09 March 2019

Modern Preparation Part 2

Subtitle: I Can't Win With Anything and I'm Starting to Worry


Real quick update for the past week and a half. I've been playing all sorts of decks, no success with any of them really.

Mana Dork Decks

Played some GW and Naya Value Town. It was very medium. Ghost Quarter never was good enough on my opponent (but was solid on my own lands). Too many decks adjusted to Field of Ruin I suppose.

Played some Ponza for a friend who wants to borrow it. Blood Moon is good but not really good against the big decks you are worried about (Dredge, Phoenix, etc). Not a whole lot of good sideboard options.

Had a Temur Vannifar brew that could be promising but I'm not sure you actually want the red cards.

Aether Vial Decks

Humans went terribly, couldn't win a match. Same with both UG Merfolk and Mono Blue Merfolk (though I was really pushing the boundaries on some of those builds as experiments). 

Spirits has been hit and miss. I haven't enjoyed Noble Hierarch against all the Gut Shot, and Company has felt medium or a liability against Thing in the Ice. You must play Path to answer Thing in the Ice. Deputy of Detention is not enough. Deputy is nice with Kira though, and Kira seems very strong right now. Trying a version with more Kira and Spell Pierce and no green cards next.

Other Decks

Faeries was neat but low powered. Thopter Prison was somewhat successful and I know Collin Rountree been having success but I'm skeptical of not playing Ancient Stirrings. It is a contender for me at least. Harden Scales was miserable, only winning when my opponent punted.

Next Steps

I've seen a few more lists I want to try out before really locking into a Prison deck (or Spirits backup) for the Hunter Burton Memorial Open. Possible some GW Hatebears, Bant Eldrazi, or more Vannifar decks.

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