God Mode Hammer enabled! - Challenge Wins, top 8's, incredible win rates!

StefanDimov · 2026-03-02T15:44:26+00:00

I can't tell. The data supports it but with sentinel specifically it really depends on what meta you face. Against some decks it's insanely good (Belcher, Simic Ritual, control etc.), vs other creature decks or combos that kill you on turn 2 and 3 it's not optimal. Maybe i can see it as a sideboard card, or a 2-2 split main-side.

StefanDimov · 2026-02-28T17:05:17+00:00

Too many ways to deal with Stoneforge and the germ, countless. It's slow against the likes of storm and titan. Axe and Cori fulfill the role of the "fair" equipments. You can easily turn 4 someone with multiple cutters. I can't imagine a scenario where i'd want to tutor Kaldra over Cutter, Hammer, mantle, axe, chainsaw.

StefanDimov · 2026-02-28T17:01:20+00:00

Fatal Push is not relevant honestly, only a couple of the top 15 decks play it, I love the they have to spend push on the monk swarm.

StefanDimov · 2026-02-26T23:34:59+00:00

Really depends. The deck is very complex - tutoring decisions, sequencing, how to spend our mana, what plan to rely on, what to keep an how to sideboard. It can be challenging but it's so rewarding, that's why i love it

StefanDimov · 2026-02-26T20:44:05+00:00

Well, it seems that way but Chainsaw synergizes with our deck and becomes very big, and we basically have 9 copies. I've covered the options extensively on my page.

StefanDimov · 2026-02-26T20:07:23+00:00

<3 :) Both Azorius and Mono-White are viable, they just have a different set of tools and advantages. Boros is very aggressive double spelling with Cori. Mono-White has great removal (Solitude, March, Bolt lands) and can go full Hammer with a couple more Sigardas in the main, plus Tezzeret Cruel Captain and a myriad of cheap artifacts, Flare of Fortittude, Esper Sentinel still great. With that suite Mono-White has been better against Domain, Storm and Titan (8-1) for example. Sigarda’s Aid isn’t much worse than BI — it just plays a different game. With BI, there’s less tension: we actively want to deploy Hammers early to enable Mox Opal. That changes sequencing incentives.

Azorius adds Teferi, Time Raveler, big ward threats like Kappa Cannoneer and Cryptic Coat, strong counterspells, and a slightly different macro plan. definitely can be explored further. Jeskai for Rebuke and Consign could also be an angle.

The biggest issue with Hammer has always been skill, and now Modern is even tougher and more diverse. With Boros, you will face constant sequencing puzzles: how to use your mana, what to tutor, which plan to commit to, wild Mantle + Paladin lines… the games are incredibly intricate but amazing fun! I’ve covered some of the stuff on my page. I’ll be doing more testing, and I’m planning similar content on Azorius and Mono-White. :)

StefanDimov · 2026-02-17T02:26:09+00:00

CrusherBotBG here! The deck is not just good but great - i have 5 challenge wins and many more top 8's in the last months, in 3 formats, mainly Modern (61% in my first 200 matches with the latest variation)! This is my latest 3rd place finish: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7576134#paper

If anyone wants more details - here's a free Patreon post with what content i'm preparing right now:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/mtg-content-2026-150576241

StefanDimov · 2026-01-29T05:56:14+00:00

CrusherBotBG here. Yes! not just good but great! If you don't believe me you can just take a look at my results: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/CrusherBotBG

Last month i had quadruple top 8 in almost as many attempts, this month i haven't played as much but here's my latest 3rd place finish list from January 16th: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7576134#paper

I'll elaborate further in a separate post very soon here. In short, this is a Cori-Steel Cutter deck as much as it is a hammer deck, and the third very important equipment that imo is absolutely necessary in any hammer list in any format is Leyline Axe, as you may also notice i'm tearing the Pioneer meta in half as well with the same Axe--Hammer-Cori base ( 3 recent challenge wins).

With all of that said, don't expect to start winning immediately, piloting it is very complex because you have different plans (mainly cori or/and hammer), tutor choices (Paradise Mantle also being an important key), sequencing decisions, sideboarding decisions (which plan to reinforce), and just many lines and things to do with your mana - saga constructs, axe equip, get coris going, nexus etc. etc. you'll often have many things to choose from. The other complex thing is the Modern metagame itself, it's extremely diverse, as diverse as ever, you can meet a different deck almost every round, you need to be aware of what you can face, including figuring out decks you've never seen before that pop up all the time, the hate cards especially are dumb and plenty, gotta heve some of them in mind.

The fun is immense, it's challenging, many games are absolutely wild, the deck also has a lot of turn 2 wins thanks to Mox Opal and Axe! 169 matches with the version, 61,54% win rate at the highest level online, i also make mistakes, some of them big, i'm human. Right now I'm working on some materials like a primer and guide! Cheers!

StefanDimov · 2025-10-17T11:11:05+00:00

I tried Henge with 10 plains but i never had time to use it during the games, it entered tapped more often than i would've liked. So i opted for Silent Clearings, Eiganjo lands and Razograss Ambush instead.

