auspiciousTactician
05-20-2014, 12:00 PM
I did a bit of searching and found that the only threads discussing Mass Polymorph are about three years old, which is a shame as it's one of my favorite cards.
Mass Polymorph
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Pestermite
4 Mass Polymorph
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Gather the Townsfolk
4 See Beyond
4 Peer Through Depths
2 Telling Time
4 Remand
4 Mana Leak
4 Cyclonic Rift
4 Vedalken Shackles
4 Hallowed Fountain
14 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
Summary of Choices
It's pretty obvious as to what the deck is supposed to do, but I'll break it down anyway and explain my choices. The goal is to play either Raise the Alarm or Gather the Townsfolk, generating tokens to exile to Mass Polymorph, fetching the only two creatures in the deck; Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki. See Beyond, Peer Through Depths, and Telling Time dig through the deck and help find the pieces to combo. See Beyond helps get rid of Pestermite/Kiki-Jiki if you happen to draw them. Remand, Mana Leak, and Cyclonic Rift slow them down. Vedalken Shackles because of all the island we're running.
Origin
I first started looking at Mass Polymorph during the Zendikar block in Standard. I tried to play it during the Scars of Mirrodin block, however, CawBlade was still a thing and my list wasn't a particularly good matchup against it, so I had to scrap it. Back then, the easiest way I found to play Mass Polymorph was to play it in an UR control shell that would sacrifice an artifact with Kudoltha Rebirth before Mass Polymorphing into Iona, Urabrask and Emrakul. The other fairly common list was played in a UG or RUG shell that used Awakening Zone and Growth Spasm to create the tokens needed to Mass Polymorph into Terastodon and two Massacre Wurms. Though it would win the game 90% of the time, I didn't find it to be quite as reliable as the Iona/Urabrask/Emrakul mix. However, the R/UG list could still cast Terastodon if Mass Polymorph didn't work out, where as the UR list could only reasonably cast Urabrask.
In-Depth Analysis
The list I've suggested has what I believe to be the cards most optimal for this deck. Granted, there are some glaring flaws against certain decks, so the list isn't close to being done and many of the choices are still up for discussion. Also, I haven't constructed a sideboard yet as I don't feel as though the main deck list is where I want it to be.
When I originally got into Modern and wanted to play Mass Polymorph, I tried directly porting in my Standard list while making some upgrades with the larger card pool. It still ran the three creature plan with Iona, Urabrask and Emrakul. It went through a few changes to the shell it was in, going from UR control to UG ramp to UW control, but all of them were clunky and slow. It wasn't until recently that I realized there were plenty of good two creature combos that could take the place of the three creature plan, making it easier to setup Mass Polymorph. I ended up settling with Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki as they are self-contained and win the turn they come in. Due to the drop in creatures to set the combo up, a lot more options became available in terms of token generation. I chose to go with Raise the Alarm as it offered several benefits. One, it made two tokens for two mana, no strings attached. You can't get too much better than that. Two, you can do that at Instant speed. This means that on turn 5, I can leave mana open for counters and play Raise the Alarm on the end of their turn so I can play Mass Polymorph as soon as I hit that 6th land. Three, it has a fairly easy casting requirement. I also chose to play 2 Gather the Townsfolk for some redundancy, even though it's sorcery speed. Though being at 5 life is a pretty dire place, it's nice that Gather the Townsfolk, over other token generating cards, has the extra ability to provide you with chump blockers in addition to turning Mass Polymorph online.
