exarch and pass. He plays his land, passes, I draw something, play a land, then Nightsky Mimic, and pass...

And at turn 3, I draw my card and my eyes go wide. Tidehollow Sculler, which I was supposed to side out for Castigate and did not.

It all goes through my head at once. Nobody knows what I'm playing, there are no decklists, nobody here--hell nobody anywhere--really understands what I'm doing so I could just roll on. We have about five minutes and my deck is the aggressive one.

But I can't. I know it means a game loss but I can't. 

I ask my opponent to hold up a moment, tell him what's wrong. I do a quick count of my sideboard: 11 cards. Should be 15. He gets a judge, I explain and am given the game loss. Which is the match loss. Which has me dropping from a chance for second place down to 6th.

The advice I got, which I will pass on, was: always count your sideboard after making changes. If I had done that, I would have been able to Castigate the Spellskite (a card I am rapidly learning to despise) attack for 4 and may have been well on my way. At the very least, I wouldn't have lost without making my opponent work for it.

There are two takeaways for me here as I'm still bitter about that loss. I did not play the best game I could play. That's why I'm bitter but the bitterness will fade.

The second thing is this: It was still the right thing to do. There is no getting around the fact that I would have been cheating if I had continued and I just can't screw someone over like that. I could go into all the reasons why I shouldn't but I hopefully don't have to. I was in the wrong and the only thing to do was take responsibility for that.

Things will go better next time and in the meantime, my integrity and reputation stay in tact. That's more important than booster packs.