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Thread: [DECK]Polymorph

  1. #1
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    [DECK]Polymorph

    Here we go again...I made 5th place at Modern states 2 years ago, going undefeated in the swiss, with a Thopter/Sword deck that also played Polymorph. Polymorph was obviously the more powerful, and faster, combo to focus on. Thopter/Sword fell victim to affinity hate more often than I liked, and it didn't allow me to play my own Stony Silences. With Jace back in the format, I'm making another attempt at doing this combo. Here is my starting list:

    Combo
    1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
    4x Polymorph

    Token producers
    4x Lingering Souls
    3x Bitterblossom

    Draw
    4x Serum Visions
    2x Opt
    2x See Beyond

    Interaction
    3x Thoughtseize
    3x Inquisition of Kozilek
    2x Path to Exile
    2x Fatal Push
    2x Dispel
    2x Supreme Verdict

    Planeswalkers
    2x Liliana of the Veil
    1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

    Lands
    4x Flooded Strand
    1x Polluted Delta
    1x Marsh Flats
    1x Watery Grave
    1x Hallowed Fountain
    1x Godless Shrine
    2x Drowned Catacomb
    1x Glacial Fortress
    3x Island
    1x Plains
    1x Swamp
    2x Blinkmoth Nexus
    1x Shambling Vent
    1x Ghost Quarter


    Sideboard
    2x Surgical Extraction
    2x Stony Silence
    1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
    1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
    1x Engineered Explosives
    2x Negate
    1x Detention Sphere
    4x Leyline of Sanctity
    1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion


    EDIT: Switching Gears a little bit, deciding that Mana Leak is fairly bad and that focusing on targeted discard g1 is better, along with some extra removal and extra draw.

    Link to original list from 2016 - https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles...lymorph-modern

    (Notes on list: I did 61 intentionally for the 2nd Emrakul, in case I drew it I'd still have one to fetch in the deck. I didn't use Serum Visions because I didn't have room for it after including the more powerful Thirsts with Thopter/Sword. Mana-base is much the same, but dropping Colonnade because it basically costs a million to activate, don't really need the Urborg because I want a 5th basic land against Blood Moon. Jace in the format makes Detention Sphere more important and Zealous Persecution is generally not cutting it anymore.)

    Comments are, as always, more than welcome.
    Last edited by Mr. Safety; 04-02-2018 at 08:09 AM.
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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    I think this list looks awkward in a lot of ways.

    Out of tournament experience I'm done playing Bitterblossom if I don't have Bolts to go alongside it. It's really hard to race any deck that has red in it if you're relying on BB and they have bolts themselves. Snap + Bolt can quickly overwhelm your race. If you have your own Bolts then I think that once again puts you in the lead for racing with BB.

    Speaking of BB, Young Pyromancer is everywhere and if you don't have a kill spell immediately to deal with him, he can easily outpace your modes of token generation. With 2x Path and 1x EE, you are going to have an extremely rough time against decks that land an early Pyromancer.

    EE itself will be pretty awkward since most of the reason to run it these days is to hit things that cost 0 or 2. At 0 it wipes any progress you've made and at 2 it can potentially hit your BB, which is a rough trade (again, I've had to do this before and it feels awful). I think you'd much rather have Supreme Verdict in this case, since it has good synergy with BB; you're pretty happy to leave the opponent without creatures and yourself with token generators.

    Secure the Wastes should probably just be BB since a lot of games of Modern revolve around you getting a clock going quickly and then sitting back with counterspells for their biggest threats.

    In slower control decks like this I think at least 2 Jace is the right number (probably closer to 3 since it helps a lot with fixing Emrakul hands, but so do a lot of your cards).

    As for Emrakul + Polymorph I'm not sure it's better than what we've been seeing at the GPs with Through the Breech or Madcap Experiment as the 4+ mana combo splash, but it could be pretty decent. I don't really see it being a great card to throw against the opponent's creature as removal most of the time, but Emrakul is Emrakul so maybe it works.

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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    Thanks! I knew I could count on you to jump in and help!

    I was on Verdict main for a while, and I think you've convinced me to go back to it. EE was really for 1-drops (bogles, mana dorks, etc.) I was also a little hesitant on Secure, mostly because it gets better as the game goes longer. I'm not really trying to play a long game, which is maybe why it looks awkward to you? I'm looking to curve into a t4 Polymorph, or do it as soon as I have discard to clear the way. The deck can go long and grind, but that's not really the focus. I think other decks are much better at that than this one could ever be. This is a mid-range combo deck, looking to land an Emrakul by turn 4 or keep the game going long enough to eventually get an Emrakul, or win with tokens, or in some rare cases Jace. Liliana isn't even really there to grind, she's there just as a repeatable discard source and occasional removal. I always thought of this as the anti-combo, it's trying to keep decks honest while having something dirty itself.

