*This episode of Petals of Insight was brought to you by Oskar Koch and his very nice electronic mixes. Take a listen as you go through the article! Hello everyone and welcome back to another post on Petals of Insight! While I've taken a long and undeserved hiatus from writing, I feel like it is time to take back the reigns. That doesn't mean that I've neglected this wonderful game, however! On the contrary, despite not taking the time to write, I have been on the tournament grind since I last left you, my kind readers.
Earlier this year I sailed through a competitive field to get 2nd place with Mono Black Devotion--a deck I had no prior experience with before that very tournament. Flash forward a month or two later, I took the leap from Puerto Rico to Richmond, Virginia to battle in the largest Modern tournament and second largest tournament in MTG history. I tackled GP Richmond (also my first Grand Prix) equipped with Ad Nauseam to a disappointing 5-3 finish before dropping. Ad Nauseam was not a terrible choice, but I forgot how volatile it can be, to the point I had to win a game by beating down with Simian Spirit Guides because I never drew the combo. Not to mention, I think I punted a match against Scapeshift. Perhaps Kiki Pod was the better option at the time. What kept me from playing it, though, was the fact that I was worried of facing someone who was more practiced with the deck than I was. A legitimate reason, to be sure, yet one that I could have ignored so as to improve my chances across the field.
Some time after that the Sealed TCGPlayer States Championships came to town and I rolled into the Top 8 with a sweet RW Aggro deck. In the Top 8, I drafted a pretty decent UG Controllish deck with some efficient fatties that unfortunately lost to a smaller version of itself--another UG deck with 30 Retraction Helixes. It was a gruesome display of Tempo beating down on giant creatures. In retrospect, I may have also punted Game 3. I figured I had two paths to victory, one involving chipping down my opponent's life total with Fleetfeather Cockatrice; or try to Alpha Strike with Archetype of Imagination, cripple him, and then try to pick up the remaining life points in the following turn or so. Usually, in these types of situation (and at a Top 8), I go for the safer route, thus I went for the former. Unfortunately, that line gave him one too many turns allowing him to create a position where my Cockatrice became irrelevant. And, subsequently, another Quarterfinals exit for me.
Weeks later, we had our lone PTQ of the season. It was Modern. This time I decided to hang my Ad Nauseam gloves and went into the fray with UR TempoTwin. Here's my list:
UR InfernoTwin
Creatures - 13
2 Inferno Titan
3 Deceiver Exarch
3 Pestermite
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells - 24
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Batterskull
1 Flame Slash
1 Electrolyze
2 Gitaxian Probe
3 Cryptic Command
3 Remand
4 Serum Visions
4 Splinter Twin
4 Lightning Bolt
Lands - 23
1 Tectonic Edge1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Desolation Lighthouse
1 Mountain
1 Stomping Ground
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Island
SB -
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Batterskull
1 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Counterflux
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Spellskite
2 Anger of the Gods
Inspired by Luis Scott-Vargas's take on Erich Froehlich's Anti-Melira Pod Twin list from GP Minneapolis, I sleeved this puppy up after some deliberate tweaking.* Unfortunately, I was rewarded with a heartbreaking 9th place due to weird tiebreakers and everyone and their dog drawing into the Top 8. It's pretty maddening when 4-1-1 does not get you an 8th place at the very least. Regardless, Tempo Twin performed well beating TarmoTwin, UWR Kiki Control, Mono Blue Tron, and Mono Red Burn; losing only to Infect and drawing against UB Polymorph. I'm still not sure if that latter match is even favorable for me. All three games felt close even when Game 3 was a race against the clock. Game 3 was just a flurry of hand disruption from his part and burn from my end of the table. I managed to get him pretty low on life, but was unable to close out the game in time.
*You can find Luis Scott-Vargas's (LSV from now on) list here and Froehlich's list here.
There are quite a number differences between my list and those from the aforementioned gentlemen. Let's delve in, shall we?
1) The Fifties - As you may have noticed, unlike the other two lists, I opted for a three-three split between the Deciever Exarchs and the Pestermites. The reason for this comes down to metagaming and deck construction itself. Froehlich and LSV played four Exarchs and two Pestermites because of what their deck is trying to do. Exarchs, aside from adding value to the Twisted Images (usually when the aggression is warranted), they are also better blockers that help keep you in the game long enough for the Inferno Titans to be relevant. Furthermore, and perhaps even more relevant, Exarchs survive the myriad of damage-based removal commonly played in the format ranging from Lightning Bolts to Electrolyzes, and more importantly, Anger of the Gods. Having the set of Deceiver Exarchs actually allows LSV to main deck a copy of Anger of the Gods, while Froehlich gets the opportunity to play four copies of the Gods' Wrath in the sideboard. Another edge this deck gains from playing so many Deceivers is the fact that they survive Orzhov Pontiff--a card employed by, you guessed it, Melira Pod. You can essentially suit up a Deceiver with Splinter Twin and proceed to combo off and if they Chord of Calling for the Pontiff, you'll just get 0/3 Exarchs. With Pestermites, on the other hand, you'll just lose your entire army of flyers along with the Splinter Twin.
