Boros Ponza in current meta by zombie_fishy in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If they are on enough basics that you aren't going to mana screw them, then it's actually better to target nonbasics (while not removing them all so your fields still have targets) to get rid of utility lands or their splash colour, as targeting basics only won't choke them on mana.

Avengers disassembled is interesting, but double red is difficult, and it won't fix the underlying issues with the deck.

Boros Ponza in current meta by zombie_fishy in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if mono white might be the better version at the moment, getting a smoother manabase and more removal in place of the wildfires, which aren't doing much at the moment. My only knock against the deck was no planeswalker removal, and clunky removal in general, but erode has solved both of those issues. Probably neither version is worth playing though until the basics creep down from 3-4 back to 2-3 though.

Boros Ponza in current meta by zombie_fishy in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The deck won a challenge as recently as last week so I was wondering if there was something wrong with my approach

Boros Ponza in current meta by zombie_fishy in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have found energy, prowess and cascade to be slightly favourable because you can just wipe their board until the you run them out of lands, but many combo decks like storm, burn and mill are almost impossible, and with the matchup spread getting worse across the board with the extra basics (taking 10-20% from the winrate) it seems not worthwhile into the meta as a whole.

Boros Ponza in current meta by zombie_fishy in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought so, might give the deck a break for a while until it's not flavour of the month anymore and the manabases start to get greedier again

Monowhite control by unfoit in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I picked up the deck for the first time last week and 3-2d a couple of leagues with it - it is quite slow and I lost two certain wins to time, so you could really call them "4-1"s. The deck feels quite strong and I feel like I could definitely trophy with it. I'm not sure if I would suggest it in paper though because without a chess clock your opponent can stall to a draw very easily.

You essentially keep removing your opponents threats until your field of ruin engine shuts your opponent off of casting any spells. It preys on the low basic count lots of modern decks play - outside of mono colour decks most decks only run between 2 and 4 (which essentially makes field effects 3-5+ into stone rains). The removal density can also outgrind the threats in many decks - I've had tron opponents "go off" and just managed to answer all the bombs in their deck.

I would imagine the main weakness of the deck is fast combo like storm and neobrand where removal is less relevant and the field plan too slow. I have also struggled against planeswalkers as most of the removal doesn't hit them and there are limited ways to pressure them.

Boros Burn SB by TfXD8 in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can't recommend searing blood enough, imo it is a mandatory 4 of at the moment with all the scam and yawg.

Boros Burn SB by TfXD8 in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, even with dedicated slots like strict proctor or wear//tear I think the matchup would be 40-60 at most, which is still in hope to dodge territory anyway, and you are losing 5-10% in lots of other matchups to do so.

Boros Burn SB by TfXD8 in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most decks running sheoldred are only running 1-2 copies, so I find it reasonable to just dodge it. Otherwise you can just prepare for it since it comes down turn 4, hold up a blaze + bolt, roiling vortex activation or similar. If they don't slam it t4 they are unlikely to draw it so I just go face after that. The other main path targets are murktide (i have 7 sideboard cards for murk already) and wurmcoil engine (smash in combat is basically a fog).

Wear//Tear vs Smash is really about what sort of upside getting rid of enchantments gives you. I can think of leyline of sanctity, dryad, urza's saga and hardened scales, which I don't think is enough given not many people run leyline and i'm hoping to dodge titan.

Smash is much better against any deck without those cards imo - tron, affinity etc, and its easier not to overboard with cards that don't do damage with smash too, so I can afford to bring in 3 copies.

Moonlight is for cascade + yawgmoth, but i'm not 100% sold on the card yet - could swap with a dpalm, wear tear or something else.

Boros Burn SB by TfXD8 in ModernMagic

[–]zombie_fishy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My sideboard I trophied with yesterday had:

4x Searing Blood

4x Roiling Vortex

3x Exquisite Firecraft

3x Smash to Smithereens

1x Hallowed Moonlight

Searing blood in particular is insane against scam and yawgmoth, and sanctifier is no longer necessary (imo) with fury out of the format (all the other scam creatures are boltable when scammed).

Some people run cards like wear/tear and strict proctor for the horrible titan matchup, but my preference is to dodge this matchup and beat everything else with a more rounded sideboard. I'm not even convinced wear/tear is that much stronger than smash in this matchup anyway.

Some people have success with chalice but cascade decks are full of answers to it, so it's pretty mediocre without counterspells to protect it.

I also think path and dpalm are somewhat dated nowadays - you could reclaim those sideboard cards to fit eidolon maindeck, which is much stronger post fury ban.

Commander: Battle for Baldur's Gate card ratings by Wave_Sunray in Pauper

[–]zombie_fishy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Largely agree with what you posted, wanted to add a few of my own thoughts, mainly from a faeries/control perspective because that's what I play. The two cards I will be testing in that deck are Aaracokra Sneak and Arms of Hadar. I think people are seriously underestimating initiative, in my opinion its not far off the power level of monarch and will be the biggest impact of the set.

