[Deck] Amulet Titan

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TheAnnihilator
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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

No Prelim, just a League. Idk if I would've been on stream or not lol.

I am playing 2 EE in the board, and no Grafdigger's, but you may be right. Perhaps I should be boarding Stirrings out less. I usually don't go below 2 copies if I can help it, but I do board it out entirely in matchups where I have a lot to bring in.

More often than not, Vezuva copying an opponent's land has been quite good for me. Sometimes you can copy a canopy land for value (Nurturing Peatland, Fiery Islet, and Sunbaked Canyon in particular see a lot of play). Sometimes you just copy a random land for Field diversity, sometimes your opponent is playing Overgrown Tomb or Stomping Ground or even just actual Forest for Garenbrig purposes, and if they aren't, there's a good chance they're playing a blue source of some sort for TWest. And that's all in the fail case in which you need to play out the Vesuva and don't have anything worth copying yourself (or you're playing around LD by playing non-bouncelands early), which doesn't happen very often.

I understand that Rot Farm is there so you have an extra name for Field and can pay mana for sideboarded Dismember, but I believe having the extra land for activating Sunhome/Stronghold the good ol' fashioned way is far more impactful that either of those cases. Your Rot Farm practically produces 1G. If it were a Sanctuary, you'd be halfway to activating either utility land, but as is it does nothing. A Sanctuary in play would let you search up Valakut and Stonghold and still haste, for example (which, in my list, then allows both Vesuvas to copy valakut and kill on the spot). As far as needing a second Sanctuary, that would be assuming a lot of other things perfectly line up, such as not wanting to get one of the 2 Vesuvas I play nor Boros Garrison, not having a Dryad in play, already having played and tapped the 1st Sanctuary, etc. So honestly I can admit that the 2nd Sanctuary case is so niche that I don't think it's realistic. But I do think it's better than Rot Farm anyways.

As for squachief, I'll check my game history and edit-update this line. Edit: Nope, it was a user by the name SoggyCheerios.

Chameleon Colossus is definitely a good call, I'll pick up a copy and give it a spin. As for Grove, I think it's a pretty free inclusion, the issue is what lands do you cut? I don't want to cut any of the lands in my list (I'm already shaving a basic for Gemstone, which I hate). I've played 29, 30, and 31 lands in builds with Scout/Grazer, and I personally prefer 30 lands.

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

I've started a league series with Amulet on yt if anyone wants to check it out:

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I've started a league series with Amulet on yt if anyone wants to check it out:
Those were cool. But where are the other 3 rounds?
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

I'll post them when I play them haha. Still getting a hang of recording, posting, and making thumbnails for youtube.

Edit: I'll see if I can play and post r3 tomorrow.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I'll post them when I play them haha. Still getting a hang of recording, posting, and making thumbnails for youtube.

Edit: I'll see if I can play and post r3 tomorrow.
Oh okay, is it a League? I don't play online, just watch. So I am unfamiliar with the format. Do you have to play the next round at any given time? I liked them. It's a good idea what you did and talked it out. I wish I could do something like that. We used to have weekend Staple events with pretty competitive players from our local area and they have feature matches, using a camera. When I looked back at myself during the stream, I always noticed at least a few mistakes. I'm pretty sure that if I could watch that a lot and get feedback from commentators or whoever, I would be tiptop on my game.

I miss paper Magic so much. :(

Mono Blue Tron is a really good matchup from what I hear. I haven't played against it yet with Amulet, but I'm glad to hear that, as a local player on it has done really well against me, playing various decks myself. He is something like 4-1 in the past 5 matches against me, which is the only FNM player that I know that has been over 50% vs. me in the past 3 months before the quarantine started. I think I saw turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in most games of those 5 matches, despite the fact that there's 1. It's pretty good against the other decks I've played vs. him.

*That game vs. Ponza, even though you Summoner's Pact for Dryad of Ilysian Grove, at least you didn't cast the Dryad. You couldn't have paid the Pact next turn and would have died. So at least you didn't make the big blunder and you noticed after Pacting. Saved you that game and that match. Nice.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I'll post them when I play them haha. Still getting a hang of recording, posting, and making thumbnails for youtube.

