Holy shit. Do you all get as excited to watch the pro tour as I do? Jeez! It’s always my favorite event of each season. What will the pros play in Modern? Now we know and I’m going to come right out and say it: Dickmann’s (tee hee) RUG Twin deck has most of my attention. The RUG Twin deck is the most exciting deck I’ve seen in a while. The combo is the back-up plan. THE BACK UP PLAN! So good. Now that I’m allowing myself to counter other people’s spells I can’t wait to play Remand and Cryptic Command to keep my Goyfs alive and protect my Deceiver Exarchs. Holy shit.
Here’s his deck tech from the ProTour coverage on the mothership (WOTC’s site):
Here’s Dickmann’s list:
Green Twin
| Lands (21) 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Steam Vents 1 Breeding Pool 1 Stomping Ground 2 Island 1 Forest 1 Mountain 2 Hinterland Harbor 2 Sulfur Falls Creatures (16) 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Tarmogoyf 2 Scavenging Ooze 3 Pestermite 3 Deceiver Exarch Spells (23) 4 Splinter Twin 4 Serum Visions 2 Gitaxian Probe 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Flame Slash 4 Remand 1 Electrolyze 2 Cryptic Command | Sideboard (15) 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Nature’s Claim 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Combust 1 Dismember 1 Spellskite 1 Batterskull 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Dispel 1 Negate 1 Counterflux |
Willy Edel’s Jund List looks pretty sweet, too. Here’s the ProTour deck tech with Zac Hill and Willy:
And the list:
New Modern Jund
Seriously though, I’ll probably just play Bogle. Suiting that tongue flapping bastard up with many pants, hats, spirit animals, crowns, Star Wars creatures, and card drawing powers is super fun. The recent update with Spirit Mantle replacing Unflinching Courage makes the thing EVEN BETTER.
Something like this:
GW Bogle
| Lands (21) 1 Dryad Arbor 2 Forest 4 Horizon Canopy 3 Misty Rainforest 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Temple Garden 3 Verdant Catacombs Creatures (12) 4 Gladecover Scout 4 Kor Spiritdancer 4 Slippery Bogle Spells (27) 4 Daybreak Coronet 4 Ethereal Armor 4 Hyena Umbra 3 Keen Sense 2 Path to Exile 4 Rancor 4 Spider Umbra 2 Spirit Mantle | Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Nature’s Claim 2 Rest in Peace 1 Spirit Link 2 Stony Silence 2 Suppression Field 1 Torpor Orb |
The maindeck Path to Exile seem really good with all the Twin and Pod decks floating around. But … that Green Twin deck has my attention in a big way. Li and I will hopefully stream testing it this week on my Twitch page (www.twitch.tv/mattjonesrules).
I’m watching the semi-finals of the ProTour right now. Dickmann vs. McLaren. My girlfriend’s in the room listening, too. She keeps making fun of Rich Hagon and occasionally bursts into saying, “Nerdtalknerdtalk, nerdtalk? Nerdtalknerdtalk!” and laughing riotously. Oh, Magic.
Team Draft League—Week Three
The ScryDucks took on Team Handsome. Let’s meet Team Handsome*
Dom Neitz
It’s impossible to know which is greater: the number of people currently lost in a daydream about Dom or about his cat.
Sean Morse
Sean Morse once had dreams that trapping opponents in a ‘Geddon-Tradewind Rider lock would win every game; sadly, Oath of Druids then Urza’s Saga was printed and Sean quit, too intimidated by all the manas being made. Lured back in like many players by the ever-improving design of the game and the excess cash in his pocket, Sean returned circa Innistrand (U/R self-mill in draft never gets enough love…). While not playing – which isn’t often – he slings sentences together and molds the young minds of tomorrow. Our future isn’t bright.
Derek Gallen
From the womb Derek knew something was slightly afoot, and it was Autumn in 1994 watching his brother’s basketball game when a friend revealed two starter decks of Revised. There, under the dim elementary school light, he cast his first Serra Angel. Barron’s Comics and Cards was in Milford, CT. His first visit he met Melissa Benson and spent one dollar on a single copy of Channel. Many Years and many tournaments later, his mother gifted him $200 to purchase his first Black Lotus, which he carried with him in his front pocket until he graduated high school. Once, he qualified for the Pro Tour, but went 0-2 and decided to drop on day one. It was during his tenure at Boston University he resolved to selling his collection to help finance his education. And, over the next ten years, Derek let go of Magic: The Gathering. Last summer in 2013 on a sunny afternoon he decided to spend a days curiosity catching up with the game. Not a few days went by when he emerged, bright and disheveled, ready again to exercise his devotion at Twenty Sided Store.
I tried a chest mounted GoPro this week. Here’s the draft:
I struggled with some picks and eventually decided on blue and black. I mean, two huge bombs came at me so, yeah, black was obvious. My blue ended up being pretty sweet. Here’s deck building:
And here’s what I headed into round one with:
UB Team Draft Deck—ScryDuck Style
Round One vs THE SEAN MORSE
Sean’s good at drafting Magic deck that win.
It felt damn good to win a game with a deck that isn’t my usual style (or what I don’t think is my usual style but probably is).
Taking the match was a real treat. How good is Mnemonic wall in my deck? I almost didn’t have it in but Kadar saw it in the board and forced it in the five slot. You know how he does.
Round Two vs. Derek
Hopefully these videos upload before Monday at midnight. (Spoiler alert: they didn’t upload.) As of right now we’re going on memory. Maybe you’re reading this and wondering what I’m talking about because of there IS a video above my words. (There aren’t any videos from this match.)
Anyway, Derek beat me, badly. I never stood a chance. I incorrectly sided in both Gainsays from my board and he played nothing but green spells game two (after thrashing me game one). It’s the first time the two of us ever played Magic together (as Derek notes at the beginning of the video you can or cannot see).
Round Three vs. Dom
My GoPro’s battery died. There’s no footage of me and Dom’s match. He mulled a bunch and we barely played Magic and just like that my 2-1 was good enough to give ScryDucks the win over Team Handsome.
Best cards in my deck: Retraction Helix and Mnemonic wall, no joke.
I can’t stop thinking about this Green Twin deck. Thanks for making it, Dickmann (or whoever made it). I’m grateful.
Thanks for reading!
Love to all,
Matt Jones
MTGO: The_Obliterator
Twitter: Die_Obliterator
Matt Jones is a sometimes PWP grinder, all the time spell slinger, and one passionate dude. He started playing at the end of Revised and quit at Exodus. Upon sobriety and running out of self-help groups to join, Jones picked Magic back up at New Phyrexia, found his favorite non-Necropotence card, Phyrexian Obliterator, and earned himself a nickname. He loves Constructed and tolerates Limited.
*Bios taken from www.teamdraftleague.com