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Thread: As a player new to Modern....

  1. #1

    As a player new to Modern....

    Hi all,

    So my local is pretty light on players who turn up for legacy, so I thought I'd try my hand at modern.
    Turns out my fave legacy decks are completely buggered by bannings or simply have cards too old for the format for the most part.

    Of the legacy decks I do have, that haven't lost all the best cards, Is Affinity a good choice for modern?
    Looking at the ban-list has me wondering how effective it might be.....

    I'm a big dredge fan, so I'm disappointed that Golgari Grave-Troll is banned.
    I will say, most of the bannings make sense, like Skullclamp, but I gotta admit, some of the cards on the ban list really surprise me, like the artifact lands (Seat of the Synod etc.)

    But, why is Dread Return banned? I didn't think this card was that powerful.....

    Lastly, what are some good fun and competitive (and fun remember!) deck choices in Modern I should check out?
    Is Modern a lot more creature based than Legacy?

    Cheers.

  2. #2

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    This should answer most of your questions:

    http://www.tcdecks.net/formato.php?format=Modern

    Affinity is actually a pretty decent choice. It's 5th place as far as placing go.

    http://www.tcdecks.net/tipo.php?arch...&format=Modern

    Dread Return and other Dredge cards got banned because they would be too powerful for the format. Most of the artifact lands are banned because Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault are still legal. Modern is much more creature based compared to Legacy. For example, one of the best cards in the format, Geist of Saint Traft (or Geist of Saint Win) is a creature.

  3. #3

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    The reason why Dredge is nuked is that basically Wizards tried to ban cards from most major powerful decks when they created Modern.

  4. #4

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    Quote Originally Posted by CardboardCrack View Post
    The reason why Dredge is nuked is that basically Wizards tried to ban cards from most major powerful decks when they created Modern.
    Stuff like Skullclamp, Mental Misstep are good bannings. Totally unfair if you're not running them.
    But Dread Return is a slow card, since in this format there is no Careful study, Putrid Imp, Cabal therapy, Ichorid, Nether Shadow, Cephailid Coliseum, Tarnished Citadel, Ashen Ghoul, Buried Alive, Breakthrough or LED's for any version of dredge you may wanna run. So by taking out Grave-Troll & D.R. there is NO dredge deck really is there?
    They killed any chance of a dredge deck being viable - or even passable - haven't they?
    I'm not meaning to sound so negative, and I know a fair chunk of those cards are too old for Modern, but I would've thought without all of those the deck wouldn't be anywhere near as fast.
    Anyways...

    I've checked out a few decklists over at Top8.
    None are really grabbing me as fun - many seem very linear (think Affinity) and centre on the whole "put out a creature, attack, pass the turn" and little else with few library manipulation options. Maybe I'm missing something....
    I'm not a fan of combo, just wondering what decks out there are fun? and have some degree of resiliency.

    Cheers.

  5. #5

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    Even doing well with a deck like affinity requires gaining percentage points over a variety of small decisions and it certainly isn't the first deck to come to my mind when you say something like "put out a creature, attack, pass the turn" - although I can certainly understand that view. You have to remember that as you explore formats with a smaller cardpool the variety of viable things you can do will decline and 'play the best cards' decks begin to have more inherent power than synergy-based options.

    Here are 4 decks I would recommend you have a look at or try based on your criteria (I haven't included sideboards, and I apologise for not knowing how to use card tags):

    UBR(g) Delver
    -Drew Levin and Zac Hill wrote a pair of articles on SCG about a Delver deck that has quite a lot of play to it if you enjoy tempo archetypes.
    Creatures (17)
    4 Dark Confidant
    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Snapcaster Mage
    1 Vendilion Clique
    Lands (20)
    2 Island
    1 Swamp
    1 Blood Crypt
    1 Breeding Pool
    3 Creeping Tar Pit
    2 Darkslick Shores
    1 Misty Rainforest
    4 Scalding Tarn
    1 Steam Vents
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    1 Watery Grave
    Spells (23)
    3 Cryptic Command
    1 Electrolyze
    4 Lightning Bolt
    1 Mana Leak
    3 Remand
    1 Spell Snare
    3 Inquisition of Kozilek
    1 Pillar of Flame
    4 Serum Visions
    2 Thoughtseize


    -Gifts Rock
    "Search your library for 4 cards" on a 4 mana instant is basically the furthest you can get from combo and/or slamming random duders
    Creature [8]
    4 Deathrite Shaman
    2 Snapcaster Mage
    1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
    1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
    Instant [13]
    2 Mana Leak
    1 Geth's Verdict
    1 Darkblast
    1 Path to Exile
    4 Gifts Ungiven
    1 Dismember
    3 Abrupt Decay
    Sorcery [10]
    1 Raven's Crime
    3 Lingering Souls
    3 Inquisition of Kozilek
    1 Unburial Rites
    1 Maelstrom Pulse
    1 Life from the Loam
    Artifact [1]
    1 Engineered Explosives
    Land [25]
    1 Forest
    1 Island
    1 Plains
    1 Swamp
    2 Creeping Tar Pit
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    1 Tectonic Edge
    2 Misty Rainforest
    1 Vault of the Archangel
    3 Marsh Flats
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Temple Garden
    1 Watery Grave
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    1 Godless Shrine
    1 Overgrown Tomb
    1 Academy Ruins
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    Planeswalker [3]
    3 Liliana of the Veil

