GW Hate bears

[nodahero]

First off, sorry for the pricing; I couldn't find a site at work with the list that didn't include the prices. Darn filters...

Anywho, this is the deck I am currently looking at piloting this weekend at the GP. I am expecting a fair bit of Twin/Storm/Pod and to a lesser degree Affinity after the early rounds so I am planning to just dodge them as best as possible early.

Format: Modern
Played By: Serafin Wellinger on 5/6/2014
Event: Bazaar of Moxen - Modern Main Event 5/3/14
Place: 1st
Estimated Value: $555.45

Creatures (30)
3 Aven Mindcensor $9.00

4 Blade Splicer $0.77
--- is this better then running a Smiter? I kept comming back to the 3/3 and 1/1 vs the 4/4 body, not to mention the ability to fight Lilliana's +1 seems solid. I suppose the Splicer is better agaisnt Affinity though...
Thoughts?

4 Flickerwisp $0.10
4 Leonin Arbiter $2.00
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence $29.99
4 Noble Hierarch $49.95
4 Restoration Angel $6.39
3 Scavenging Ooze $4.57
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben $2.70
Lands (22)
1 Forest $0.04
2 Gavony Township $0.71
4 Ghost Quarter $0.07
4 Horizon Canopy $23.75
3 Plains $0.04
4 Razorverge Thicket $4.13
4 Temple Garden $7.78

Other Spells (8)
4 AEther Vial $15.00
4 Path to Exile $4.16

60 Cards Main


I really am not a huge fan of the sideboard. Given my guess at the meta I feel like I need better slots against Twin and Storm. None of the maindeck really hits them hard so I was looking at fitting in Revokers and Spirit of the Labyrnith although I am open to other options. Obvious alternative is Spellskite however the lack of attack disturbs me.

Sideboard (15)
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury $2.78
1 Aven Mindcensor $9.00
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender $0.18
2 Choke $0.40
2 Creeping Corrosion $0.12
1 Dismember $0.94
1 Gaddock Teeg $5.99
1 Mark of Asylum $0.15
3 Stony Silence $0.20
1 Sunlance $0.06

[Barook]

Blade Splicer is there to combo with Flickerwisp and especially Resto Angel for more tokens.

[nodahero]

I have thought about that... I simply don't know how I feel about 2 card combos in an aggro esq deck that don't really win the game.
The idea of them simply bolting/Pathing the splicer makes me wonder how good that combo really is at least with Flicker as a 4. Thanks for pointing that out though.

The other thing I thought about was playing dryad militant. That card seems solid against Storm if the Spirit isn't popular' that our samurai of the pail curtain.

[Davran]

I used to play mono-white hatebears when I first got into the format, and Blade Splicer is quite nice. It really shines vs. affinity since the token blocks Etched Champion all day and they generally don't have all that much in terms of removal for the Splicer.

I didn't really like Dryad Militant at the time, I never really found it to be all that useful. Between Ooze and Thalia in your list I think your storm matchup should be ok. If you're really worried about storm, you can always run Ethersworn Canonist, Rule of Law or that brand new Eidolon of Rhetoric in your board.

Rest in Peace is also a solid sideboard option for all of the Snapcaster, Pod, and Goyf decks out there. It's not like you're using your graveyard at all.

[bakofried]

I'm durdling around with a non-blink list with Courser in it - I kind of love the guy. Might try to start a separate thread for finding that'd feel more like traditional Maverick.

As a note, the presence of blink effects is what salvation uses to differentiate between modern hatebears and modern d&t.

[nodahero]

I tottally agree with what everyone is saying.

I guess I really just want to fit in Smiter. His resistance to Bolt seems like pure goodness and couple that with the idea of them wasting a Decay on him instead of on the Arbitor or Mindsensor and he just looks better and better. I make the comment about wasting the decay on him because decks that play Decay can't really get past him although perhaps they don't care and they simply Decay the good card...

I'm starting to think I just want Smiter to be good and perhaps he really isn't good enough.

Is there any value in Flickerwisp besides blinking a Germ token and making a second 3/3 assuming we don't have a vial at 3?

[Davran]

Is there any value in Flickerwisp besides blinking a Germ token and making a second 3/3 assuming we don't have a vial at 3?

I find new uses for Wisp whenever I play the card...but without a Vial at 3 those uses are severely diminished. There's also those really awkward times where you cast it into an Electrolyze or something, which is always a beating. One thing I did use it for without Vial on 3 was resetting Kitchen Finks, but I don't see Finks anywhere in your 75. I also occasionally used it to get a blocker out of the way.

To be honest, with the list you posted above Smiter is probably a better choice. It dodges Bolt and Anger of the Gods, plus it's somewhat relevant vs. 8 rack, and it can't be countered.

[bakofried]

I tend to like Flickerwisp, but in a shell that can abuse it - Angels and Splicers included. He's a piece of disruption first and a trick with Splicer second. Blinking their pod guy in upkeep, nixing Twin's combo, resetting their Colonnade, etc. But, to be fair, most of these tricks are reliant on Vial. I still think Smiter is good - Rock is coming up in a big way, and lots of Twin decks now play in the UWr shell, so he's good in both of those scenarios. Sure, he can't randomly block an etched champion - but that's why you pack hate in the sideboard. Just my thoughts.

[nodahero]

Can someone post a list that illustrates the differences between Hate Bears and Death and Taxes in Modern. I wasn't aware of the distinction and sadly I can't search it myself from work... Darn filters... Thanks in advance.

[bakofried]

Here's a more traditional G/W Aggro list. It was designed during Jund's dominance (to my knowledge), and typically plays 4 Loxodon Smiters and some number of Wilt-Leaf Lieges, in tandem with Voice of Resurgence. All of these make life much more difficult for control and base black lists:
http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=12682&iddeck=93001

W/G Death and Taxes runs the blink engine, so that means Flickerwisp, Restoration Angel, and Blade Splicer. Mono-white lists run Wall of Omens on occasion as well.

Both lists typically run the common base white disruption suite of modern, which is
4 Ghost Quarter
0-4 Tectonic Edge
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Path to Exile
3-4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.

Hope that helps.

[sporenfrosch1411]

The lists posted above qualify as "Modern Death and Taxes" rather than GW Hatebears. The main difference is whether you use Vial, Flickerwisp,Restoration Angel,BladeSplicer.

Here is my most recent list, which qualifies as GW Hatebears:


4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Spellskite
4 Leonin Arbiter

3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Scavenging Ooze

4 Loxodon Smiter
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Thrun, the Last Troll

4 Path to Exile
2 Sword of War and Peace
1 Worship

4 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Plains
2 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers

SIDEBOARD:
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spellskite
2 Stony Silence
2 Torpor Orb
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Mark of Asylum
3 Choke



I like the GWHatebear lists a lot more, since they have more raw power and can easily play a fast aggro game. Hierarch in general is a way better topdeck than vial is, given he provides exalted. Also the Death and Taxes lists can not pull a 2nd Turn Arbiter into Ghost Quarter, which easily steals games.
With hierarch you have a much better access to Linvala and Thrun which both are incredibly powerful. Even if you are not assembling the anti-search plan (Arbiter, Mindcensor) the deck can just go T1 Hierarch -> T2 Smiter -> T3 Thrun/Linvala which will put a lot of decks into more pressure than they can handle. The Vial/Death and Taxes list can't do that.