2019-01-24 Iron Buffalo Modern 1-2 with Grishoalbrand

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606706#paper

R1 bye ("1"-0)

R2 win vs James on URw? Phoenix (2-1, "2"-0)
In game 2, he flips TitI on turn 3 and reanimates two Phoenixes, hitting me for 13. Then on my turn 3, I SSG + Ritual for 5 mana, TTB Griselbrand, and kill him. Hilarious.

R3 loss to John on Merfolk (1-2, "2"-1)
Opens with Mistcaller oof. I go for a Goryo's, he activates Mistcaller and I Goryo's again in response. He fumbles a Harbinger off Aether Vial (that doesn't work with Mistcaller lol!) Almost get him, buuuut then I fizzle
I combo him out in game 2 after a Dispel blocks my first attempt.
Game 3 he has Trickster and Harbinger rough

R4 vs Joe (1-2, "2"-2)
Game 1 fizzle - should have reanimated another Griselbrand on his turn and not tried to go off immediately. Timing - could have foreseen and reanimated in my end step
Game 2 he IoKs a Lightning Axe, then drops a Scooze. My topdecked Blood Moon locks him out, he finds Grafdigger's Cage but I just TTB WW
Game 3 he has discard Cage and Scooze eugh

Decklist thoughts:

• Firstly, here's the MTGGoldfish decklists for the archetype, mostly competitive league 5-0s: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-goryo-s-vengeance-52692#paper
• I wanted to run 4 Discovery // Dispersal, but only had 2 and the store was out. So I kept 4 Night's Whisper like old lists. Casting Night's Whisper, I felt like a lot of the time I was drawing air.
• The sideboards these guys run are pretty weird. It makes sense - pretty much every card in the deck is part of the combo strategy, so you can't just sideboard 5-8 cards.
• Unlike Dredge, the deck lacks redundancy. It also lacks green, so you can't run the "catch-all" answer to artifact/enchantment hate of Nature's Claim
• Cards I should definitely include if running Grishoalbrand again: Pact of Negation, Bontu's Last Reckoning (couldn't find mine), Emrakul for anti-Surgical tech
• Choices I still question: 1-of Leylines, playing a Steam Vents for Dispersal (not common)

Overall thoughts:

• Deck is very interesting. The splice mechanic in particular - the  4 SSG + 2 Desperate Ritual + 1 Manamorphose package allows you to combo out from no mana, splicing spells onto Nourishing Shoal. To my knowledge, there are only two decks ever that have ever utilized Splice - this one, and the Dampen Thoughts draft deck.
• Both Goryo's and TTB last until the next end of turn step, which makes timing kind of funky. I should definitely check out a primer to learn how to abuse this maximally.
• The manabase is designed to be very painless - typically only a single Blood Crypt for shocklands, and EIGHT basics. In light of that, I'd be a big fan of playing more Blood Moons in the 75. Also the only deck that plays Temple of Malice, so that's immediate giveaway to players familiar with modern's degeneracy.
• I should check out a sideboard guide - since the sideboard is so granular (remember, no Nature's Claims), I need to pre-emptively sideboard anti-hate very specifically.
• Out of 17 players, there were like 6 or more playing 4-5? Jund players, 2? GB, and 1 BW Pox player. Feel like someone showing up with Tron would have absolutely destroyed the room. Also, two UR phoenix players, so that's a deck.
• I definitely understand now how it's can be a fast but inconsistent combo deck. Lots of fun, with evident room to improve by learning some tricks.

2019-01-17 Iron Buffalo Modern 3-0-1 with Dredge

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606619#paper
Same as last week's, but I added a SB Thoughtseize

R1 vs Brad on 4C Vengevine (2-1, 1-0)
G1 lose to double Vengevine, early Bridge from Below tokens. Tried to turn 2 kill my reanimated Bloodghast, but had milled both Blood Crypts!!!
G2 we both had Leyline
His weenies came out, but I found my Assassin's Trophy and was able to go nuts
G3 I had Leyline, he didn't, I did my thing

R2 vs Tim on Infect (2-1, 2-0)
Not particularly fast G1
G2 we're both slow, then he pumps a Glistener Elf with D Strike, Groundswell, M of OK, has Vines to prevent my Darkblast. I drew all 4 Nature's Claims that I boarded in.
G3 Cut 2 Claims, he sees a Spellskite which doesn't really matter. Though he declined to block an Amalgam for some reason?