    -Tron
    Either MonoU or the UW version Gerry T played at the recent GP. The MonoU version differs from Gerry's UW build listed here by eschewing the gifts-rites element and going in heavier on the artifact theme with cards like Treasure Mage. The GR version of tron is almost a completely different deck and you probably won't enjoy it very much based on the criteria you gave.
    Creatures (2)
    1 Terastodon
    1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
    Lands (25)
    1 Island
    3 Celestial Colonnade
    1 Ghost Quarter
    2 Hallowed Fountain
    4 Seachrome Coast
    4 Urza's Mine
    4 Urza's Power Plant
    4 Urza's Tower
    2 Academy Ruins
    Spells (33)
    4 Azorius Signet
    1 Crucible Of Worlds
    4 Expedition Map
    1 Talisman of Progress
    4 Gifts Ungiven
    4 Path to Exile
    4 Remand
    4 Thirst For Knowledge
    2 Mindslaver
    1 Day of Judgment
    2 Timely Reinforcements
    1 Unburial Rites
    1 Wrath of God

    -Pod
    The resilience of a midrangey creature deck with the combo power of Birthing Pod, the skill ceiling on playing it is rather high due to how it tests your ability to plan turns in advance, knowledge of when to search for what, and all the different lines of play that lead you to a combo win from various board positions.
    Creature [31]
    1 Spellskite
    4 Birds of Paradise
    1 Glen Elendra Archmage
    1 Murderous Redcap
    4 Noble Hierarch
    2 Kitchen Finks
    1 Wall of Roots
    3 Wall of Omens
    4 Restoration Angel
    2 Deceiver Exarch
    2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
    1 Zealous Conscripts
    1 Phantasmal Image
    1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
    3 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
    Artifact [4]
    4 Birthing Pod
    Land [23]
    1 Forest
    1 Mountain
    1 Plains
    1 Gavony Township
    1 Rugged Prairie
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Fire-Lit Thicket
    4 Grove of the Burnwillows
    3 Arid Mesa
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Temple Garden
    1 Steam Vents
    1 Stomping Ground
    1 Sacred Foundry
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    Planeswalker [2]
    2 Domri Rade

    Hope you found something to pique your interest.

  6. #6

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    GREAT post.

    Ta muchly kombatkiwi - appreciate the work.
    Cheers

  7. #7
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    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    I have to admit, before I starting actually playing Modern, I looked at it and was like "meh, no thanks." But after I threw together UWR Midrange (had all the card minus the Shocklands, so I dropped $50 on land cards and voila, I now had access to Modern) and started to actually play Modern at FNM, it's definitely grown on me. I now have two Modern decks built (UWR Midrange, and I easily ported my Legacy Junk to Modern Junk simply by buying the Shocklands) and look forward to having sustainable competition every FNM for Modern.

  8. #8

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    I have a quick question regarding differences between Legacy & Modern.

    In legacy, only top level decks stand a chance of winning a chunk of matches, most homebrews get destroyed badly.
    Are homebrew decks more likely to stand a chance in Modern?
    Is the youth of the format a factor in this?

    Cheers.

  9. #9
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    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    The basic rules are still the same: Some decks are more well-rounded than others which results in better overall matchups or against the current field.

    So no, homebrews aren't more likely to win than in Legacy.

  10. #10

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    On Dredge:

    I've always been keen to point out that really seems like WotC just doesn't like dredge. I think they put it on that shelf of "stuff we shouldn't have done" with Storm. Seems to me that banning dredge is less about power level and more about just not having it around, for whatever reason. Be it its niche success, ability to prey on new players, or whatever.

  11. #11
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    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    My suggestion to the Legacy players even a little bit interested in Modern; just play it and see if you like it. If you are a semi-serious Legacy player, you'll have a fair number of good cards that can be ported to Modern, so the cost barrier shouldn't be too steep to climb. If you end up hating it, sell/trade off the few Modern cards you had to buy.

  12. #12
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    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    I was pretty anti-Modern before I had actually played it. But now I've played in a handful events and I really enjoy having an eternal event I can go to every week now. I have Mono U Tron and Soul Sisters put together and swap back and forth whenever people start heavy SBing for one. What I do like is that my LGS, although they have all the cards to play the top decks, have recently just tried to brew some different things themselves. Two weeks ago I didn't have either of my Modern decks, so I ended up piloting my casual mono-green treefolk to a 3-0-1 finish. Had a blast.

    But like someone else said, just pick up one of the cheaper decks (mono U Tron was pretty cheap for me to put together since I had Wurmcoil's already), or something you can easily port and give it a go. If you don't like the format, then you can just sell/trade the cards. But so far I'm looking forward to exploring Modern more now that Legacy is dead in my city.
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  13. #13

    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    There's Dredgevine. Not completely the same thing, but looks viable. My buddy plays it, and gets some nasty boardstates going.
    I've tried building Dredge abusing Crypt of Agadeem, but the CiPT effect usually made it 1 turn too slow..
    Quote Originally Posted by Koby View Post
    Man IDK, I don't write this bullshit. We all know WotC has some primo grass in its R&D Lair.

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    Re: As a player new to Modern....

    Quote Originally Posted by TraxDaMax View Post
    There's Dredgevine. Not completely the same thing, but looks viable. My buddy plays it, and gets some nasty boardstates going.
    I've tried building Dredge abusing Crypt of Agadeem, but the CiPT effect usually made it 1 turn too slow..
    We tested Dredgevine before GP Chicago, and it seemed promising. Unfortunately we couldn't get the build where we wanted it, and Deathrite Shaman ended up being a pretty big problem. The deck's all-star was definitely Hedron Crab, which we used quite a few times to mill our opponents out who opened with Leyline of the Void.

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