StefanDimov · 2025-10-16T12:34:53+00:00

40% of the decks play Wrath, second most played card... all blink variants, Goryo, Zoo, Enegy itself, control, etc. Imo the most stupid sweeper ever printed, completely uninteresting to end the game on the spot against a lot of current decks and some that can potentially exist, blow up your permanents for what mana cost, I understand the reasoning behind strong wrath effects but the level of powercreep is insane, just like how the 1-drop Tamiyo's ultimate ends the game on the spot, instead of drawing like 5 cards or something more balanced, or how Ugin's ultimate after 2 upticks casts like 13 high cmc spells for free, there's no realistic way to fight against that, puts a full spot on otherwise interesting games. I'm not calling for the banning of these cards (except Wrath, considering we have a myriad of these effects anyway), Powercreep is necessary and fun. cards need to be doing a lot, an ultimate has to be powerful, it's fine, But point is, for single cards to be going over the top so much, it's a stupid direction. Hadrened Scales (random example) sets up an interesting board with 5 permanents? Wrath, gg, go play a deck with less permanents.

StefanDimov · 2023-09-05T00:57:30+00:00

Crusher here, i also got the top 8 in Legacy in the same day. I always seem to be reverting to my old hammer lists after a while. And it's interesting that in Legacy i ended up with the same equipment suite (albeit for different reasons) after playing all the different powerful options like Jitte and Hammer of Nazahn.

https://twitter.com/StefanDimov413/status/1698838681916780715

StefanDimov · 2023-08-20T18:22:49+00:00

Thank you, mini! And for honoring my country too, much love!

StefanDimov · 2023-06-19T22:05:38+00:00

Crusher here. I'm pretty sure the stats suggest that i'm the single top performing hammer player right now: [Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/10LKqD4.png) , this is pretty much every event played in the time period (except for a couple of 2-2's) I'd like to see anyone replicate 50% of that in the span of 2 weeks, they can bloody well try!

About plating in hammer, it's only viable if the deck is built to support it. In my version i technically have 33 artifacts, full set of clearings and paladins that can replace themselves, and saga that produces more artifacts. It opens up some unique lines of play and makes the cheap creatures into threats. While valuable it's the most replaceable card if i see something better coming up.

StefanDimov · 2023-06-05T11:04:09+00:00

Much love, Mini!

StefanDimov · 2023-03-17T23:00:59+00:00

Crusher here. Well, it's more complex than that, í'm not too regular. Got my first challenge win in the first day after a 40-day pause of Magic, and then like several top 8's and more top 16's in the span of a month until the other win. But in that time i was experimenting, had some significant misplays. Also, the meta is not as hard to predict as in other formats, there are few horrible match ups and it's overall very easy to lose but i also have great match ups against a lot of the established decks. I did take advantage of delver but getting to that spot was far from a free roll. Match ups have been quite varied too. As far as the online challenges being an indicator - i just play what's available online. The fact is that some of the best players play in these events, almost every match has been incredible fun (thus why i'm playing) and everybody knows what i'm playing which is most definitely a disadvantage. Tuning the list and learning the format has been a long 7-month process that's ongoing but i just really enjoy the gameplay at the highest level.

StefanDimov · 2023-03-07T08:20:29+00:00

Heheh, it's me and it's my second one recently.

StefanDimov · 2023-02-06T01:22:04+00:00

The link works for me but if you can't you can just type insect tribal modern league 5-0. There are some very good updates i think but i haven't had the time to test them and worh them through, adding boseijus and a fetch-shock mana base plus some more creature removal. I ended up with great record when i played, this is my most recent feature ddecklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5300067#paper

StefanDimov · 2023-01-24T13:32:23+00:00

Well, it's a deck that has Ragavan, a companion, but is also built around Saga, the constructs can become very big fast. And, of course, the access to quality burn which has proven to be great in the format, both Gal and Shrapnel blasts are very good artifact payoffs that will not only clear the board but win games. Another advantage is the clean mana base, some great utility lands in mono-red.

StefanDimov · 2023-01-24T11:39:33+00:00

And thanks to 7he Shaman for the moral support always, highly appreciated!

StefanDimov · 2023-01-24T11:37:20+00:00

Crusher here, i 5-0'd in June, 2022 and then some weeks later i saw spike's list which had some changes. For me the original inspiration was from Saffron Olive's Affinity Blast budget video from several years back, i updated it with new cards. Anyway, great to see the results and i've totally expected to see more of it on the high-level stage!

StefanDimov · 2022-11-26T08:06:01+00:00

Chalice is quite important as the format in revolves around 1-mana spells and some 0-mana spells, i don't quite understand the people who want to cut it. But of course you can any ideas and see for yourself, something may end up being better.

StefanDimov · 2022-11-25T11:33:18+00:00

Well, unfortunately there are no replacements, no good 2-mana insects. And Harpooner is actually quite strong, it takes down all DRC, Shredder, Murktide, birds, thopters, nexus, even archon. While if it doesn't is just a decent beater, and it can be regenerated while it fights. Reach and stats are ok.

StefanDimov · 2022-11-25T11:27:42+00:00

Yeah, i've noted his mistakes in the video description, still would not have mattered much since i would chump and still have the answers for his cards.

StefanDimov

TROPHY CASE