R3 vs Bill on mono G Tron (2-1, 3-0)
G1 got him before anything could happen -
G2 he mulls to 5 cards incl. Grafdigger's Cage + no lands. Turn 2 topdecks a Forest and I lose. Manages to draw into enough mana for a Wurmcoil and an Ulamog
G3 he mulls to 5, but loses without no Cage, and I have a Ancient Grudge waiting in the wings for any relevant artifact

R4 vs Tim R on BW Pox (ID, 3-0-1)
We played a game, got him good
Then I swapped over to Fevered Visions and manage to cheese him out twice! Fun deck. List here: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1568068#paper

Thoughts:

• Deck is still powerful and unfair.
• I pretty much only lose when opponents have their GY hate. But then, if I believe that opponents will mulligan aggressively for GY hate, then my next level should be to mulligan semi-aggressively for GY-hate-hate. It's possible that a skilled opponent (or an unwitting one) may then further next-level me by not keeping a hand with GY hate, and just try to do their thing.
•  I looked up a sideboard guide after this event. Apparently they take out a couple Shriekhorns in every matchup, which makes sense - Shriekhorn does nothing vs hate and doesn't help find hate unlike the cantrips.

2019-01-10 Iron Buffalo Modern 2-1 with Dredge

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606619#paper

R1 vs Matt on Bant Spirits (2-0, 1-0)
He seems to be playing all of the Bant Spirit enablers - Aether Vial, Noble Hierarch AND Collected Company. I've played against another local Spirits player who runs that, and I don't agree with it since they're not particularly synergistic with each other - they don't play well together. Some thoughts as to why:

• Aether Vial: ignores color costs, enables explosive midgame by cheating on mana, deckbuilding constraints of maxing on 2s and 3s
• Noble Hierarch: accelerates on mana, allows for better attack scenarios
• Collected Company: explosive midgame, requires deck to 30+ creatures at 3 mana or less for consistent hits
• Vial + Hierarch: maximizes turn 1 openings, but have no synergy
• Vial + Company: maximizes operating at instant speed, but has turn 1/2 plays. Also splits mana curve - Company wants to max on 3s, whereas Vial would rather have more 2s (worst of combinations imo)
• Hierarch + Company: accelerates Company but Noble is a bad hit
• Vial + Hierarch + Company: maximizes turn 1 plays, but minimizes the amount of business cards for Vial and Company

R2 vs Joe on Jund (1-2, 1-1)
G1 answered his single Scavenging Ooze
G2 could not handle recurring Scooze (K Command, LtLH), didn't find dredger
G3 he had the beats

R3 vs Boris on burn (2-1, 2-1)
G1 turn 2 created 13 power on the field (2 Bloodghasts + 3 Prized Amalgams)
G2 he had turn 2 RIP
G3 cast Faithless Looting, Cathartic Reunion, Cathartic Reunion, dredged a bunch of Stinkweed Imp, hit all 4 Creeping Chill and turn 3 kill. Left with 14 cards in library and 1 mana to potentially do something else.

Decklist thoughts:

• I should definitely be playing the 4th Copperline Gorge. The fetches don't matter - as long as they can get a mountain they function the same
• Also should have a 3rd Lightning Axe in the SB.
• Accidentally packed a fourteen card sideboard. Oops.

Overall thoughts:

• When I first brought Dredge to an FNM, someone remarked that I was "actually playing a real deck." Which is true. Dredge is the only tiered deck I play/own, and it's both unfair and powerful.
• Most decks pretty much can't win vs dredge without a GY hate card. They see a 7 card hand which would be fine in most matchups but without that RIP or Leyline or Anger it doesn't do anything
• I might get some more reps in with Dredge and take it to Toronto next month
• I should read a primer esp. sideboarding guide

2019-01-05 The Nerd Store Modern 2-3 with 8 rack

8 rack

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1562469#paper

• 1 Ensnaring Bridge in the main, 1 BLR
• SB: 3 Surgicals back in, 1 EE
• SB: Trimmed Fulminators to 3 from 4. Generally powerful, but maybe just ditch them for something else? Kind of just want to give up on the Tron/big mana matchups.
• $40 modern win-a-box event, figured I'd try it with the deck I'm moderately familiar with, and is moderately powerful

