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Purgatory
11-05-2013, 09:27 AM
I played in a local modern tournament held at a convention last weekend. I'm not very into modern, and me and my team mates put together my deck at around 3 am in the morning, nine hours before the tournament was to start. We didn't have all the cards we wanted on hand, but we made due.

Here's the pile I played:

4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Breeding Pool
6 Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Young Pyromancer

4 Serum Visions
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Spell Snare
3 Mana Leak
2 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Burst Lightning
1 Izzet Charm
1 Electrolyze
2 Vedalken Shackles

SB:
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
4 Blood Moon

The only relevant sideboard cards were Grudge and Blood Moon, but especially the latter was awesome all day. Five rounds of swiss, no T8, so final standings ftw.

Round 1: Mono-B Pox
I win game one off of a quick Delver who flipped almost immediately (!) and a couple of bolts, before he could get his Liliana / The Rack combo going. He mentioned it was his first tournament ever. I lose game two to an active Liliana with two Young Pyromancer on hand, while I fail to draw a one-CMC instant or sorcery in four draw steps. Had I done that, I could've played one of the Pyromancers and a cantrip or something, sac the token to Liliana, swing for two the next turn and play the other Pyromancer (only had three lands in play). He double-mulligans in game three and I flip my turn one Delver immediately.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2: Twin
He was new to the deck, but not to Magic, unlike my round 1 opponent, and we battle it out in three very close games. He combos me out in game one, but in game two I'm able to draw enough countermagic to keep Exarch off the board and enough removal to two-for-one him with his Pestermites and Splinter Twins. He almost outraces me with Vendilion Clique, but I steal it with Shackles, since I have plety of answers to his combo creatures on hand. In game three, he Probes me after a few turns, and I sigh and flip a hand that's 5 lands and a Mana Leak, and I'm sure I'm going to lose. My board by that time was unflipped Delver, and my graveyard was Probe (drew land) and Serum Visions (drew land, put a Forest and something else on bottom, drew a land the following draw step), but somehow, by the time he finds the combo pieces, I've drawn out of my manaflood and have a Bolt with Mana Leak back-up. Snapcaster Mage had something to do with it too I think. I boarded in Ancient Grudge, but never saw one, but on the other hand no Spellskites from him either.

2-0 (4-2)

Round 3: 4C Deathrite Goodstuff.dec
I win game one after a Young Pyromancer into a Probe into a Serum Visions was too much for him to deal with. In game two, he plays turn one Deathrite Shaman and turn two Geist of Saint Traft and I ponder scooping and keeping my Blood Moons secret for game three, but when he attacks with Geist into my Pyromancer, I go for it and slam Blood Moon, after bolting the Elf. I bounce his only other creature (Kitchen Finks) with Cryptic Command, and he's unable to replay it due to only having a Forest and a Swamp in play with a bunch of Mointain'd nonbasics. I draw a play another Blood Moon a couple of turns later in case he has the Abrupt Decay, and after my Delver flips, he scoops them up.

3-0 (6-2)

Round 4: Tron
Game one is decided by my double-Delver draw after they both flip. I counter a Sylvan Scrying and he can't find removal or more fast mana before I swing for lethal in the air. In game two, I drop Blood Moon, but I'm unable to draw any countermagic, and he just drops six Mountain'd nonbasics into a Wurmcoil Engine which I try to race, but it's no use. In game three, I have a fast hand with a turn one Delver, turn two Ancient Grudge on his Expedition Map (kind of a risk, but he mulliganed and thought for a long while about his hand), and turn four Tarmogoyf with Mana Leak for his play. I Probe him in my penultimate turn and he reveals three bombs and no mana to play them.

4-0 (7-3)

Round 5: ?
Standings are posted and I'm in second place and paired against the guy in first place. We ID since we're the only ones on 12 points, and split the prize, so I walk away with 18 packs for Threos. I was extremely surprised that my deck did well at all, since I know so little about Modern. I guess I just had one of those days. My Round 4 opponent beat his opponent in round 5, while my round 5 opponent's round 4 opponent lost, so my tiebreakers went up a lot after the final round, meaning I took first in the final standings.

Good times, I just wish I had all the cards for the deck. If I were to play it again, I'd of course include a Stomping Grounds, Remand etc. in the maindeck and completely overhaul the sideboard since it was a complete mess. The only cards there that I boarded in were Grudge and Blood Moon, which both were extremely good, but I never even looked at Thrun. I included him since I had the room for it, and since there's a lot of UWR Midrange decks with infinite removals in my local metagame.

Imperial
11-06-2013, 09:24 PM
Thanks for the report man, gave me quite a nice read. Anyways, how did the Shackles perform? Do you think it deserves the spot main?

Purgatory
11-08-2013, 04:59 AM
Thanks for the report man, gave me quite a nice read. Anyways, how did the Shackles perform? Do you think it deserves the spot main?

Definitely, it generates a ton value. I would like to add a third one probably.

ScatmanX
11-08-2013, 02:06 PM
Liked the list very much. Thanks for posting this. 4 Grudges seem a little excessive though.
Will build this someday when I manage to borrow goyfs =p

Purgatory
11-10-2013, 10:14 AM
Liked the list very much. Thanks for posting this. 4 Grudges seem a little excessive though.
Will build this someday when I manage to borrow goyfs =p

Be sure to include the stuff I omitted though (Stomping Ground, Remands etc.), but otherwise - go for it. The deck was fun to play, however, and probably my favorite Modern deck so far.

4 Grudges might seem like a lot, but they came in against many decks. Maybe shaving one might be fine.