Combo aside, the main plan for the deck is to disrupt and draw. Starting with draw, you'll notice I chose some fairly odd choices to do this with; Peer Through Depths, Telling Time, and See Beyond. The common similarity between these three is that they're selective in what they give you access to. Even though you only have a 3% chance of drawing one of the creatures, you'll have a hard time winning the game if they're in your hand. It's important that we're able to avoid them in our draws or put them back in the deck on the chance we draw them. Peer Through Depths is a power house, allowing us to go five cards deep without fear of drawing a creature. The biggest plus is that this is at Instant speed, meaning you can keep mana up for disruption and play it at the end of their turn. The only downsides to this card are that you're only able to pick one of the five, it can't be a land, and all the others go to the bottom. Rarely do I not want to have this card in hand, and often when I'm trying to find Mass Polymorph I'm able to chain these together to dig unreasonably deep. Telling Time helps fill the hole that Peer Through Depths leaves; it's able to grab lands. You can also avoid the creatures by shipping them to the bottom. And like Peer Through Depths, Telling Time is instant speed, meaning you can play it on their turn. Finally, and maybe most importantly, is See Beyond. Even though it's sorcery speed, it provides the very important function of letting you ship things from your hand to the library, so you don't get stuck with creatures in your hand.
Moving on to disruption, we have the very standard Remand. You'd be hard press to find a blue control deck that doesn't run Remand. It basically Time Walks them while netting you card advantage. The only real downside is that it isn't a hard counter. The other counter I'm running is Mana Leak. Now, this might seem like a slightly strange choice, but I think it's one of the best counters available. The additional three mana cost added to their spells is huge, so turns 2-5 this card is basically a hard counter against many decks. If they do pay the cost, they typically don't have enough mana to do anything else, which means you're free to cast Mass Polymorph without fear. If they don't pay it and leave mana up, not only do we successfully counter, but it hints that they might have something else up their sleeve that we can now play around. The two mana cost means that it's pretty light in our hands and we don't have to devote all of our resources to countering. Also, it's not selective in what it counters, so it has very broad application. Cyclonic Rift helps us manage the board a bit. It can be a bit of a Time Walk early on, get rid of pesky planeswalkers and creatures if they slip by our counters, force them to tap out in order to play something relatively small, or if the game goes late, we can get rid of most their board. The final piece of disruption could be in a class of its own, as Vedalken Shackles wins games by itself. You get to steal and control your opponents creatures, force them to trade with themselves, and it's reusable. The main downside is that it is a bit awkward to play, but usually they'll either waste a turn getting rid of it or they'll play a creature into it. You might have noticed that Cryptic Command is missing from the list of disruptive spells. Cryptic Command is an awesome spell but I currently find it too clunky to play. It's dead until turn 4, and that's assuming you hit all your lands. It requires you keep 4 mana up at all times if you want it to be effective. It prevents you from playing multiple spells in a turn, which this deck likes to do. Despite these issues, it answers so many threats. It obviously counters, it is a second set of Cyclonic Rifts (plus it can bounce lands), it can stop an alpha strike, and help you dig. Though it's not currently in the list, I thought it was worth mention as it's very likely it will make an appearance in the future. Until then I'll continue testing the current list to see if I'm able to do well without it.
Finally, the mana base is pretty simple. Due to Vedalken Shackles, I want to play as many Islands as possible. I'm playing 8 Hallowed Fountains (4 of which are Misty Rainforests), which I get reliably enough by turn 5-6 to cast Raise the Alarm in preparation of Mass Polymorph. Other than that, it's just vanilla Islands. Possibly Snow-Covered.
Issues
Blood Moon kills us until we can bounce it and play Raise the Alarm.
No real strategy to stop Aggro other than stalling (Possible need for Cryptic Command).
If one of our creatures ends up in the graveyard, it's game over unless we get lucky with Vedalken Shackles.
If we draw a creature, discard is our biggest threat.
Possible Additions
Cryptic Command
-Despite the restrictive mana cost, it fills in many holes the deck has.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
-Helps Mass Polymorph get through, though it slightly messes with the manabase.
Plains
-Would help us with Blood Moon, doesn't help with Vedalken Shackles. Possibly a one-of.
Other Notes
The more I play this deck, the more I realize it isn't about Mass Polymorph. It might be better to get rid of all 12 combo cards and the 4 Hallowed Fountains and replace them with 4 Polymorphs, 1 Emrakul, and 4 Blinkmoth Nexus. The deck would be resistant to discard and Blood Moon. It could "combo" off of a Vedalken'd creature. And, the mana costs are cheaper overall. I'll do some testing with this modified list.