R1 vs Evan on UWC (0-2, 0-1)
In the blind, I decide to take the play. Shouldn't have done that. I Thoughtseize turn 1, and he realizes that he drew 8 cards. We apply the comp REL fix despite the event not technically being comp, but I misplay and take Cryptic instead of the correct choice of D Sphere. The actual Thoughtseize goes after his Surgical. He's heavy on Jaces, and eventually finds a planeswalker to draw a ton of cards.
Game 2 I misplay - I see his hand, know that he's on 3 lands + 1 Jace, and have a Fulminator out.
I see the line, think about it, then get greedy and decide to turn my brain off?

R2 vs Zach on foil Jund (1-2, 0-2)
He takes the play. The foil Blackcleave Cliffs into foil IoK should have tipped me off, but whatever. Goyfs vs no Push & I lose.
Game 2 I get, mostly off the power of Smallpox.
Game 3 I keep a hand with 3x Smallpox, which gets Inquisitioned into Surgical Extraction.
Found a Bridhge in one or two of the games, but got destroyed.

R3 vs Crit on GB (0-2, 0-3)
I know Crit, we're both 0-2, and I correctly take the draw. Games are close but Scavenging Ooze saves him both times, along with the maindecked Kalitas Traitor of Ghet. Mispressured in game 1 - should have swung Mutavault at LtLH instead of face a couple times.

R4 vs Eddie on Bogles (2-0, 1-3)
Game 1 he turn 1s a Dryad Arbor. I look down at my hand, see some discard and Smallpox, and I think he concedes after a second Smallpox / some Lili -2s
Game 2 I have Smallpox and Liliana again, while he has no t0 Leyline of Sanctity. Quickly over.

R5 vs Jeremy on UR Pyromancer/Thing (2-1, 2-3)
edit: was basically the decklist on https://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/ptrix/deck-tech-ur-pyromancer-vierens-2018-02-03
Game 1 I'm able to keep him off any action, and take him down. He flooded pretty bad iirc
Game 2 I lose to uh... I forget? Some timely counterspells, and mis-sequencing on my part.
Game 3 I take.
Overall, I don't think he understood the matchup properly, though he did do some nice Snapcaster Mage tricks in repsonse to discard spells (targeting Opt, EoTing Opt), doing in response to Smallpox to save TitI, etc. I say that he doesn't understand the matchup since he tried to jam Thing on turn 2 every game, and one time I followed with an IoK to take an Ancestral Visions, which would have ruined me.

Reflections:

• Definitely could have won round 1 if I were utilizing my brain properly.
• What could I have done better? Uh, round 1 mostly. Midrange in rounds 2 and 3 both just had better topdecks than me. I tend to keep a lot of hands without a Rack effect in hand, and I think I should be prioritizing those more since I do need win-cons.
• Saw more answers to E Bridge than I expected, so it ended up not being as impactful/game-ending as I had hoped. Saw it in quite a few games though for a one-of.
• I've been swapping decks way too often, and with GP/MF Toronto coming up, I should really start practicing reps with one deck. I'm thinking Dredge.

2018-12-21 Iron Buffalo Thursday Modern 0-4 with Jeskai Thing Ascension

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1541817#paper

Round 1 vs Ken on Eldrazi Tron (0-2, 0-1)

Game 1, on the draw, turn 2 Chalice was pretty much it.
In both games TKS did its thing - disrupt and smash.

Round 2 vs Marc on UW control (0-2, 0-2)

Cryptic bouncing either Thing or Ascension just ruins my day. All control has to do is answer whichever one I have, then win somehow. He was running a Jace-heavy list, and I eventually crumbled to the card advantage.  I think he was playing more conservatively than he needed to, but at the same time, he was in no rush to win - answer my meager threats, and I have nothing.

