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Thread: Vial BUG

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    Vial BUG

    I have been thinking about getting into modern lately just for something to do every Saturday at a local store, and as a change of pace from my weekly Legacy event every Thursday. This is a rough draft, but I think I want to play some type of BUG list with hand disruption/counters(lots of 'em)/creatures. I pretty much just want to sit behind untapped lands and abuse my Vials allowing me to always have a possible counter or spot removal spell handy. This list is a rough draft that I just jotted down, but I would love some input to help make this deck a real thing.

    THE DECK
    Creature:
    ----------
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    4 Tarmogoyf
    1 Vendilion Clique
    4 Delver of Secrets
    3 Deathrite Shaman

    Artifact:
    ---------
    4 Aether Vial
    1 Isochron Scepter

    Enchantment:
    --------------
    2 Seal of Primordium

    Instant:
    ---------
    4 Rune Snag
    4 Remand
    1 Spell Snare
    2 Spell Pierce
    1 Mana Leak
    1 Go for the Throat

    Sorcery:
    ----------
    3 Thoughtseize
    1 Inquisition of Kozilek
    2 Maelstrom Pulse

    Land
    -------
    3 Watery Grave
    3 Breeding Pool
    1 Overgrown Tomb
    4 Verdant Catacombs
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Ghost Quarter (I'm scared of Tron and Tooth and Nail decks)
    Today I am become death. The destroyer of worlds. -Oppenheimer

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    Re: Vial BUG

    Would Naturalize be better than Seal of Primordium here? Flips Delver of Secrets, can be flashed back with Snapcaster Mage, can be imprinted onto Isochron Scepter and doesn't tie up mana at Sorcery speed, when you want to hold up instant speed counters, etc.
    TPDMC

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    Re: Vial BUG

    All very good points! I actually forgot that Naturalize was Modern legal! I play Legacy and nothing but! I was kind of thinking though, that maybe Naturalize is a dead card in hand in certain matchups, whereas with the seal, I can actually use it on my own vial if i just don't need it anymore and make a 3/4 Goyf a 5/6 just like that! I actually just had the thought that white might be better than black in this deck too...I could run Path to Exile and maybe even do a Silence+Isochron soft lock... Don't know which is more complimentary to my deck's plan yet...
    Today I am become death. The destroyer of worlds. -Oppenheimer

  4. #4

    Re: Vial BUG

    Seal makes Goyfy happy and typically survives discard though, worth remembering. What makes the Snags so preferable to Leaks?

    I feel like cutting the Scepter for another Snap, Leak, or Gopher would be stronger. It seems cute but doesn't seem like it plays that well with your decks plan. More of an investment strategy than a tempo one.

    What's the Naturalize/Seal in the MD for? Could Abrupt Decay do the same job?

    You're in black so you could have access to BOB.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    You have 19 cards that flip Delver, and absolutely no way to manipulate your deck. You also don't want/need 4 Ghost Quarter, Tectonic Edge would do, and in a 3-colour deck you want 2 at most.

    Mana Leak id better than Rune Snag when you're playing Snapcaster Mage.

    You seem to be going for a counter-based Vial deck. I'd prefer to see something with Snap, Goyf, Clique, Eternal Witness. There is a soft-lock with Vial, Cryptic Command, and Eternal Witness that was used to great effect in the last Player's Championship. Maybe look into that.

    As a rule, Delver is bad in Modern. It is unlikely to flip, and there are very few cards that manipulate your deck that are any good.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    If you're afraid of Tooth and Nail and/or Tron, Shadow of Doubt is an option. It's also decent vs. Pod variants and decks with fetchlands.

    Rune Snag is probably worse than Mana Leak simply because of Snapcaster.

    I would probably run the third Spell Pierce over the first Spell Snare since it's ultimately more flexible.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    You are definitely right about Delver. I am actually thinking about replacing them with Skaab Ruinator since he's a 5/6 flyer that vial can cheat into play. I definitely want to streamline the Counterspell package, so if someone has a suggestion on what my set should look like I'm eager to see it!
    Today I am become death. The destroyer of worlds. -Oppenheimer

  8. #8

    Re: Vial BUG

    Tombstalker might be worth considering as a 1-2 of if you don't plan on running bob.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    Quote Originally Posted by kwis View Post
    Tombstalker might be worth considering as a 1-2 of if you don't plan on running bob.
    After reading this thread I went away for the day to try and see what I could come up with. I ended up cutting the Vials and attempting to port the Team America deck into Modern, cutting Delvers and using Essence Warden and Snap to make the late-game better. I ended up with Tombstalker. The only problem I've found is the lack of any good 1CMC removal. The next step would be finding ways to add Bolt and Terminate, or Path to Exile. This means probably cutting Blue, and that leaves me in Junk/Jund.