The one strike against the Deceiver Exarchs is that they aren't aggressive enough. Pestermites are 2-powered flyers just doesn't care about Tarmogoyf or Wall of Omens, or what-have-you. They come down and present a reasonable clock. They may be small, but they get the job done. They get in a lot of damage before opponents off them from the table. My favorite part about Pestermite? They can trade with any flyer with a Cranial Plating. Sometimes, you are out of Bolts. Out of Snapcasters. And you absolutely need to trade with their charging Inkmoth Nexus wearing the Plating somehow... I mean, look at it! Where does it put that Cranial Plating?! You look at your one card, and it's a lowly Pestermite, ready to ambush the impossibility that is a land wearing head-armor.
For this reason, I like the third Pestermite, although the threat of Zealous Persecutions, Electrolyzes, Lightning Bolts, and especially Ozhov Pontiffs, does mean that a fourth 'Mite is just out of the question. Getting two Pestermites done in by an Electrolyze is such a huge loss in Tempo and Card Advantage that one can't just run that risk.
2) Sleighting of the Hand - No Twin deck out there (except for the All-In Twin version) is playing Sleight of Hand. Often relegated to Storm decks and other pure, Blue-based Combo decks, Sleight of Hand is simply ignored. Why is that, though? Granted a one-of is not much to talk about, particularly when it comes to a cantrip regarded to be worse than Serum Visions, but it should be discussed considering what it does for you. Partly, there's a personal preference acting here since I, like most players, have a penchant for consistency: I like hitting my land drops, finding my combo in a reasonable time, and/or just getting to the tools that I need as quickly as possible. Another thing I love is having the option to not get flooded when the games drag on for too long, as it tends to happen with this sort of deck.
Look at your match up against Control: it is one that certainly demands you take the aggressive stance and try to get as many hits with your creatures as you can. At various points in the game, the match starts to feel like an attrition war, where you are both vying to have a controlling board position. During these stages of the game, you will need specific cards that aren't lands and the Sleight of Hand will be there to provide you exactly that. It's a given that digging two cards down is not as efficient compared to the three cards you get to see with Serum Visions, nevertheless, Serum Visions grants you an unknown first card. Frankly, you can't afford this luxury when you need outs to specific situations. Because, dang, it's your answers! Use them when you need 'em!
My lesson for you? Don't be a Kiki-Jiki for your family. Be a Snapcaster Mage. He's always there. Always reliable. Never lets go of the past... Actually, just be a Batterskull. A giant engine of badassery controlled by a germ that is always willing to get its hands dirty for its loved ones. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, whatever you replace Kiki-Jiki with, it is probably better than the Mirror Breaker. Besides, he breaks mirrors. And breaking mirrors brings bad luck. What a douche.
*If you haven't seen that set, look it up. Those were how Legendary Creatures looked like back in the day.
Aside from the obvious, why Batterskull and not something cheaper, like another Vendilion Clique? Thing is, with all the cantrips, the counter suite, plus Snapcaster Mages, you could just play through the early game without missing a beat. The problem is what happens when the late-game rolls in. What happens if you managed to survive and your resources are all but exhausted?This was something that needed to be addressed and Batterskull answered the call. It's a win condition and a stabilizer all on its own little 5-mana package. It also has a bad habit of coming back for more whenever your opponents try to deal with it.
Finally, the Giant Battering Engine of Doom is a great pre-board card for Midrange, Control, Affinity, and Burn decks. You side it in for those match ups anyway. Main decking it just means that I basically have another plan to fall back out in case things get out of hand. Can't Aggro-Control you out? Then I'll try to combo. Disrupted my Combo plan? Well, I'll eventually get to Inferno Titan and Batterskull and beat you down. They can even be your Plan A and let the rest follow suit.
Since the article is running a little long and I promised myself that I would refrain from my usual marathon articles, I will close it out here. For those of you in Puerto Rico reading this, the TCGPlayer State Championship will be held this Sunday, August 3rd at Gaming Zone in Bayamon. As the title suggests, the format will be Modern. These tournaments tend to be a lot of fun, so even if you don't have a super competitive deck, give it a whirl and just have fun. Besides, the more people attend these events, the more tournament privileges Puerto Rico will get. This means more PTQs, which translates to more chances to qualify for the Pro Tour.*
*Any information you may need concerning the event and venue can be found here.
The TCGPlayer Championships is, admittedly, independent from the Pro Tour circuit. In spite of this, you still have the opportunity to qualify for a 50,000 dollar tournament. And hey, there's always bragging rights for Top 8 finishes*
*For more information on the TCGPlayer States Championship go here.
Anyway, thank you for reading and stay tuned for Friday will involve a quick view of the Modern Metagame and an update to my Splinter Twin list, since I'm ever so diligently working to get a nice looking list.
Much love,
Chris
PS: I felt the sideboard was rather straightforward, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