    So I think this is what I'll do:

    -1 EE
    -1 Detention Sphere
    -1 Secure the Wastes

    +2 Supreme Verdict
    +1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

    Sideboard
    +1 EE
    +1 DSphere
    -2 Verdict


    With 23 lands I don't think Elspeth, Sun's Champion is a maindeck way to reasonably win. Sorin seems better, with the anthem effect having lifelink, which also address your 'gotta be faster with Bolts' argument, which I think is valid. Honestly, BB is just there as an efficient token producer, like Souls, to combo with Polymorph. It just happens to also be good on its own, like Souls.

    When I did well with the deck before, it wasn't the Thopter Foundry combo that won me most of my games. I won most games off of Polymorph into Emrakul or just Lingering Souls backed with disruption. I won maybe 1-2 games over 6 rounds with Thopters. So I basically dropped the Thopter combo, added a Jace and some extra dig cards, and I'm relying on that more focused plan to get me there.
    Last edited by Mr. Safety; 03-21-2018 at 11:31 AM.
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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    Those changes seem good, although I still think you'd need to fit in probably 2 more killspells that cost less than 4 mana. There are a lot of early game threats that you can't leave on the table now, and even Fatal Pushing a Noble Hierarch is good.

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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    I was thinking the same, and that was my reasoning for Mana Leak as a catch-all in the 2-mana slot to cover the early plays. Then I was thinking that it might be just plain wrong to play countermagic, period, in the maindeck. Sideboard it might be smart (especially Negate and Dispel) but maindeck maybe it's better to just use discard, removal, and wipers and leave out the counterspells. I mean, I never felt good about Mana Leak, but it filled an important role as a control 'filler' at the right spot on the curve.

    Maybe adding a couple Fatal Push, and then maybe a pair of relevant counterspells, would be better instead of the Mana Leaks. I welcome what you think those counterspells/removal should be. This is my short list:

    Fatal Push
    Logic Knot
    Remand
    Dispel
    Negate
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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    That sounds better. I would never count on a 2 mana counterspell to protect you from must-remove threats like Young Pyromancer/bob/creature combo piece since you can't count on winning the die roll.

    I'd go with Logic Knot since it's far better than Mana Leak in the situation you're using it for.

    Here's what I'm thinking:
    Against blue decks you don't care about most of the stuff they do as long as you can land a Polymorph. That means you want to cast it with some Countermagic backup, so definitely not before you have 5 or 6 mana. If you did decide to throw it out on turn 4 blindly then this card slot doesn't matter anyway, so let's say you want backup. 5 Mana would only be fine if you're playing main deck Dispel, but that's really weak to most decks since half the decks out there only run kill spells as instants and those are what your deck naturally blanks. So 6 mana then, to get a good counterspell against blue decks, but Mana Leak on turn 6 against another blue deck is super bad. If they're playing Remand, Logic Knot, Mana Leak, or even Cryptic Command if they're on 7 mana, Mana Leak is garbage. Logic Knot ramps up in effectiveness the longer the game goes, so by turn 6 it's going to be something pretty big. Negate would also be nice here, but is too situational against most decks.

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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    I was thinking that Dispel may not counter most cards in most matchups, but it counters the ones that matter (Cryptic, removal in response to Polymorph because it targets) and it's CHEAP, meaning I can utilize turn 2 for cantrips while still having mana open for removal/Dispel.

    Maybe the targeted discard is enough g1 and Dispel is a sideboard card, or Negate. I do like that Logic Knot is the closest to a hard counter (and Deprive seems super bad when trying to reach 4 mana by turn 4 in every game as the goal.) I wish Spell Pierce was better in the format, that would be a natural addition. But it gets even worse late game than Mana Leak. Deprive on the other hand is great late game as a hard counter when 6+ lands are on the battlefield.

    So I'm definitely putting in 2x Fatal Push, which leaves me still with 2 slots open. A 4th Thoughtseize and a 3rd Opt aren't terrible options either. Maybe counterspells only belong in the sideboard?

    List updated above.
    Brainstorm Realist

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    Re: [DECK]Polymorph

    Project side-barred for now. Focusing on Jeskai Delver, and winning a ton of games with it.
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