    That, or I suck it up and play Dismember, which is an excellent card.

  10. #10

    Re: Vial BUG

    Vendetta exists, unfortunately we don't have Ghastly Demise in Modern.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    Quote Originally Posted by kwis View Post
    Vendetta exists, unfortunately we don't have Ghastly Demise in Modern.
    "Non-Black".

    FTR this is my list:

    Permanents: 17
    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Tarmogoyf
    2 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Eternal Witness
    2 Tombstalker
    3 Liliana of the Veil

    Spells: 17
    4 Thought Scour
    3 Thoughtseize
    4 Abrupt Decay
    3 Dismember
    1 Forbidden Alchemy
    2 Cryptic Command

    Lands: 26
    2 Island
    2 Swamp
    1 Forest
    2 Tectonic Edge
    4 Creeping Tar Pit
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Verdant Catacomb
    1 Scalding Tarn
    3 Watery Grave
    2 Breeding Pool
    1 Overgrown Tomb

    Put things in the Graveyard and use them to kill your opponent with your Creatures. All 14 Creatures require the Graveyard. The deck doesn't just auto-lose to an RiP, partly due to its access to 4 Abrupt Decay, and partly to the sideboard being able to play Golgari Charm.

    It's not tested, but me a friend took a look and made some alterations. (Took out some Loamy stuff, pointed out that Vendetta said "non-Black", and mixed up the lands some.)
    Last edited by YamiJoey; 05-31-2013 at 04:51 AM.

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    Re: Vial BUG

    Been screwing around with this again and I have been thinking about a list like this:

    4 Aether Vial

    4 Thoughtseize
    1 Maelstrom Pulse

    4 Tarmogoyf
    4 Skaab Ruinator
    3 Wild Cantor
    1 Vendilion Clique
    4 Augur of Skulls


    3 Abrubt Decay
    4 Remand
    3 Spell Pierce
    4 Mana Leak
    2 Cryptic Command

    4 Verdant Catacombs
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Watery Grave
    4 Breeding Pool
    1 Drowned Catacomb
    1 Hinterland Harbor
    1 Creeping Tar Pit

    The Augur of Skulls is something I added to serve as an early blocker, or early hand disruption paired with Thoughtseize. It also serves to get itself into the graveyard in case I need to actually cast a Skaab Ruinator. Same deal with Wild Cantor, not to mention its a little bit of mana ramp or fixes early mana screw.
    Last edited by Madmankevinx; 06-11-2013 at 08:10 PM.
    Today I am become death. The destroyer of worlds. -Oppenheimer

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    Re: Vial BUG

    I don't really understand any of your choices. Ęther Cial, Goyf, and Clique make sense. Pulse, Decay, and 'Seize are all fine, but your other Spells and mana-base seems really weird.

    Skaab Ruinator is not a good card in a format with Deathrite Shaman, Rest in Peace, and soon Scavenging Ooze, and I'm not sure I understand Wild Cantor at all. The Augur of Skulls is quite a strange choice, but a free +1 amd Regenerating blocker seems mostly fine. I'm not sure I'd play 4, though.

    Being in BUG you should be going for the Vial + Eternal Witness + Cryptic Command soft-lock. 4-mana for a Counterspell with its Buyback paid is pretty good. I would also recommend Kitchen Finks. Keeps Affinity and Zoo off your back, and is good at turning sideways against Patriot control decks.

    You should also be playing Deathrite Shaman. Card is too good.

