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Post by grumpyoldgamer on Apr 11, 2012 19:10:44 GMT -5
The life gain provided by Ajani Goldmane is fairly irrelevant here. You usually want to use him for his -1 ability, and that one is better suited for token decks. In this situation I'd rather go with Elspeth or potentially Ajani Vengeant as they both provide interesting options. Even then, I wouldn't use more than two copies. YMMV obviously.
As for Felidar Sovereign... I'm a big fan of weird 1-offs. Options are good, right? But what I found with Modern is that most lists are pretty tight, so you may not have space even for one random card. There's also the fact that the Sovereign may not actually work. Soul Sisters and Martyr-Proc are not like the old Life deck, or even like the Melira Pod. You cannot combo out and gain infinite life. Life gain is not an end here, it's a mean to an end: a tool to outlive the aggro decks and to support the Serra Ascendants. You don't want to go over 40 lifes and win, you want to push 30 and beat up your opponent with 6/6 lifelinked flyers. I'm not saying that a card like Felidar Sovereign couldn't work, but for it to work you would probably need to rethink the basic focus/strategy of the deck.
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Post by legerdemain07 on May 20, 2012 1:08:28 GMT -5
Sorry to necro this thread, but I've played Martyr-Proc in Modern and Yugular asked me to provide my decklist and some thoughts on it. This thread seemed like the appropriate place for it. Deck link: www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=265268I built this after the Nacatl/Fires bannings, and it's almost a straight port of Alan Warnock's build that earned him 16 points at Worlds 2011 (link: magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=945357). My changes were mostly made due to card availability - Ajani Goldmane should absolutely be Elspeth, Knight-Errant, as mentioned by Grumpy, but I didn't have the bills for her at the time. Hopefully I'll have them by the end of this summer. I last played this to a 2-2 finish at my LGS, owning a Mono-black Control deck and an RDW build and losing drawn-out games to Combo Elves and Living End. I had game against both decks in each of the losses, but really wasn't familiar enough with either of the strategies to know how to sideboard against them. My assessment is that the Students of Warfare need to go, as they can be a tremendous tempo loss and aren't very synergistic with the deck. I'm considering Kami of False Hope as the replacement, since it can become a recurring fog effect (I prefer a more controlling version of the deck). Everything else about the maindeck felt good. Recurring Squadron Hawks are extremely powerful, and I found myself wishing in just about every game that they were 1-drops so I could tutor for them with Ranger of Eos (hence, wanting to test Kami). Ghostly Prison owns aggro decks and also helps against creature-based combo decks like Living End, Combo Elves, Splinter Twin and (I imagine) Melira Pod. The sideboard felt a lot more loose, but that's because I really didn't know what kind of metagame to expect at the store. I knew my buddy was playing Affinity, so that explains the Disenchants. The rest of the cards were based on Warnock's list from Worlds. Unfortunately, none of them really fit with the deck's main plan of efficient, tutorable creatures that advance your game plan, so I never felt like I sideboarded well. Things to beware: GY hate. I never ran into any, but I knew a couple people were packing Leylines of the Void that could have made life difficult. Another reason Disenchant in the board is solid. Funny story from the MBC match. My opponent played an Anowon, the Ruin Sage, after I had established the Emeria recursion engine, including a Mistveil Plains. EOT, I would put a Martyr on the bottom of my deck using Mistveil Plains, then sac one Ranger of Eos to the Anowon effect and return another from my GY to play due to the Emeria engine, tutoring for the Martyr and another white card to keep gaining life until I drew a Wrath to clear the board. My opponent scooped shortly after I cast it. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the deck, I'll do my best to answer them.
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Post by grumpyoldgamer on May 20, 2012 7:48:13 GMT -5
I agree that Student of Warfare probably isn't great here. It's good in more aggressive versions of the deck, but not so much in more controlling build. I'm not too keen on replacing them with Kami of False Hope though. It's a cute trick, and makes for a nice one-off, but between the life gain and Ghostly Prison, you don't really need a fog effect.