Round 3 vs Jake on Storm (1-2, 0-3)
Game 1 I had removal for early cost-reducers, but instead he sat on them until a t5/6 combo turn
Game 2 I had the right answers. Probably would have lost, had he gone for ritual-ritual-Empty.
Game 3 should have boarded more answers to Empty the Warrens

Round 4 vs Christian on Amulet Titan (1-2, 0-4)
He plays the (a?) version with Trinket Mages to tutor for a number of things, which is neat: Amulet ofc, Walking Ballista, Engineered Explosives, ???
I win game 2 only because he mulls to 5 and has nothing. Pretty much the one game all night where I manage to go off (casting Manamorphose with active Ascension)

Games 1 and 3 I am pressured by a Ballista, am able to answer a couple Titans, but lose to the last one.

Thoughts:

• Fundamentally, the deck is bad. The two payoffs (TiTi, Pyromancer Ascension) both require a ton of initial investment, roughly 4 spells each. If either of them get bounced or otherwise removed, those spells have done virtually nothing.
• Another way to evaluate the deck: The wincons are terrible topdecks. And when your deck is built around those very same wincons, that's not a good place to be.
• I'm going to be retiring this deck, similar to Loam Pox (which I also lost to Christian on, lol.
• I wish Pyromancer Ascension had a good shell. Ascension Storm is how I originally got into modern, though come to think of it, it didn't work out too well back then either. Hm.

2018-12-21 D&A Modern FNM 2-2 with Mono W Emeria

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1534030#paper

Mono W Emeria is one of my classic decks that I used to play a lot of in 2016-2017. It plays a slow grindy game and has insane lategame with recursion using both Sun Titan and Emeria, the Sky Ruin. It's control in that it doesn't do anything early and tries to accumulate a ton of incremental advantage.

Changes: I finally got an MPR Wrath of God, so I played that. I played a couple different forms of GY hate since that's important, but I can't play Rest in Peace because it's symmetrical.

Round 1 vs Adam on Merfolk (2-1, 1-0)
Lost game 1 to a disruptive Spreading Seas and like four lords off of a t1 vial. He didn't see much of my game plan.
In: 2 Dusk//Dawn, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 2 Thalia, 1 Blessed Alliance
Game 2 I try to path a lord on his turn. He taps out for Spell Pierce, I untap, and Dusk his four lords.
Game 3 He knows about Dusk now, but I keep an opening hand with 3 lands, Dusk, and a Wrath of God. On his turn 5, my Path gets Pierced again. Go to my turn 6, I play an untapped land and resolve Dusk past his 2nd Pierce for crazy value, with Wrath of God for backup. I find a Titan and Path a topdecked Master of Waves for lethal.

Round 2 vs Steve on Dredge (1-2, 1-1)
Game 1 - lost because unable to interact + fast
In: 3 Surgical Extraction, 2 Tormod's Crypt, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Celestial Purge (bad choice)
Out: 4 Squadron Hawk, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Wall of Omens
Game 2: Opener has 2 Surgical, snap-keep. Turn 2 he discards a Stinkweed Imp to Cathartic Reunion, and I ruin him. I surgical one of his 2 Golgari Thugs later when it hits the bin, which was not ideal? but kept him off any further dredge action. I'd like to hit Life from the Loam instead. Nice win, he's stuck on 2 lands due to not fetching for a green source or hitting LftL.
Game 3: 7 card hand has no GY interaction, mulligan. 6 has a Surgical, 2? lands, Wrath, Titan, and something else. Fine, I guess. It doesn't do enough and I die to Narcomoeba-Bloodghasts.

Round 3 vs Ian on Experimental Frenzy Affinity (0-2, 1-2)
Plays way more 0 drops than typical affinity, also Frogmites and Myr Enforcers. He's really fast out of the gates, and I should have been mulliganing more aggressively for Stony Silence. His early 4/4s are reminiscent of Hollow Ones, and though I can chump for many turns I'm still too slow. Ravager and Plating both threaten lethal kills when his board is able to go wider than mine.
In: 3 Stony Silence, 2 Disenchant, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 3 Wall of Omens, 2 Thalia, 1 Blessed Alliance I think?

Round 4 vs Brian on Hardened Scales affinity (2-0, 2-2)
Both games I'm able to stall out and take over. He didn't hit payoffs quickly enough.
In: 3 Stony Silence, 2 Disenchant, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
Out: 4 Squadron Hawk, 2 Thalia, 1 Wall of Omens
Game 2 I Disenchant a Hardened Scales. He drops 2 Grafdigger's Cage, which stops my one Finks but nothing else since I didn't find Titan or Emeria. Instead I just murder him with 1/1s and 2/1s.

