[Deck] Food Chain Combo

[scry_me_a_river]

Hey=)

I was the second guy playing Food Chain to a Top8 finish at Spielraum some weeks ago. I really enjoy the Deck as it is super versatile and fun to play. Previously I was a Shardless BUG player (BUG is my favourite colour combination), but unfortunately the deck feels a bit clunky.

This was the deck I played (it is the "standard" Empath build, however I included both Emrakul and Tidespout Tyrant for testing reasons). The SB contains basically only Combo Hate and Spot Removal/Sweeper. In my experience, fast aggro/fast combo decks are the most difficult to overcome, so I did not spend a single slot on actual grind cards - our combo/grind plan should suffice.

//Lands
1 Bayou
1 Forest
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Verdant Catacombs

//Creatures
4 Baleful Strix
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Eternal Scourge
2 Fierce Empath
1 Gurmag Angler
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Vendilion Clique

//Instants and Sorceries
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Manipulate Fate
2 Ponder

//Utility
4 Food Chain
1 Sylvan Library

//Sideboard
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Dread of Night
SB: 2 Fatal Push
SB: 2 Flusterstorm
SB: 4 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Toxic Deluge

Match 1 against Death and Taxes (1:2): My oponent screwed me over with Spirith of the Labyrinth, Thalia and Mirran Crusader in Games 1 and 3. Game 2 I was able to deploy a Dread of Night. After all, the MU seems to be tricky and swingy - if they assemble 2+ Hate Pieces, our already slowish deck becomes a bit clunky. On the other hand, our deck has the necessary tools to fight them. After all, after sideboarding I try to become a control deck without the actual combo finish (I only keep some number of Food Chains and the enablers to produce value).

Match 2 against Eldrazi Death and Taxes (2:0): Due to the stable mana base of Food Chain (another aspect I really enjoy) and some number of Baleful Strixes, I was able to stall the games long enough to flood the board. It felt easier than the Death and Taxes MU, as they don't have that much hate and Chalice is not that devastating.

Match 3 against 4C Delver (2:0): Once we stabilize (solid mana is the key), not even Pyromancer is a problem. However, there are a lot of 4C/Delver/Delverless Delver Builds running around which makes it diffcult to play around Dazes, Stifles...and in game 2 I got nearly screwed by a Winter Orb^^ The matchup felt definitely ok - our mana base and the Strix/Decay Pacakge buy a lot of time to finish them off lategame.

Match 4 against Alluren: It was an awkward game as we were basically not interacting with each other at all and just trying to go for the combo. Fortuntately I was faster this time, though I'm not sure if that is usually the case (their combo seems more consistent to assemble). This MU needs definitely some more testing.

Match 5 against Infect (2:1): Preboard, the MU is tough. We can steal wins though, if we find us some Strixes into Removal into Gryffins. Post-Board, at least with my sideboard configuration, the MU feels much better. The deck has a huge number of flyers and after boarding, Discard and Removal puts them under a lot of pressure.

Match 6: ID

Quarterfinals against the Death and Taxes Guy from Match 1 (0:2): Unfortunately, this time I wasn't even able to win a single game. Still I think that the MU is ok, if we head of with a good start.

To sum up, I'm still impressed with the deck - it's a lot of fun and I think it is well positioned at the moment. Basically we are a BUG Grind Deck with Combo Finish - it is somehow comparable to Splinter Twin in Modern - people were constantly afraid of the combo and had to play accordingly (and sometimes in a suboptimal fashion). I will also try the Ballista Version, as I definitely agree with the reasoning in the last posts.

Moreover, I am trying to record some MTGO videos. If I will ever finish, I'd be happy to share it with you:-)

Best Regards

scry

[Manroe]

Had a pretty good tournament debut with the Ballista/Mage split list. 3-1 with convincing wins against Miracles, D&T, Goblins and the only loss was a quick and merciless beating by tin-fins. Had a lot of fun overall and I'm looking forward to learning more with this deck!!

[JackaBo]

Another good thing bout the Ballista build is that it frees up slots in the SB, as it doubbles as removal.


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[deaded]

Hey=)


To sum up, I'm still impressed with the deck - it's a lot of fun and I think it is well positioned at the moment. Basically we are a BUG Grind Deck with Combo Finish - it is somehow comparable to Splinter Twin in Modern - people were constantly afraid of the combo and had to play accordingly (and sometimes in a suboptimal fashion).

scry

This is what drew me to the deck. I used to play Splinter Twin in Modern and I really enjoy being able to play a good fair game with outs to an instant win. It really rewards you for knowing your role in the match up, and knowing whether you should play to your outs of a combo win or whether you should play the midrange game.

[Thorhammer]

Is empath tutoring up angler still good though? Ballista is vulnerable to needle where as we were not vulnerable to needle before. I like the option of being able to empath/angler for four mana and beat down. Ballista also gets fatal pushed, angler doesn't (non combo situation). Push is getting played more and more, making delve creatures better. Also, having delve spells to exile dead griffins is such a boon for this deck; seems unfortunate to give that up. I do like that you can potentially win off a ballista without a griffin just like emrakul. But are the trinket mage cards really worth it? Top is fine. Needle out of the board is fine. Any other target seems way too slow, particularly graveyard hate in a world of black red reanimator.
I'm just trying to talk this through in my head as to which is better. Let's figure this out.