Edit: I'll see if I can play and post r3 tomorrow.
Oh okay, is it a League? I don't play online, just watch. So I am unfamiliar with the format. Do you have to play the next round at any given time? I liked them. It's a good idea what you did and talked it out. I wish I could do something like that. We used to have weekend Staple events with pretty competitive players from our local area and they have feature matches, using a camera. When I looked back at myself during the stream, I always noticed at least a few mistakes. I'm pretty sure that if I could watch that a lot and get feedback from commentators or whoever, I would be tiptop on my game.

I miss paper Magic so much. :(

Mono Blue Tron is a really good matchup from what I hear. I haven't played against it yet with Amulet, but I'm glad to hear that, as a local player on it has done really well against me, playing various decks myself. He is something like 4-1 in the past 5 matches against me, which is the only FNM player that I know that has been over 50% vs. me in the past 3 months before the quarantine started. I think I saw turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in most games of those 5 matches, despite the fact that there's 1. It's pretty good against the other decks I've played vs. him.

*That game vs. Ponza, even though you Summoner's Pact for Dryad of Ilysian Grove, at least you didn't cast the Dryad. You couldn't have paid the Pact next turn and would have died. So at least you didn't make the big blunder and you noticed after Pacting. Saved you that game and that match. Nice.
Yeah, it's a league. You don't have to play all matches immediately, though a lot of people do.

The Dryad play actually would've worked out fine tho, since I could freecast Force if Vigor during his turn to kill the Choke by pitching Grazer.

In fact, if I had played Dryad as I planned, I had lethal. I would've played green Bounceland and untapped it (Dryad land drop), getting a Valakut trigger, picked up the Vesuva, then played Grazer off the bounceland, and put the Vesuva in play copying the Valakut for 2 more triggers. That's 3 triggers, and OP was at 9. :/

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I'll post them when I play them haha. Still getting a hang of recording, posting, and making thumbnails for youtube.

Edit: I'll see if I can play and post r3 tomorrow.
Oh okay, is it a League? I don't play online, just watch. So I am unfamiliar with the format. Do you have to play the next round at any given time? I liked them. It's a good idea what you did and talked it out. I wish I could do something like that. We used to have weekend Staple events with pretty competitive players from our local area and they have feature matches, using a camera. When I looked back at myself during the stream, I always noticed at least a few mistakes. I'm pretty sure that if I could watch that a lot and get feedback from commentators or whoever, I would be tiptop on my game.

I miss paper Magic so much. :(

Mono Blue Tron is a really good matchup from what I hear. I haven't played against it yet with Amulet, but I'm glad to hear that, as a local player on it has done really well against me, playing various decks myself. He is something like 4-1 in the past 5 matches against me, which is the only FNM player that I know that has been over 50% vs. me in the past 3 months before the quarantine started. I think I saw turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in most games of those 5 matches, despite the fact that there's 1. It's pretty good against the other decks I've played vs. him.

*That game vs. Ponza, even though you Summoner's Pact for Dryad of Ilysian Grove, at least you didn't cast the Dryad. You couldn't have paid the Pact next turn and would have died. So at least you didn't make the big blunder and you noticed after Pacting. Saved you that game and that match. Nice.
Yeah, it's a league. You don't have to play all matches immediately, though a lot of people do.

The Dryad play actually would've worked out fine tho, since I could freecast Force if Vigor during his turn to kill the Choke by pitching Grazer.

In fact, if I had played Dryad as I planned, I had lethal. I would've played green Bounceland and untapped it (Dryad land drop), getting a Valakut trigger, picked up the Vesuva, then played Grazer off the bounceland, and put the Vesuva in play copying the Valakut for 2 more triggers. That's 3 triggers, and OP was at 9. :/
Just watched it again. Yeah, you had Force of Vigor and Arboreal Grazer in hand, so it looks like you had it covered. You had 2 Forests in case a Magus of the Moon came down. I think the safer play is to wait until next turn to play it precombat. It also gives your opponent less of an opportunity to Dismember (since you get 2 land drops after resolving it). When you end step Force of Vigor the Choke, they will notice that Pact can be paid for, so they will Dismember if given the chance.

But you wouldn't have potentially had Grazer, since that's what you exile to Force. So if you drew another one, you would have it. I just think it's safer to wait until your turn to resolve Dryad. But then I lost a match to Zoo due to a mistake like this, where I waited to cast it, thinking it will take a series of 3 cards to kill me. He drew a 3rd card for the turn, Bolt X 2, Path one of my blockers, and got lethal. I was pretty upset at myself for punting that, getting the non foil Promo Pack instead of the foil Promo Pack. (1st/2nd)
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
Just watched it again. Yeah, you had Force of Vigor and Arboreal Grazer in hand, so it looks like you had it covered. You had 2 Forests in case a Magus of the Moon came down. I think the safer play is to wait until next turn to play it precombat. It also gives your opponent less of an opportunity to Dismember (since you get 2 land drops after resolving it). When you end step Force of Vigor the Choke, they will notice that Pact can be paid for, so they will Dismember if given the chance.