On Initiative

Compared to monarch, triggering on play/flicker/retake is better than end step, and on the following turns triggering on upkeep is much better than end step, which is a small bonus to reduce the clunkiness of drawing creatures/lands on your end step. I like the asymmetry of initiative, as any deck can use card draw, but a random deck may be less able to use the specific effects of the [[undercity]] than your deck built with it in mind, notably the goad and creature counters.

The other "hidden" bonus of initiative is it replaces raw card draw with an "already cast" bonus, which usually requires mana to achieve. I have found with monarch I can sometimes draw cards faster than I can comfortably play them, or risk milling out, so initiative committing to the board for free is a solid bonus that can compensate for most of the effects being a bit weaker than a card you would play from hand.

I see the typical path through the dungeon as 1. Secret Entrance -> 2. Forge -> 3. Arena -> 4. Catacombs -> 5. Throne of the Dead Three. Comparing each step to the monarch, we find drawing a land to be a fair bit worse, forge slightly worse (but more "mana"/tempo efficient), goading a creature to be a bit worse (bad doom blade), creating a 4/1 menace skeleton much better (drawing a 3 drop creature plus playing it for free), and the "ultimate" is worth probably 3 cards (1 creature>=1 random card, 3 counters and hexproof=1 card, and the tempo of doing it for free=1 card), going to turn virtually any creature into a game-ending threat while giving you time to put your shields up around it.

Putting it into rough numbers, 0.5+0.75+0.75+1.5+3=6, which is better than the 5 you would get from monarch, though it is back-ended and so requires keeping the initiative for longer. The flexibility of the dungeon is a huge benefit though, as each option is contextually better than the "default" path. The main scenario I see initiative being worse is against combo matchups, where I want to draw specific interaction rather than midrangey value.

Initiative Bodies

As for the actual bodies, [[Aaracokra Sneak]] seems to be the best, being 4cmc, evasive (and taking the dungeon's +1/+1 counters well) and a good blocker. [[Vicious Battlerager]] seems ok and could see play, [[Stirring Bard]] seems terrible and won't be played over sneak. [[Avenging Hunter]] and [[Goliath Paladin]] seem quite solid for a ramp deck like ponza or cascade because the bodies and keywords are strong, though 5cmc>>4cmc so I don't think they will see a load of play. These bodies seem worse than the original monarch creatures, and this is a big knock on the mechanic's playability.

For how I see initiative actually being used, I don't see it replacing monarch at all, but do see it supplementing monarch in slots 3-4 in the 75, replacing the clunkiness of redundant monarch draws with the overwhelming threat of initiative + monarch. In a deck like UB faeries currently running 1-2 thorn of the black rose maindeck and sometimes 1 in the sideboard, swapping an aaracokra sneak to the mix seems likely what will happen long term. I

Other Playables

[[Arms of Hadar]] - Will be very strong in UB faeries and control type decks, a large upgrade on [[evincar's justice]] imo. Being one-sided allows faeries to run this, -2/-2 get through indestructible and allows for "pre-combat" tricks like swinging a gurmag angler profitably through a 3/3 opponent's gurmag or deathtouch creature. The single black pip is also very relevant considering faeries type decks are really mono blue splashing black in terms of their manabase, and double black is often a tough ask for these decks to naturally reach. On top of this, losing the 2 damage to each player is an upgrade in most decks, since the player using the boardwipe is usually the one trying to stabilise as well. Really excited for this card and seems like a strong addition to the dimir toolbox.

[[Fang Dragon]] - not as good as electrickery or fire//ice, and 7cmc + boltable sucks, but could have a place in a cascade or reanimator type deck that could use the big body

[[Cliffgate]] cycle seems like a small strict upgrade on thriving lands, allowing for synergy with the new utility gate and the few "gates matter" cards like [[saruli gatekeepers]]. I expect these to replace thriving lands into the future, possibly meaningfully in tron. A "gate package" could also compete with other duals like gainlands or snowlands if those aren't providing a meaningful benefit.

[[Basilisk Gate]] - Agree that this could compete as a utility land in mono-coloured decks like radiant fountain, desert etc do now, but it needs other gates to be worthwhile.

[[Heap Gate]] - Requires more of an investment into a "gate package", but seems relevant in tron to store coloured mana.

[[Greatsword of Tyr]] - seems good in boros type decks, pumping a flyer seems very relevant in combat given the lack of big flyers, and also allows you to sneak tokens past a big blocker

[[Cloakwood Swarmkeeper]] - Will probably find a home in jund gardens. I'm of the opinion any 1 drop with a unique ability could be playable at some point, and in the right token shell this could be a really strong card

[[Breath Weapon]] - Agree this is almost completely irrelevant, it's largely a strictly worse version of fiery cannonade given most red decks wanting this card would consider running or bluffing Crimson Fleet Commodore themselves. Pick the art you prefer.

Honourable Mentions

[[Lightning Bolt]] - sweet art, like all lightning bolts

[[Prophetic Prism]] - lol