Running two Weathered Wayfarer seems like it's unnecessary, especially if you already use Ghost Quarter and Flagstones of Trokair to power up your Emeria. A singleton to be tutored by Ranger of Eos is probably enough IMHO. I'd also wouldn't run 4 Proclamation of Rebirth, especially if you cut the Students.
Have you considered some of the following cards: - Elspeth, Knight-Errant - Figure of Destiny - Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Spectral Procession - Sun Titan
Oh, and here's a list I saw a while back ago. It's a little different, but it takes a very interesting stance.
[Modern] Hide/Seek Martyr
Creatures - 19 1x Figure of Destiny 4x Martyr of Sands 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch 4x Ranger of Eos 4x Serra Ascendant 4x Squadron Hawk 1x Weathered Wayfarer
Spells - 18 1x Ajani Vengeant 2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant 3x Ghostly Prison 3x Hide/Seek 4x Path to Exile 3x Proclamation of Rebirth 2x Wrath of God
Lands - 23 4x Arid Mesa 2x Emeria, the Sky Ruin 1x Godless Shrine 4x Marsh Flats 2x Mistveil Plains 8x Plains 2x Sacred Foundry
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Post by legerdemain07 on May 21, 2012 0:35:49 GMT -5
Like I said, the Ajanis need to be Elspeths; I just don't have any, but they're #1 on my to-buy list. I didn't mind running 4 Proclamations because I liked the option of hardcasting one early, before I had forecast mana up (which did come up in play more than once). As for the Weathered Wayfarer, I liked having 2 because it increased my chances of getting my Emeria engine online that much quicker, plus I didn't feel like I had anything better to include in the deck. Not saying it's correct, but it's worked well for me to date.
There was a long debate in my head between Student of Warfare and Figure of Destiny; I liked the ability to level up Figure EOT as opposed to sorcery speed, but Student required less mana to create a reasonable threat/blocker. Since Student failed to impress, I'm not sure how much better Figure will be in the deck. Mikaeus and Spectral Procession seem like solid additions, I'll have to playtest and see. I'd only run Sun Titan if I was planning on adding more land to the deck.
I'm also considering Thalia in the deck, she'd be better if she were a one-drop though.
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Post by grumpyoldgamer on May 21, 2012 5:14:28 GMT -5
Oups, missed the part about Elspeth/Ajani. Sorry. The difference beween Student of Warfare and Figure of Destiny in this setup is that the Student is a beater, while the Figure is an extra finisher. You want to play the Student early, pump him twice and attack with him. The Figure of Destiny is for the late game, usually in replacement of the Ascendants if for some reason you cannot rely on them. And Thalia is already awesome as a 2-drop. She would be unfair as a 1cmc creature to be honest. I don't know if I like her in Martyr-Proc though, at least not maindeck. In Soul Sisters perhaps since those decks run more creatures, but probably not in decks with only 19-21 creatures. IMHO of course. How do you feel about Angel of Jubilation? Mikaeus and Ajani/Elspeth seems better, put with more token producers like Spectral Procession, it may be an option. Just a thought.
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Post by legerdemain07 on May 21, 2012 20:54:13 GMT -5
Meh, in a deck that runs 3 boardsweepers and gy recursion, a 4/4 double-striker is a solid finisher. I just want another one-drop that adds extra utility to the deck. I realize Thalia would be broken at 1 mana, I was just trying to emphasize the point that having more tutor targets for the Ranger would be awesome.
Angel of Jubilation seems decent, just not sure how many more 4-drops I would want in the deck. I think Mikaeus bears testing before anything else.
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Post by yugular on Jun 12, 2012 2:45:42 GMT -5
Okay Grumpy and other modern players! This month I finally have the money to spend on mtgo. I should have few hundread tix arriving in a week and some of it I plan to invest in modern. What decks should I look for?
I have been thinking about UR Storm since it's cheap and I can use the cards in pauper also. Martyr is still something to consider. What are my other options? I want to have two decks and at least one of them should be competitive, like tier1/tier1.5
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Post by grumpyoldgamer on Jun 12, 2012 18:39:02 GMT -5
You have several options at your disposal, depending on what type of deck you like to play. Modern is far less expensive than what most people believe, especially online and especially now since we're between seasons. 'A few hundred tix' will get you pretty much anywhere.