[JackaBo]

I do not think mage is better than running more ballistas.
If you have a rather fair meta you could run two anglers MD. I run 1 angler, 1 clique and 2 thoughtseize as my "flexslots".
I dont believe empath should go into a ballista build though.


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[J.Black]

Mage is great for grindy matches; tutoring for top/ee/meekstone can shut a lot of decks down. As others have said though, we should be backing ourselves to win those matches anyway.

I'm going to persevere with the mage + ballista build for a while and see where it takes me. Last Fnm I got a savage beating from storm, bit the deck worked very well against punishing loam and shardless.

[Thorhammer]

I think have a cc 3 tutor creature is valuable since it can start the chain. Be it empath or mage. a noncombo ballista doesn't do much to generate mana.

[JackaBo]

What are you guys running, 2/2 split?


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[Thorhammer]

Tested a bit more. Trinket mage package seems underwelming. The cards you are tutoring for just aren't that impactful. Against fair decks in top deck mode I just want to empath into angler to start bashing. Against combo decks I want a faster clock. Tutoring for needle is nice but in the end it trades with half a card.

[hofzge]

Tested a bit more. Trinket mage package seems underwelming. The cards you are tutoring for just aren't that impactful. Against fair decks in top deck mode I just want to empath into angler to start bashing. Against combo decks I want a faster clock. Tutoring for needle is nice but in the end it trades with half a card.

1 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Verdant Catacombs

3 Manipulate Fate
3 Ponder

4 Baleful Strix
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Eternal Scourge
3 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
4 Walking Ballista

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will

4 Food Chain
1 Sylvan Library

Sideboard
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Collective Brutality
2 Duress
1 Flusterstorm
2 Toxic Deluge
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pithing Needle
3 Surgical Extraction

As I was in Copenhagen for a week and had to try this versin out I took it to the local LGS to a 4:1. The sideboard proved to not be optimal, but the maindeck was quite good for me.

Match 1 against Janus on Lantern Control (2:0): In the first game I resolve a Leovold to match his Lantern and Mill artefacts and that is basically one of the worst things that can happen to his deck. He even had to play an Intuition off wihich I could draw a card to get a Force further setting himself back. I am able to attack doen to 6 life where he gets a Thought Lash, but my Deathrite Shaman can carry it home. In G2 I get surprised by a Back to Basics which I totally did not play around. Luckily I have a Decay as well as an active Deathrite Shaman and with all the sidebaorded Needle, Decay, Extraction (as I saw Intuition) and the maindeck Force, Leovold and more Decays this matchup felt very positive.

Match 2 against Allan on Jund (0:2): In G1 I get demolished by double Hymn to Tourach and in G2 I get Thoughtseized and then Hymned. The hymn also made me manascrewed which is one of the risky things with 19 lands. The manabase is quite stable, but hymns taking 2 lands set me off the road. I am unsure if the matchup always goes like this but they have a ton of very annoying cards (Hymn & other discard, Liliana, Punishing Fires).

Match 3 against Lasse on Merfolk (2:1): Two of the games come down to Walking Ballista and being able to resolve a Ballista with two counters on it and then shooting whatever hits play. Here the change in the threat base really sho. G2 I totally get rolled over and die to unblockable fishes. G3 I can again resolve a Ballista and my opponent is kind enough to concede to my ballista on 3 and Ballista on 2, Griffin and Deathrite Shaman even when I mess up the math and would only be able to bring him to 2 life in the last extra turn. Thanks!

Match 4 against Frederik on Thalia Stompy (2:0): He has very bad hands. In G1 I counter a T2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar and that is basically it as like that I am able to combe T4 with enough land. In G2 where he has a T1 Chalice it is not really that bad. I have a good hand again and combo on T4 without him being able to disrupt me too much.

Match 5 against David on Elves (2:0): Boarding is not actually that important and even if I board in Toxic Deluges that help the matchup is basically just a race. In the actual games I was lucky enough to have T3 and T4 combo with some disruption. Anything else probably won't suffice and before this I thought that Ballista might be good, but it usually is just way too slow.

I would probably take in the last Decay over the Sylvan Library and get a bit better removal into the sideboard. I saw a list online that I really liked and next time I will probably play something similar to this.

[heat_wave]

A few of the recent successful Food Chain lists had 3 or 4 Hymn to Tourach in the sideboard. Any thoughts on this? Is this an extension of the grind-them-to-death plan that doubles as hand disruption against combo decks? I'd rather have traditional discard against combo, though, and we're the underdog in those matches. Where else should those be sided in, and where not?

Also, what matchups do people side Collective Brutality in? DnT?

[Thorhammer]

A few of the recent successful Food Chain lists had 3 or 4 Hymn to Tourach in the sideboard. Any thoughts on this? Is this an extension of the grind-them-to-death plan that doubles as hand disruption against combo decks? I'd rather have traditional discard against combo, though, and we're the underdog in those matches. Where else should those be sided in, and where not?

