[Deck] Eva Green

[Tsnowflake]

The deck can port over from legacy to modern relatively unharmed, I think we can make it work.

Starting list:

Creatures: 16
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Tombstalker
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

Spells: 24
4 Dismember
4 Thoughtseize
3 Go For The Throat
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Smother
2 Duress or Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Phyrexian Arena

Lands: 20
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
7 Swamp


Card Choices:

Tarmogofy - Best beater in the format, win con.

Vampire Nighthawk - Evasive, can serve as removal with death touch, and offsets some life loss.

Tombstalker - Your other win con, 5/5 flyer for 2.

Gatekeeper - arguably can be replaced with Hypnotic Specter, not sure which i like more currently. Leaning towards Gatekeeper because it seems aggro will be ubiquitous in this format.

Dismember - replaces Snuff Out

GftT - can potentially be replaced with Geth's Verdict since it shouldn't be hard to hit BB with this list.

Smother - another way to kill stuff we don't like. Stops Bobs, opposing Goyfs, KoTRs etc...

Duress/IoK - Not sure which is better in this format, testing and time will tell.

Phyrexian Arena - The Bob alternative seeing as my list runs Tombstalker. Has the added benefit of being harder to remove than Bob and usually loses you less life over the course of its existence, especially since we can't run Top or Sylvan Library for library manipulation.

Other thoughts:

Since this is a slower format, I've considered removing all the Arenas and replacing them with Bobs and replacing Tombstalkers with Phyrexian Obliterators.

[Greenpoe]

Eva without Bob sounds like a losing plan. 4 Tombstalker without Rituals sounds weak, too. My #1 problem with Evagreen is how it performs in comparison to GBw Rock decks. In Modern, with no Wastelands, the Rock can just laugh at Evagreen with the best of all three colors (Bob, Goyf, KoTR). IMO, the only way for Eva to not be worse than the Rock is if it uses creatures like Gatekeeper, Shade or Obliterator. Eva built with more threats and more CA might be good:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Obliterator
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Hypnotic Specter
4 Dark Confidant
2 Stinkweed Imp or Darkblast or Phyrexian Revoker

4 Dismember
4 Thoughtseize
4 Go For The Throat
4 Phyrexian Arena

Lands: 20
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
7 Swamp

In the SB, Pithing Needle might be good, since you can go for the good ol' 1cc LD by naming their fetchland.

[Tsnowflake]

I see your point about The Rock. Bob & Arena eh? I'll have to try that out. Revokers always felt like an SB card to me.I feel that we can do without Hypnotic Specter though, the more I think about it, he just seems like a bad investment. Costs 3 cc, and has to wait a turn before he can pluck a card from their hand (as well as having to survive ofc AND hit them). I think we would be better off with more removal or discard in his slots.

Running with your idea.

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Obliterator
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Dark Confidant

4 Dismember
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize
4 GftT
4 Phyrexian Arena
2 Inquisition of K

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
7 Swamp

SB cards for consideration:
Pithing needle is def auto include, one of my favorite cards. However if we are running Pithing Needle, should we also run Revokers?
Nature's Claim & Krosan Grip for artifact/enchant hate?
Choke might actually be good again.
Phyrexian Metamorph

[wcm8]

I'm thinking that B/G has the tools to do well in this format, and I really don't see the need to splash white to make a "Rock" list -- all you're really gaining there is Path and Knight maindeck. Knight especially is less good without being able to find utility lands like Maze and/or Karakas. You also gain some resiliency to Moon-strategies by limiting yourself to two colors.

My list, which admittedly has somewhat limited testing:

4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Tombstalker (questionable)
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Dismember / potentially mix of Go for the Throat
4 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Night's Whisper (questionable)
3 Sword of X and Y (have been testing with L&S, F&F, F&I -- which is best seems meta dependent)
21 Lands (8 fetches, 4 overgrown tombs, 1 forest, 8 swamp -- may need alterations, but the list is heavy black)

SB:
Some mixture of Kitchen Finks, Seal of Primordium/Krosan Grip, Sadistic Sacrament, Shriekmaw, Darkblast (maybe), Memoricide, Graveyard Hate, etc.

The ideal opener is using 1CMC discard to pluck the opponent's removal or early play, and then land a Dark Confidant and just overwhelm them. Nighthawk and Gatekeeper function as pseudo-removal, but can also carry the swords which can be gamewinners. Maelstrom Pulse is a catch-all that can occasionally 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 against certain opponents.

This sort of list would be weak in Legacy, but in Modern it seems to do fine against most "fair" strategies. I have had some difficulty against the 12-post type of decks, but the SB cards like Sadistic Sacrament and/or Memoricide attempt to mitigate those matchups. Gatekeeper also works, assuming it wasn't a hardcasted Emrakul.

I think the metagame would really need to take shape before an 'ideal' list could be established.

[Mr. Safety]

If jitte were legal, your Stalker/Bob problem would be solved. I don't see why you'd play Night's Whisper over Sign in Blood...it's black intensive, but your lands can handle it.

I think you should test out Smallpox in that list, maybe in the Thoughtsieze slots (leave in the IoK's)

EDIT: What Knight could bring would be a way to tutor Ghost Quarter/Tectonic Edge up to fight the 12-post decks. You could probably get away with 1-3 copies of GQ/TE in your maindeck anyways. Don't forget about Rain of Tears and Evil Presence as possible land disruptions as well.

[wcm8]

Thanks for the reply. To address your comments:

Bob/Stalker is hardly ever a problem, the chances of you flipping the two to Bob are incredibly low. I suppose Phyrexian Obliterator could be a replacement, since it has similar 'evasion' and you typically wouldn't be casting Stalker until the end-game anways. Nighthawk does have lifelink, which can be relevant, and against aggro decks Kitchen Finks is a SB option to help stop the bleeding.

I've never been a fan of Smallpox, and I think having a bunch of turn 1 plays is essential for the deck which is otherwise centered around 2-3 cmc. You also don't want to be setting yourself back on land-drops/creatures -- maybe this card could work in a deck that abuses stuff like Life from the Loam or whatever. The nice thing about Eva Green is that it is very consistent, so being able to take your opponent's best card can be back-breaking if they've mulliganed once or twice.

Sign in Blood would be fine instead of Night's Whisper, and maybe I should up the count. I think these draw spells are overall better than Phyrexian Arena, simply because they give you an immediate effect when you need to dig for removal. There are also potentially a few black 'draw 3' options (or maybe harmonize in green).

However, if combo decks becomes too prevalent, this archetype might not be viable. Even with all the discard, it may not have all the tools to prevent some of those decks from going off.

[menace13]

I think Smallpox is a good way to go, but it would need either Loam and/or Crucibles. Losing Hymn is a real setback and the deck most likely wants 8+ pinpoint discard spells. Playing Smallpox might include Mutavaults/Bloodghasts as a finisher. Sam Black has been testing a BGW Smallpox deck online on his Vicalis screen name.

[Mr. Safety]

I think Smallpox is a good way to go, but it would need either Loam and/or Crucibles. Losing Hymn is a real setback and the deck most likely wants 8+ pinpoint discard spells. Playing Smallpox might include Mutavaults/Bloodghasts as a finisher. Sam Black has been testing a BGW Smallpox deck online on his Vicalis screen name.

That deck sounds really sexy...Knights, Smallpox, Stalkers, Bloodghasts, Loam, maybe some Eternal Witness, some Paths, Duress, Tidehollow Sculler, maybe Kitchen Finks, Shriekmaws...pretty hot combination of colors for an aggro oriented format.