  14. #14

    Re: Vial BUG

    Quote Originally Posted by Madmankevinx View Post
    Been screwing around with this again and I have been thinking about a list like this:

    4 Aether Vial

    4 Thoughtseize
    1 Maelstrom Pulse

    4 Tarmogoyf
    4 Skaab Ruinator
    3 Wild Cantor
    1 Vendilion Clique
    4 Augur of Skulls


    3 Abrubt Decay
    4 Remand
    3 Spell Pierce
    4 Mana Leak
    2 Cryptic Command

    4 Verdant Catacombs
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Watery Grave
    4 Breeding Pool
    1 Drowned Catacomb
    1 Hinterland Harbor
    1 Creeping Tar Pit

    The Augur of Skulls is something I added to serve as an early blocker, or early hand disruption paired with Thoughtseize. It also serves to get itself into the graveyard in case I need to actually cast a Skaab Ruinator. Same deal with Wild Cantor, not to mention its a little bit of mana ramp or fixes early mana screw.
    I've been playing a deck like this for about 2 years. I got the idea from vial stifle legacy decks. Unfortunately I had to shelve it due to DRShaman totally killing the GY. Now that he is banned, I pulled the deck out recently and been winning 8-mans with it online pretty consistently.
    My list is such:
    4 Death's Shadow
    2 Fauna Shaman
    2 Tarmogoyf
    2 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
    4 Lotleth Troll
    4 Dark Confidant
    2 Skaab Ruinator

    4 Aether Vial
    2 Remand
    2 Serum Visions
    3 Mana Leak
    1 Negate
    2 Dispel
    1 Abrupt Decay

    1 Drowned Catacomb
    2 Watery Grave
    2 Overgrown TOmb
    1 Twilight Mire
    2 Breeding Pool
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    3 Misty Rainforest
    1 Tectonic Edge
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Swamp
    1 Forest
    2 Snow-covered Island

    SB
    2 Engineered Explosives
    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    2 Damnation
    1 Hurkyl's Recall
    1 Dispel
    1 Maelstrom Pulse
    2 Spellskite
    2 Duress
    1 Surgical Extraction
    1 rain of Tears

    I'm posting because I thought about putting in Isochron. The only deck it really struggles against is Tron... Game 1 against some aggro decks can be troublesome. Handles control fine, even UWr, who also should be running scepter I feel. Beats Twin and Storm usually. Probably should have more LD in sb. Like most counter-heavy decks really it's about knowing your opponent. I would like to have more discard, but I honestly have felt I didn't need it, maybe 2 thoughtsiezes or something.
    Any suggestions?

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    Re: Vial BUG

    Quote Originally Posted by Duffstrodamus View Post
    I've been playing a deck like this for about 2 years. I got the idea from vial stifle legacy decks. Unfortunately I had to shelve it due to DRShaman totally killing the GY. Now that he is banned, I pulled the deck out recently and been winning 8-mans with it online pretty consistently.
    My list is such:
    4 Death's Shadow
    2 Fauna Shaman
    2 Tarmogoyf
    2 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
    4 Lotleth Troll
    4 Dark Confidant
    2 Skaab Ruinator

    4 Aether Vial
    2 Remand
    2 Serum Visions
    3 Mana Leak
    1 Negate
    2 Dispel
    1 Abrupt Decay

    1 Drowned Catacomb
    2 Watery Grave
    2 Overgrown TOmb
    1 Twilight Mire
    2 Breeding Pool
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    3 Misty Rainforest
    1 Tectonic Edge
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Swamp
    1 Forest
    2 Snow-covered Island

    SB
    2 Engineered Explosives
    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    2 Damnation
    1 Hurkyl's Recall
    1 Dispel
    1 Maelstrom Pulse
    2 Spellskite
    2 Duress
    1 Surgical Extraction
    1 rain of Tears

    I'm posting because I thought about putting in Isochron. The only deck it really struggles against is Tron... Game 1 against some aggro decks can be troublesome. Handles control fine, even UWr, who also should be running scepter I feel. Beats Twin and Storm usually. Probably should have more LD in sb. Like most counter-heavy decks really it's about knowing your opponent. I would like to have more discard, but I honestly have felt I didn't need it, maybe 2 thoughtsiezes or something.
    Any suggestions?
    I feel like this list wants Thoughtseize in the maindeck. Other than Vial, there really isn't a turn one play, which makes it really awkward to ever draw an opening hand without Vial. Thoughtseize is just all around good, especially in the combo-centric current format. The life loss actually combos with Death's Shadow and, in a pinch, you can Thoughtseize yourself to discard something to scavenge.

    Isochron Scepter seems really off base, as the deck doesn't have that many instants in it, and Snapcaster is already there to get you added value from your spells.

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