The U/R Storm deck (or any U/R combo decks for that matter) is pretty cheap, though you'll need to spend at least 60 tix on the manabase alone. It was considered the de facto budget deck for a while, and due to the deck's popularity and to the Delver deck, the lands required for the deck are not so cheap anymore. The good thing however is that many of the cards can be used in Splinter Twin. Actually, many Storm decks use a 'Twin transformational sideboard. This isn't that expensive in itself, depending on how many Kiki-Jiki you want to run. All in all, you can probably build a Storm/Twin deck for about 85 tix.
Soul Sisters is obviously always an option. The more aggro-ish build, the one running Pridemates and only a couple of Proclamation of Rebirth will cost you about 60-65 tix. The Windbrisk Heights are probably the most expensive cards there, but they can be used in Tokens which is a nice bonus. If you want to run Elspeth, you'll need to pay accordingly, but you really don't need the old girl in this deck.
Affinity is obviously another fairly cheap option. There are several versions out there, some running Blue and some running Red. Most versions will cost you between 125-135 tix, most of it being on Nexuses, Glimmervoids, Ravagers and Opals. The problem is that while the deck is quite strong, few of the cards can be recycled for other decks. You're not really going to run your bots elsewhere.
Karn Tron, the Tron deck running Green ramp, Red burn and a full set of Karn Liberated is surprisingly cheap at about 100-120 tix. The price of the deck will fluctuate somewhat depending on what kind of sideboard you're running, which is something to consider for a deck like this. The price of the deck will likely come down a bit once Mirrodin rotates, since a chunk of the deck's prices is from Wurmcoil Engines. That being said, it's a fairly dumb straight forward beast, so unless you like ramping into big brutal plays, this might not be the deck for you.
If you like burn, you may want to consider the B/R Bump in the Night deck. It runs a set of Bob, of Goblin Guides, of Lavamancers and a full suite of burn. It's quite solid and cost about 110-120 tix to build. Most of it is from the Bobs and from the manabase; the rest is dirt cheap. The good thing is that putting this deck together gives you access to many of the cards that you'll be using in other burn-type decks. If you want to build Boros from there for example, you only need to put your hand on an extra set of fetchlands and a few other creatures.
And again you have the Melira Pod deck. Depending on card choices and sideboard options, you can fully build the deck for about 125-145 tix. The great thing about it is that many of the cards are useable in other decks, and the deck itself gives a lot of playing options. You can battle with creatures, play combo or a run a long-game of attrition. The Melira Pod deck gives you options on how to play and how to interract with your opponent. You're not going to get bored playing a deck like this, which is something important to consider when you have access to only a deck or two. The fact that it's highly customizable is also nice if you're something of a deckbuilder. It's obviously the most expensive of the decks I mentioned here, but it's one of the better option IMHO.
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Post by yugular on Jun 13, 2012 1:05:46 GMT -5
Thanks Grumpy! What decks are really competitive at Modern atm?
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Post by yugular on Jun 13, 2012 2:05:34 GMT -5
What do you think of Martyr deck in this event (by j33bus) www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/3918633Main Deck 60 cards 2 Flagstones of Trokair 2 Ghost Quarter 14 Plains 3 Windbrisk Heights21 lands 4 Ajani's Pridemate 3 Martyr of Sands 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch 4 Ranger of Eos4 Serra Ascendant 4 Soul Warden 3 Soul's Attendant 4 Squadron Hawk 27 creatures 3 Honor of the Pure (1missing)3 Path to Exile 2 Proclamation of Rebirth 4 Spectral Procession12 other spells Sideboard 4 Disenchant 2 Ghostly Prison3 Grafdigger's Cage (2missing)1 Path to Exile 1 Ratchet Bomb 4 Surgical Extraction15 sideboard cards Actually I am not missing that many cards from this deck. Granted most of them are the expensive cards, but anyway. I marked cards that I don't yet own with pink.