All criticism is welcome, but please keep it constructive! Thanks for taking the time to read through this post.
Mass Polymorph
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Pestermite
4 Mass Polymorph
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Gather the Townsfolk
4 See Beyond
4 Peer Through Depths
2 Telling Time
4 Remand
4 Mana Leak
4 Cyclonic Rift
4 Vedalken Shackles
4 Hallowed Fountain
14 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
Summary of Choices
It's pretty obvious as to what the deck is supposed to do, but I'll break it down anyway and explain my choices. The goal is to play either Raise the Alarm or Gather the Townsfolk, generating tokens to exile to Mass Polymorph, fetching the only two creatures in the deck; Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki. See Beyond, Peer Through Depths, and Telling Time dig through the deck and help find the pieces to combo. See Beyond helps get rid of Pestermite/Kiki-Jiki if you happen to draw them. Remand, Mana Leak, and Cyclonic Rift slow them down. Vedalken Shackles because of all the island we're running.
Origin
I first started looking at Mass Polymorph during the Zendikar block in Standard. I tried to play it during the Scars of Mirrodin block, however, CawBlade was still a thing and my list wasn't a particularly good matchup against it, so I had to scrap it. Back then, the easiest way I found to play Mass Polymorph was to play it in an UR control shell that would sacrifice an artifact with Kudoltha Rebirth before Mass Polymorphing into Iona, Urabrask and Emrakul. The other fairly common list was played in a UG or RUG shell that used Awakening Zone and Growth Spasm to create the tokens needed to Mass Polymorph into Terastodon and two Massacre Wurms. Though it would win the game 90% of the time, I didn't find it to be quite as reliable as the Iona/Urabrask/Emrakul mix. However, the R/UG list could still cast Terastodon if Mass Polymorph didn't work out, where as the UR list could only reasonably cast Urabrask.
In-Depth Analysis
The list I've suggested has what I believe to be the cards most optimal for this deck. Granted, there are some glaring flaws against certain decks, so the list isn't close to being done and many of the choices are still up for discussion. Also, I haven't constructed a sideboard yet as I don't feel as though the main deck list is where I want it to be.
When I originally got into Modern and wanted to play Mass Polymorph, I tried directly porting in my Standard list while making some upgrades with the larger card pool. It still ran the three creature plan with Iona, Urabrask and Emrakul. It went through a few changes to the shell it was in, going from UR control to UG ramp to UW control, but all of them were clunky and slow. It wasn't until recently that I realized there were plenty of good two creature combos that could take the place of the three creature plan, making it easier to setup Mass Polymorph. I ended up settling with Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki as they are self-contained and win the turn they come in. Due to the drop in creatures to set the combo up, a lot more options became available in terms of token generation. I chose to go with Raise the Alarm as it offered several benefits. One, it made two tokens for two mana, no strings attached. You can't get too much better than that. Two, you can do that at Instant speed. This means that on turn 5, I can leave mana open for counters and play Raise the Alarm on the end of their turn so I can play Mass Polymorph as soon as I hit that 6th land. Three, it has a fairly easy casting requirement. I also chose to play 2 Gather the Townsfolk for some redundancy, even though it's sorcery speed. Though being at 5 life is a pretty dire place, it's nice that Gather the Townsfolk, over other token generating cards, has the extra ability to provide you with chump blockers in addition to turning Mass Polymorph online.
Combo aside, the main plan for the deck is to disrupt and draw. Starting with draw, you'll notice I chose some fairly odd choices to do this with; Peer Through Depths, Telling Time, and See Beyond. The common similarity between these three is that they're selective in what they give you access to. Even though you only have a 3% chance of drawing one of the creatures, you'll have a hard time winning the game if they're in your hand. It's important that we're able to avoid them in our draws or put them back in the deck on the chance we draw them. Peer Through Depths is a power house, allowing us to go five cards deep without fear of drawing a creature. The biggest plus is that this is at Instant speed, meaning you can keep mana up for disruption and play it at the end of their turn. The only downsides to this card are that you're only able to pick one of the five, it can't be a land, and all the others go to the bottom. Rarely do I not want to have this card in hand, and often when I'm trying to find Mass Polymorph I'm able to chain these together to dig unreasonably deep. Telling Time helps fill the hole that Peer Through Depths leaves; it's able to grab lands. You can also avoid the creatures by shipping them to the bottom. And like Peer Through Depths, Telling Time is instant speed, meaning you can play it on their turn. Finally, and maybe most importantly, is See Beyond. Even though it's sorcery speed, it provides the very important function of letting you ship things from your hand to the library, so you don't get stuck with creatures in your hand.
