When I was building Modern decks, it was pretty clear to me that Splinter Twin would be the most popular deck going into Baltimore. It made sense too.
People just getting into the format would play Burn, and Twin’s matchup against Burn is alright, though not great. Twin isn’t incredibly expensive, and
it’s one of the more accessible decks when it comes to playskill and malleability. The Amulet Bloom hype is vastly overblown, and Abzan Midrange is
incredibly expensive for a lot of players. This leaves me with a rather awkward situation.
Obviously I’m trying to win the tournament, but everything I came up with was either going to struggle on day one, on day two, or in the top 8. Trying to
find a deck that was good in two out of those three sections was proving to be really tough, and I didn’t just want an average deck for all three days.
This may sound weird, but what many players don’t understand is that you can’t approach Modern the same way you do Standard or Legacy. The moment you try
to “break” the format or gain traditional edges is the moment you begin to fall behind. Your edges come in deckbuilding, the ability to outmaneuver cards
(not players), and fluidity.
In deckbuilding, it is imperative that you maximize the focus of your deck and know when that focus needs to be changed relative to your sideboard hosers.
In short: How much will my primary plan change after game 1, how much of my sideboard will be dedicated to aiding a potential shift, if applicable, and how
many hate cards am I losing by doing this?
A lot of the time this is pretty clear cut. Splinter Twin decks can board out some or all of their Splinter Twins, Storm decks may shift from Grapeshot to
Empty the Warrens, or G/W Hexproof can board out all of their creatures for a full transformational prison plan. Other times, things are much less clear,
or are on a radically different axis.
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
How exactly do you attack this plan after game 1? That depends on what your opponent is doing. What if your opponent doesn’t even bring in this plan? What
does your graveyard hate do? You wouldn’t bring it in against specifically Lingering Souls, so it becomes a levels game. Even if it doesn’t, it’s very
tough to prepare for it.
This Abzan example was what gave me an epiphany in the first place. If Gifts Ungiven is that powerful in the sideboard, then what decks are really going to
be ready for it in game 1? Not very many, it seemed.
So I got to work on the Monday before the event…
…It’s Thursday now, and I still haven’t come up with anything.
To say that this is the most difficult deck I’ve ever worked on would be an understatement. Perhaps I’m in over my head.
I knew where to start:
Four Gifts Ungiven. One Unburial Rites.
The reason to play this deck in the first place. Some decks just couldn’t beat an oversized, overcosted creature that has a busted effect. Being able to
use it “fairly” (meaning getting an obscene amount of value no matter what your opponent does, or constructing your deck in a way that you can functionally
tutor for redundant effects and still get what you want), was also a huge selling point, but that’s where the easy parts end.
Building this deck was like putting together a DJ set back in my early days. Every single little fragment of energy that was in the project couldn’t be
wasted. You wanted function, but you wanted stability. You wanted it to resonate with itself, but it also had to work. Your performance was only as strong
as the weakest song you played, and the crowd will always remember you by where the holes in your performance were, not by how good that big drop was.
You’re telling a story. You’re painting a picture.
Turns out this story took me a whole week to tell. This picture, a week to paint.
Creatures (5)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (27)
I knew that it wasn’t going to be perfect. I knew that I couldn’t possibly figure out how to operate this at full efficiency. I knew what I was getting
into, but the wealth of creativity in front of me was irresistible. There was definitely a lot happening, but I was diving in head first.
Who’s up first? Well, if it isn’t Mr. Brian Braun-Duin himself.
Right from the get-go, I realized just how difficult things were going to be. I had a very awkward game 1, resulting in a rather controversial Gifts
Ungiven for three cards. I could give you some sort of convoluted elaboration on the play, but let’s be real. I messed up. Very badly. The bald warrior
slayed me pretty handily, and I was left flailing, trying to get a handle of what I signed up for.
A few rounds later, I’m hanging on at two losses, but I’m getting a better hang of things. I actually ran into a similar situation from my camera match and
wound up nailing it. Every game was different, and adapting to each and every spot was tough, but I certainly learned a whole lot about getting through
things while on the backfoot, and changing priorities on the fly. I was glad to have a couple of trustworthy friends birding me from time to time, helping
me with difficult situations after the game and keeping my spirits high. Things got rough out there at multiple points, and they kept the ship righted for
as long as possible.
I think it’s important to know when you’re too far in over your head in deck and card selection. Choosing a deck doesn’t always mean choosing the most
powerful deck. It can also mean not choosing the deck that has a higher learning curve for the same or lesser reward. You don’t get points for playing a
more difficult deck. The goal is to win your matches, and I failed to win enough of them.
Unfortunately we failed to make the second day, so the attention had to shift back to Standard. I wasn’t the most confident in any of the decks, and I
didn’t really have the time to work on much.
So I pulled out what we call the “back pocket” deck. The deck we play when there’s nothing else to figure out.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 2 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
- 4 Heir of the Wilds
- 4 Savage Knuckleblade
- 2 Ashcloud Phoenix
- 2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
- 3 Frost Walker
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t think this deck is the best thing you can be doing. It’s fairly inconsistent, and the mana hurts a lot. That
said, I think it’s very well-positioned for now, boasting excellent Abzan and blue-based control matchups and the tools to beat R/W Aggro as well. Before,
Whip of Erebos strategies were the major problem holding Temur back, and now, with Ugin pushing Whips out, you can have a good shot with it. I do think
that the mana still needs work, but does anyone really know how it works? I want to try something that sounds crazy but may actually work.
I firmly believe that the real reason to play Temur is Stubborn Denial, not Savage Knuckleblade. If we go by that theory, how crazy is it to cut Frontier
Bivouac for Temple of Abandon and find your blue sources elsewhere? If your only blue card is Stubborn Denial and maybe Disdainful Stroke in the sideboard,
then we only need, what, eleven to twelve blue sources? If you really want to have some more, then some number of Rattleclaw Mystics can help (though Wild
Slash hampers that a lot).
This leaves us with a manabase looking something like this:
3 Forest
2 Mountain
You might even be able to get a basic Island in there somewhere, though I don’t know if it’s worth it unless you play 24 lands. The other problem is its
ability to provide early protection from things like Thoughtseize is greatly reduced. It’s a fair sacrifice to make if we’re trying to be a G/R Aggro deck
splashing blue rather than a full on Temur deck.
While Baltimore didn’t go as well as I had hoped, I feel very confident with the month of March. I’ll be taking my first flight ever to SCG Dallas, and the
Invitational in Richmond closes in shortly after. With a lot of IQs filling out the off-weekends, I’ll (still) be looking to acquire as many points as
possible.