Also, what matchups do people side Collective Brutality in? DnT?

Food chain needs a heavy anti combo package in the form of discard, counters, or hate permanents. Hymn is one option. I personally prefer a mix of hymn and cheaper pin point discard since hymn is bad against reanimator and can often miss especially against sneak and show. However, hymn also doubles as a decent card against death and taxes and is marginally ok against miracles.
I like to treat collective brutality like a disfigure that I can bring in against storm. It's extra removal that isn't totally dead against combo. Side in brutality when you legitimately have things to board out. Against combo you have a bunch of dead cards so the choice is obvious. Against certain decks it can be tricky as to whether or not you need it. Death n taxes, sure. Elves, yes. Bug midrange and delver, maybe. I like brutality if you have a burn heavy meta( though the matchup is borderline unwinnable anyway. )

[drfish]

Food chain needs a heavy anti combo package in the form of discard, counters, or hate permanents. Hymn is one option. I personally prefer a mix of hymn and cheaper pin point discard since hymn is bad against reanimator and can often miss especially against sneak and show. However, hymn also doubles as a decent card against death and taxes and is marginally ok against miracles.
I like to treat collective brutality like a disfigure that I can bring in against storm. It's extra removal that isn't totally dead against combo. Side in brutality when you legitimately have things to board out. Against combo you have a bunch of dead cards so the choice is obvious. Against certain decks it can be tricky as to whether or not you need it. Death n taxes, sure. Elves, yes. Bug midrange and delver, maybe. I like brutality if you have a burn heavy meta( though the matchup is borderline unwinnable anyway. )

Not sure we want to side in Hymn against D&T, double black can be difficult to reach against their mana denial plan :/ in addition to combo, I would obviously board hymn against Eldrazi, hitting early any of their land and/or creature is great value, and it passes through Chalice on 1. But fully agree on the variety of discard spells to use, I play thoughtseize MD and Hymn in SB because relevance is a bit more narrow. Haven't tested collective brutality yet but looks cute, especially against Elves and D&T that are not easy matchups.

[Manipulato]

Hey guys,
Food Chain just took down the MKM-Series in Milan with over 130 players. Still the Ballista version.

http://series.magiccardmarket.eu/cov...n-2017-legacy/

[JackaBo]

Ballista is here to stay that's for sure. I like clique both versus combo and control.


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[m0ller]

Ballista is here to stay that's for sure. I like clique both versus combo and control.


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Balista is surely better, but soooo slow online? Any other having this problem??

[Despiteful]

Balista is surely better, but soooo slow online? Any other having this problem??

Lets face it, foodchain wont ever be really good online, because you have to click through the combo.

Ballista just makes that worse, you need to Ramp to 40 to kill while holding prio, if you want to be able to go of in response to anything they cast another 40.

If your opp is intelligent he will never scoop to the combo, because if he can push you to game 3 you will timeout almost certainly.

[m0ller]

Lets face it, foodchain wont ever be really good online, because you have to click through the combo.

Ballista just makes that worse, you need to Ramp to 40 to kill while holding prio, if you want to be able to go of in response to anything they cast another 40.

If your opp is intelligent he will never scoop to the combo, because if he can push you to game 3 you will timeout almost certainly.

I agree! A shame though.

[hofzge]

Weekly Legacy at LGS

1 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Verdant Catacombs

3 Manipulate Fate
3 Ponder

4 Baleful Strix
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Eternal Scourge
3 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
4 Walking Ballista

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Food Chain

Sideboard
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Collective Brutality
3 Thoughtseize
2 Golgari Charm
2 Fatal Push
2 Mindbreak Trap
3 Surgical Extraction

This week we are only 7 and i get the first round BYE.

As I was in Copenhagen for a week and had to try this versin out I took it to the local LGS to a 4:1. The sideboard proved to not be optimal, but the maindeck was quite good for me.

Match 1 - BYE

Match 2 against Elie on BURG Delver (2:1): all in all very close games: G1 I rip a Ballista the turn befor dying to a True-Name when I already have Food Chain and a Griffin. G2 My manabase suffers and I end the game with 2 Lands. G3 Is again very close as on the turn when I am on G2 I get Thoughtseized and then Hymned. The hymn also made me manascrewed which is one of the risky things with 19 lands. The manabase is quite stable, but hymns taking 2 lands set me off the road. I am unsure if the matchup always goes like this but they have a ton of very annoying cards (Hymn & other discard, Liliana, Punishing Fires).

Match 3 against Pascal on ANT (2:1): G1 I have littel interaction and a Leovold, but as he begins he can T2 Therapy it away. I lose shortly after that. G2 I can stall long enough by Thoughtseizing a Xantid swarm and an Infernal Tutor that I can combo off. G3 after a Xantid Swarm on T1 he can T2 Ad Nauseam and cracks a LED to Ad Nauseam on 18 with BBB floating. He goes down to 5 and has 2 IT, 2 Probes, Preordain, Ponder, DR, CR, Decay... and manages to draw 4 Lands in succession. I did not win that one as much as he lost it.

As for the deck I was quite happy about the configuration - I liked all parts of the sideboard.