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Post by yugular on Jun 13, 2012 3:36:34 GMT -5
I am also thinking about the lands.. Quite many people are expecting Wizards to print shocklands in M13 or in the next block (Rav mkII). Which will bring prices down. Therefore I will most likely invest in other cards and wait a while for the landbases... Maybe run Storm with cheaper lands or something like that...
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Post by yugular on Jun 13, 2012 11:03:53 GMT -5
Sorry about spamming... But also where can I find the Storm deck that Loucks used to win PTQ online?
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Post by grumpyoldgamer on Jun 13, 2012 17:46:30 GMT -5
Affinity, Jund, Loam, Melira Pod, U/x Tempo (Delver) and some version of Tron are probably the top decks at the moment. U/R Combo (Storm or Twin) and Martyr-Proc/Soul Sisters are up there too, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider them amongst the best decks. They are cheap to build, which means that they are heavily represented online and will show in dailys out of sheer statistical advantage. Red-style decks like Boros, B/R Bump, RDW and Mono-Red Burn are also fairly common. The format is quite varied. Performing in Modern is as much about knowing your own decks than knowing the other decks you’ll be facing. The Martyr deck from j33bus is pretty nice and seems like a good starting point. The question here would be to decide if you prefer a more aggressive build like this one, or a more control-ish one. The controlling Martyr deck will often run things like Ghostly Prison maindeck, with 1-2 extra Proclamation of Rebirth, some mass removal and possibly a few Planeswalkers. That version is usually a bit more expensive to put together, and honestly I’m not convinced that it’s actually better. Blind white beats is sometime good enough without any added cuteness. I personally prefer to have the controlling aspect of the archetype in the sideboard and bring it maindeck as needed. On the land thing – and what follow is really a matter of personal opinion, so take it as you will – I’m unconvinced that waiting for reprints is the correct play. Modern is still a young format, and because of it, it’s still a seasonal one. Being between seasons as we are now, the price on many of the staples has gone down. Shocklands are still pricy, but they’re not as expensive as they used to be or as expensive as they will be next season. If they are reprinted in M13 or in Ravnica, they will be sought by both Standard and Modern players, and likely by quite a few Commander players as well. The demand will be high, and it’s quite possible that their price will actually go up despite the extra copies hitting the market. I doubt – and again, that’s an IMHO – that their price will actually go down, at least not for a while after their re-release. I understand that this is the biggest hurdle for players wanting to get into the format, but that’s just a bullet to bite. That barrier of entry is lower than it is for Legacy and in the long-run, Modern is actually cheaper than Standard. And I can speak from experience, I made the switch not too long ago! The thing to remember is that you don’t need full sets of Shocklands. Two of a type is usually enough, especially if you’re running Fetchlands. The latter are actually more important because of the natural interaction between Shocklands, Fetchlands and M10-type Buddylands.
And for Loucks deck... hum, it was a Pyromancer Ascension deck right? I'll look around...
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Post by yugular on Jun 21, 2012 1:44:33 GMT -5
GRUMPY! NOW IS THE TIME!
I will have about 350tix to spend. I need advice, decklists anything.. (I will also buy all pauperstaples I miss and leave some tix for drafting)
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Post by grumpyoldgamer on Jun 21, 2012 5:08:42 GMT -5
GRUMPY! NOW IS THE TIME! I will have about 350tix to spend. I need advice, decklists anything.. (I will also buy all pauperstaples I miss and leave some tix for drafting) That's a lot of Tix. IMHO, I think the first question you should ask yourself is: 'Do I want to buy staples, with no particular decks in mind?' or 'Do I want to build one or several specific decks?'. With 350 Tix, short of Jund, you can build anything. My recommendation would be to build at least two decks, so as not to become bored by always playing the same thing. Unless you build very cheap decks, you should ideally be looking for decks with some overlap. So for example, if you want to play with Dark Confidant (11.30 tix), you may want to build B/R Bump in the Night and Death Cloud where Bob is feature prominently. If you like Jund or Junk colors, you can toy around with Melira, Loam and/or Living End which all use a similar manabase. So again, it goes back to what you like to play: the colors, the style of deck, etc. But like I said, short of 'Goyfs you can afford to build the deck(s) you want. So, do you have anything specific in mind?
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