Hey everyone! I'm looking to make the switch to Food Chain after my deck was banned to tier 3 (Painter). I'm wondering what a SB would look like now that miracles is gone.
What I'm currently looking at running for reference: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/06-04-17-HpD-food-chain/
Using Marius Deck as a reference, what would you guys cut to add in discards, i find all slots are very competitive amongst themselves
Creatures [18]
1 Eternal Scourge
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
4 Baleful Strix
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Walking Ballista
Instants [12]
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
Sorceries [6]
3 Manipulate Fate
3 Ponder
Enchantments [4]
4 Food Chain
Lands [20]
1 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
Maybe cutting one ponder and one decay for 2 thoughtseizes? Adding duress to the sb
I played Food Chain using Marius' list at our Monthly event on the weekend, getting 3/4th place. I'm not sure how it stacks up in our new metagame, but I'd be interested to see if it has to change much. I feel like Daze decks can be hard to get onto the board against, anyone else?
My matchups were
2-1 vs DnT
2-0 vs Nic Fit
0-2 vs BUG Delver
2-0 UB Reanimator
2-0 vs Food Chain
ID
Top 8
2-0 vs UR Delver
0-2 vs Dark Bant
1 Decay, 1 Ponder, 20th land are all easy cuts.
I could see only having 2 decay with maybe 1 in sideboard to accommodate 1-2 push in the mainboard alongside 2 Thoughtseize.
My current new meta mainboard is shaping up to be:
Creatures [18]
1 Eternal Scourge
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
4 Baleful Strix
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Walking Ballista
Instants [11]
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Fatal Push
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
Sorceries [7]
3 Manipulate Fate
2 Ponder
2 Thoughtseize
Enchantments [5]
4 Food Chain
1 Sylvan Library
Lands [19]
1 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
I'm gonna try food chain in the new meta at our LGS for the first time today. Actually the new meta is an exaggeration. People will probably be playing what they usually do except the miracle players. I havent changed the list at all running 3 ponder, 4 decay and 19 lands and a clique. I guess I'll wait and see before i cut decay. If miracle players becomes stoneblade players the decays are still useful. If blood moon & chalice strategies become more common decays are still useful. Only against treshhold (heavy mana denial) would i prefer push over decay i think.
20 lands seem over the top unless stifles are everywhere. I've been fine on 18-19 in the old meta.
If the meta goes heavy into combo i think i would maindeck thoughtseize again. Candidates to be cut:
1 manipulate (slow & grindy)
1 decay
Lets see how it goes.
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I had another 3-1 last night, only losing to Elves. Beat Omnitell, BR Reanimator and Faeries. Also beat Death and Taxes before the event. Sideboard heavily set up for the combo and reanimator field at my shop.
3 Surgical (May go to two)
1 Cage
1 Relic
2 Mindbreak
3 Hymn
2 Deluge
1 Scavenging Ooze (will be cut)
2 Misdirection (still not a fan)
Thinking 2 Golgari Charms and either two needles or two Spellskites will be added before I play in the tournament this weekend. I'll keep you guys posted, hopefully Saturday I'll have won a mox.
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Once you go Legacy...
Hey guys,
here are some thoughts about the future of the deck after the top ban:
- The lower amount of Abrupt Decays floating around is very good for Food Chain because it will stick more often than before
- Delver decks will come back in a big way (Especially Grixis Delver) which is also good for this deck because all those Delver variants are positive MU's for Food Chain
- Blood Moon & Price of Progress strategies will also increase to punish all those 4c or BUG manabases and the Lands deck which gets also a boost from the top ban. But this doesnt hurt us that much because we play lots of basics + Deathrite Shaman.
- Elves will be more popular but lets be honest, it already was popular the last couple of months, especially in Germany...So it's not like were have a new enemy or something. The MU is also not super bad, with Thoughtseize in the MD & some small SB changes I think it's ok even if not that great.
- Same goes for the combo MU's. Yes combo can be tough G1 but with additional Thoughtseizes in the MD and around 9-12 cards out of the SB it's really managable if not positive. And lets be honest, the real reason combo decks were kept in check (Especially ANT) was the rise of the Eldrazi & alltime fair deck Delver. Miracles was solid vs combo but not the killer.
Sneak Show & Reanimator were also quite popular within the last couple of months and will be kept in check by all those Delver decks which we eat for breakfast.
So all in all we lost one good MU but we still have enough positive MU's out there to have a good stand in the future meta.
I personally would add 2 Thoughtseize to the MD and cut 1 Ponder 1 Abrupt Decay for it (Marius did the same by the way) and if you have nuts (Like me for example xD) you can cut the 11th fetchland and the 3rd AD for 2 Fatal Push.
So you would change the MD like this
-2 Abrupt Decay
-1 Ponder
-1 Fetchland
+2 Fatal Push
+2 Thoughtseize
I'm not sure about cutting the 20th land but we will see, I boarded it out quite alot before and it worked out till now...
This also frees up 2-3 sideboard slots which I personally would fill with 2 Grafdiggers Cage or maybe Invasive Surgery, I also thought about 2 Golgari Charm instead of 2 Engineered Plague just because it hits everything with 1 toughness and the one mana less + instant speed is nuts vs DnT, Infect & Elves, it's also ok vs Grixis Delver I think.