Thoughts:

• Pilgrim's Eye got the most "I need to read this card" reactions. It's a powerful Magic card, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
• Against my opponents the Thalias were pre-tty bad. Would have been fine against other players I saw tonight, but maybe I should change those slots.
• Should have SBd a Settle the Wreckage, probably in Celestial Purge's slot.
• Had fun doing Emeria things, though I wish I had faced slower decks.

The other deck: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1533977#paper

Built 8 rack for the kid again, changed a Fatal Push in the main to Nezumi Shortfang, altered the SB a bit. Added Liliana the Last Hope and Night of Soul's Betrayal for those annoying Kuldotha Rebirth go-wide decks, which paid off for him in round 4. Considered taking out Fulminators since Tron hasn't shown up in a while at the store. He ended up going 4-0 >:( He also took the play whenever possible, and that probably made a big difference.

Personally I usually try to slow the game down, and should instead be more proactive with both my decks and play patterns.

The store announced that they're continuing Modern FNM, but are:

• doubling the entry fee
• removing the pack for entering
• cutting rounds to 3 from 4
• and reducing the total prize pool ($60 total in credit per 8 entrants)

So 2-1s go infinite. Half the entrants get nada, and a maximum of a quarter of the entrants net value. Not really sure how this model is going to work out for players, but I suppose the store will find out soon enough.

2018-12-14 D&A Modern FNM 1-3 with Esper Seance

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1522428#paper
Based on: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1467851#paper

Changes:

• Shriekmaws -> Lone Missionary: Meta has more aggro, and enough black/artifact creatures to make Shriekmaw look eh. However, Shriekmaw has that evasion going on for it so maybe I should have tried it out since I was slow closing
• Don't own/couldn't find Darkslick Shores, chose to play a second basic Plains
• SB: I don't own Ephara, but it's super cool.
• SB: Vs GY decks I'd rather just have t0 Leyline instead of... anything else.
• SB: Purge and Disenchant both actually hit Blood Moon, while Sundering Growth requires WW which is ... rough

Round 1 vs Scott W on "Go-Bots" (0-2, 0-1):
I kept a weak hand game 1, then a slightly better hand was too slow in game 2 as well. Not enough early interaction, Wall of Omens could only block 1 Kuldotha Rebirth token, etc.

Round 2 vs Alex on "Go-Bots" (2-0, 1-1):
Same deck, but I kept more proactive and interactive hands. Once I had both Hidden Stockpile and Seance out, I accumulated enough cards and life to have a good buffer. Still, took me like 8 turns to close.

Round 3 vs Bill on Ponza (0-2, 1-2)
Took care of his Blood Moons, Path'd Platinum Emperions, but just lost to to Stormbreath Dragons. He has inevitability by being way bigger. Even in my mono W Emeria deck, I at least have almost infinite chump blockers for Stormbreath with my Pilgrim's Eye (and Blessed Alliance as an actual answer).
Bill, if you're reading this, you should consider playing more Infernal Titans.

Round 4 vs John on Jeskai control (0-2, 1-3)
Both games I was just unable to pressure Teferi being slammed on t5 and upticking forever.
Game 2 I lost to 2x Surgical + Snapcaster (3rd Surgical)

Reflections:

• Long story, the deck is bad. You're playing do-nothing cards and do-nothing enchantments in a do-something format.
• Seance is just too slow of a payoff, and doesn't interact with the opponent enough. Compare to Waste Not which is cheap and rewards you for interacting through discard.
• Hidden Stockpile is neat but still you're just getting a 1/1 and scrying. Again, just not powerful enough for modern.
• Loses to GY interaction, which is not where you want to be - although it's maybe not fair to consider since I lost to triple Surgical
• Should have been playing some number of Thoughtseize, I think
• Mana requirements weren't too tough, which is probably more of a problem because it indicates that you're not playing powerful enough cards.
• Pack Rat - it really serves a late win-con that only combos with drawing mad cards with Mulldrifter, and unlike 8 rack which clears out opponent's hand and field it is unable to pressure effectively. Oh, on turn 3 you've spent 2 cards and 5 mana to make 4 power? That's cute.