Moving on to disruption, we have the very standard Remand. You'd be hard press to find a blue control deck that doesn't run Remand. It basically Time Walks them while netting you card advantage. The only real downside is that it isn't a hard counter. The other counter I'm running is Mana Leak. Now, this might seem like a slightly strange choice, but I think it's one of the best counters available. The additional three mana cost added to their spells is huge, so turns 2-5 this card is basically a hard counter against many decks. If they do pay the cost, they typically don't have enough mana to do anything else, which means you're free to cast Mass Polymorph without fear. If they don't pay it and leave mana up, not only do we successfully counter, but it hints that they might have something else up their sleeve that we can now play around. The two mana cost means that it's pretty light in our hands and we don't have to devote all of our resources to countering. Also, it's not selective in what it counters, so it has very broad application. Cyclonic Rift helps us manage the board a bit. It can be a bit of a Time Walk early on, get rid of pesky planeswalkers and creatures if they slip by our counters, force them to tap out in order to play something relatively small, or if the game goes late, we can get rid of most their board. The final piece of disruption could be in a class of its own, as Vedalken Shackles wins games by itself. You get to steal and control your opponents creatures, force them to trade with themselves, and it's reusable. The main downside is that it is a bit awkward to play, but usually they'll either waste a turn getting rid of it or they'll play a creature into it. You might have noticed that Cryptic Command is missing from the list of disruptive spells. Cryptic Command is an awesome spell but I currently find it too clunky to play. It's dead until turn 4, and that's assuming you hit all your lands. It requires you keep 4 mana up at all times if you want it to be effective. It prevents you from playing multiple spells in a turn, which this deck likes to do. Despite these issues, it answers so many threats. It obviously counters, it is a second set of Cyclonic Rifts (plus it can bounce lands), it can stop an alpha strike, and help you dig. Though it's not currently in the list, I thought it was worth mention as it's very likely it will make an appearance in the future. Until then I'll continue testing the current list to see if I'm able to do well without it.
Finally, the mana base is pretty simple. Due to Vedalken Shackles, I want to play as many Islands as possible. I'm playing 8 Hallowed Fountains (4 of which are Misty Rainforests), which I get reliably enough by turn 5-6 to cast Raise the Alarm in preparation of Mass Polymorph. Other than that, it's just vanilla Islands. Possibly Snow-Covered.
Issues
Blood Moon kills us until we can bounce it and play Raise the Alarm.
No real strategy to stop Aggro other than stalling (Possible need for Cryptic Command).
If one of our creatures ends up in the graveyard, it's game over unless we get lucky with Vedalken Shackles.
If we draw a creature, discard is our biggest threat.
Possible Additions
Cryptic Command
-Despite the restrictive mana cost, it fills in many holes the deck has.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
-Helps Mass Polymorph get through, though it slightly messes with the manabase.
Plains
-Would help us with Blood Moon, doesn't help with Vedalken Shackles. Possibly a one-of.
Other Notes
The more I play this deck, the more I realize it isn't about Mass Polymorph. It might be better to get rid of all 12 combo cards and the 4 Hallowed Fountains and replace them with 4 Polymorphs, 1 Emrakul, and 4 Blinkmoth Nexus. The deck would be resistant to discard and Blood Moon. It could "combo" off of a Vedalken'd creature. And, the mana costs are cheaper overall. I'll do some testing with this modified list.
All criticism is welcome, but please keep it constructive! Thanks for taking the time to read through this post.