With these changes you can also lean more on 19 lands I think because we get a lower curve from FP+Charm +Cage.
My new list will probably look like this:
18 Creatures
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
4 Walking Ballista
3 Misthollow Griffin
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Eternal Scourge
23 Spells
4 Force of Will
2 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Fatal Push
4 Brainstorm
3 Manipulate Fate
2 Ponder
4 Food Chain
19 lands
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Polluted Delta
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
SIDEBOARD:
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Flusterstorm
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Golgari Charm
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Thoughtseize
FoW Count -> 22
So guys keep on Machine gun them with robot Ballista ;-)
Greetings
Currently playingEldrazi
Just made the deck and played my first event with it, just a 3 round grinder at my LGS. Playing a fairly stock 4 Ballista list, but I shaved a decay and a fetch for 2 thoughtsieze in the main.
Sideboard was:
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Pithing Needle
1 Golgari Charm
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Fatal Push
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Engineered Plague
2 Misdirection
2 Flusterstorm
1 Grafdiggers cage
2 Surgical Extraction
Went 3-0, beating Nic fit, Dredge and Eldrazi. Deck seems solid, debating another seize main over a ponder. Maybe pushes depending how the meta looks.
I like your thoughts too but I'm a huge fan of ponder in food chain and dont want to go down to two. Just before the banning i was playing four ponder and that was amazingly consistent.
Anyway went 4-0 yesterday with a bit of luck.
2-0 versus grixis mindslaver <3
2-0 versus twin stompy (former miracle pilot)
2-1 versus maverick
2-1 versus UR delver
Really nice to go 4-0 and I'm pretty high up in the league.
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Just switched from Aluren to Food Chain. Went 3-0 last night at my local game store. I definitely feel at least 3 ponders is right, especially in post-board games when looking for sideboard cards or game 1 looking for that Food Chain. It has never felt so good to cast Force of Will, and manipulate fate feels unbeatable.
2-0 versus Death and Taxes
2-1 versus RUG Lands
2-0 versus B/R Reanimator
Hello all!
Recently I have been considering picking up Food Chain. I have most of the cards available (just missing 2 Ballista and the 4 Food Chain) and it looks to be a deck I would enjoy - A combo deck witch a DRS and 3/3 flying backup plan alongside discard and FoW for the unfair things going on in the format.
Before I commit to this (and I know no one REALLY knows the answer), do the majority of people in this thread think the deck will be a viable contender going forward? It seems like it has an alright game against Storm variants and the tools to deal with elves. However, I am not familiar enough with the deck to know what meta it thrives in.
Thanks in advance!
No one knows how exactly the meta is going to look like, but the deck seems to be in a good position. Like any grindy BUG deck, it might struggle with elves, but it has a combo out and sweepers post sb; it has good matchups vs delver variants and has some issues with combo which you will face a lot in the near future, but the maindeck and sideboard can be crafted to make those matchups better.
If you decide to take the plunge, the deck will be a lot of fun, while staying competitive and quite skill-intensive. I personally need to take breaks from my beloved Food Chain from time to time, and play with something more streamlined that doesn't need to shift gears every now and then. I hope some of this answer helped you (:
I would go so far as saying that the combo match up is horrible pre board, with only 4 fow and 2 Leo as relevant card. In a storm/show n tell heavy meta you should probably run another deck or dedicate a lot of the sideboard space.
The delver match depends. Verus heavy mana denial strategies (wasteland + stifle) the deck is way too clunky. Due to ballista I actually think the Elves MU is OK.
The deck is absolutely best in a midrange context where we're both good at grinding and have an I win button. Putting some discard in the maindeck would somewhat mitigate the flaws, both at fighting combo and lowering the curve versus delver decks.
5-2 At the lotus tourney, good for 11th.
Quick notes, a full write up will come.
I beat Burn, Elves twice, Lands, and BUG delver.
I lost to Infect and Sneak & Show.
Leyline of Vitality was a 3 of in my main deck. I thought it was a pet card but by the end of the day I'm convinced it's a good play in this meta. Singlehandedly won me games against elves lands and burn.
Abrupt Decay in the SB felt right. Fatal Push was good all day. Main board Thoughtseize was lackluster.
I urge everyone to give Leyline a serious look though. Play it at an FNM.
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Once you go Legacy...
I'm curious about your cuts for three leylines
I've been wondering how good strix is right now. Getting strix AD'd by a slow deck to push through some damage was great for the grind but versus faster deck, the draw doesn't make up that it's a removal that can be countered with a bolt. Strix also feels bad versus opposing Leovolds and attacking thalias.
Do you guys think it's crazy to replace some of the strixes with goyf and or scavenging ooz?
Last edited by JackaBo; 04-30-2017 at 11:28 AM.
Here is the list I ran yesterday. Please let me know if the link isn't working.
http://docker2.deckedbuilder.com:3001/d/294626
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Once you go Legacy...
Hey guys,
Food Chain is now Top 4 at the mcm series in Frankfurt with over 400+ people. Trinket Mage build.
http://series.magiccardmarket.eu/cov...t-2017-legacy/
Currently playingEldrazi
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