But you wouldn't have potentially had Grazer, since that's what you exile to Force. So if you drew another one, you would have it. I just think it's safer to wait until your turn to resolve Dryad. But then I lost a match to Zoo due to a mistake like this, where I waited to cast it, thinking it will take a series of 3 cards to kill me. He drew a 3rd card for the turn, Bolt X 2, Path one of my blockers, and got lethal. I was pretty upset at myself for punting that, getting the non foil Promo Pack instead of the foil Promo Pack. (1st/2nd)
If I played Dryad that turn, I wouldn't have needed to play Force. Dryad+Grazer was lethal that turn. :)

Match 3 is up now btw.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
Just watched it again. Yeah, you had Force of Vigor and Arboreal Grazer in hand, so it looks like you had it covered. You had 2 Forests in case a Magus of the Moon came down. I think the safer play is to wait until next turn to play it precombat. It also gives your opponent less of an opportunity to Dismember (since you get 2 land drops after resolving it). When you end step Force of Vigor the Choke, they will notice that Pact can be paid for, so they will Dismember if given the chance.

But you wouldn't have potentially had Grazer, since that's what you exile to Force. So if you drew another one, you would have it. I just think it's safer to wait until your turn to resolve Dryad. But then I lost a match to Zoo due to a mistake like this, where I waited to cast it, thinking it will take a series of 3 cards to kill me. He drew a 3rd card for the turn, Bolt X 2, Path one of my blockers, and got lethal. I was pretty upset at myself for punting that, getting the non foil Promo Pack instead of the foil Promo Pack. (1st/2nd)
If I played Dryad that turn, I wouldn't have needed to play Force. Dryad+Grazer was lethal that turn. :)

Match 3 is up now btw.
Sorry I didn't notice that. You had untapped Green source? I can't even find the game in question now to look back.

Nice, about to watch Match 3.

EDIT> I got it now. Found the game again and saw that. You were right. You could have played a bounceland bouncing Vesuva, cast Arboreal Grazer, then played Vesuva for the extra drop, copying Valakut (2 Valakut triggers). Took me a bit to see that, especially looking back. Those are the kind of turns that when I play in paper, often take me a bit to do.

EDIT2> Match 3 was gas. I never beat Shadow, especially with Amulet. They always have Temur Battle Rage, which ranges from very tough to play around to impossible to play around. :(
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

Match 4 is up.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match 4 is up.
That triple Lava Dart in game 1 with an 11/10 Abbot of Keral Keep :cussing: :cussing: :fuming: :o :woozy: :poop:

Never seen anything like that before. Opponent kind of just drew gas those 2 games and you didn't. It happens, although theoretically (since I haven't played vs. Lurrus) Prowess is a pretty good matchup before Lurrus came out. Just had to watch out for those Blood Moons before. ;)
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match 4 is up.
That triple Lava Dart in game 1 with an 11/10 Abbot of Keral Keep :cussing: :cussing: :fuming: :o :woozy: :poop:

Never seen anything like that before. Opponent kind of just drew gas those 2 games and you didn't. It happens, although theoretically (since I haven't played vs. Lurrus) Prowess is a pretty good matchup before Lurrus came out. Just had to watch out for those Blood Moons before. ;)
I found the Prowess matchup to be awful before, mainly due to Kiln Fiend, but also to sideboard Moons. Nowadays that stuff is gone, and I think the prowess matchup is favorable with Lurrus. This is actually only the second match in like 5-6 I've played vs Prowess that I've lost.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match 4 is up.
That triple Lava Dart in game 1 with an 11/10 Abbot of Keral Keep :cussing: :cussing: :fuming: :o :woozy: :poop:

Never seen anything like that before. Opponent kind of just drew gas those 2 games and you didn't. It happens, although theoretically (since I haven't played vs. Lurrus) Prowess is a pretty good matchup before Lurrus came out. Just had to watch out for those Blood Moons before. ;)
I found the Prowess matchup to be awful before, mainly due to Kiln Fiend, but also to sideboard Moons. Nowadays that stuff is gone, and I think the prowess matchup is favorable with Lurrus. This is actually only the second match in like 5-6 I've played vs Prowess that I've lost.
Interesting. I know before, the Prowess lists run either 2 Kiln Fiend or 2 Runaway Steam-Kin. I've only seen Kiln Fiend very few times and I don't think they had Crash Through and a bunch of spells or burn for my blocker(s) and a bunch of spells, so maybe I was lucky? In general whenever I see a Kiln Fiend, I get ready to die, but I barely saw it and it didn't get through when I did. Dryad of Ilysian Grove is usually a solid blocker for Fiend, as it does the 2 damage needed to kill it. ;)

Regarding Blood Moon, I found it awkward for them to cast it sometimes. Their deck is mana light, so land 3 doesn't always come on turn 3. I prioritize Ancient Stirrings for Forests whenever I can if I can. I just assumed Bauble/Lurrus would give Prowess that extra "oomph" to do a better job against us nowadays. I've never played since paper stopped, so I've only watched Companions, but it seems like Prowess doesn't run out of gas as often as they used to. Giving up Bedlam Reveler, but gaining Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Bauble makes them more consistent in late game and less prone to grave hate, where 1 Bojuka Bog often screws Reveler completely, while just slowing Lurrus.

But I definitely trust your experience in the matter. I think I played around 9 matches vs. Prowess after OUaT got banned and before Ikoria (when the quarantine for Covid started) and was 7-2 vs. them. Some games were stompings, as you could guess. I mean, I can envision a hand on the draw where I stumble a bit with tapped lands and a Kiln Fiend kills me on turn 3. I mean, just 2 Lava Darts and a Manamorphose get 16 damage on turn 3 (3 X 5 triggers). :?

I always felt like Burn was a better matchup for us than Prowess, but I've done better vs. Prowess. Burn always has those draws that keeps it super close and I haven't been able to cast more than 2 Radiant Fountains recently, lol.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
Interesting. I know before, the Prowess lists run either 2 Kiln Fiend or 2 Runaway Steam-Kin. I've only seen Kiln Fiend very few times and I don't think they had Crash Through and a bunch of spells or burn for my blocker(s) and a bunch of spells, so maybe I was lucky? In general whenever I see a Kiln Fiend, I get ready to die, but I barely saw it and it didn't get through when I did. Dryad of Ilysian Grove is usually a solid blocker for Fiend, as it does the 2 damage needed to kill it. ;)

Regarding Blood Moon, I found it awkward for them to cast it sometimes. Their deck is mana light, so land 3 doesn't always come on turn 3. I prioritize Ancient Stirrings for Forests whenever I can if I can. I just assumed Bauble/Lurrus would give Prowess that extra "oomph" to do a better job against us nowadays. I've never played since paper stopped, so I've only watched Companions, but it seems like Prowess doesn't run out of gas as often as they used to. Giving up Bedlam Reveler, but gaining Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Bauble makes them more consistent in late game and less prone to grave hate, where 1 Bojuka Bog often screws Reveler completely, while just slowing Lurrus.

But I definitely trust your experience in the matter. I think I played around 9 matches vs. Prowess after OUaT got banned and before Ikoria (when the quarantine for Covid started) and was 7-2 vs. them. Some games were stompings, as you could guess. I mean, I can envision a hand on the draw where I stumble a bit with tapped lands and a Kiln Fiend kills me on turn 3. I mean, just 2 Lava Darts and a Manamorphose get 16 damage on turn 3 (3 X 5 triggers). :?

I always felt like Burn was a better matchup for us than Prowess, but I've done better vs. Prowess. Burn always has those draws that keeps it super close and I haven't been able to cast more than 2 Radiant Fountains recently, lol.
I can agree that Burn is a better matchup all around, both before and after. My experience playing vs prowess is almost entirely online, where I saw Kiln Fiend so often I was assuming it was played as a 4-of. O.o I never have looked it up to see how many they actually played. As for crash through, I'd never encountered a list without them until Lurrus became the norm. (Edit: a quick mtgtop8 search suggests that the norm was about 3 Kiln Fiends in the lists that played any in the main)

To me, Reveler is much worse than Lurrus, since it potentially costs 2 mana, gives the entirety of the value immediately, and is a Prowess creature itself. Sure, if you had the natty bog, Reveler wasn't even a castable card that game, but that's not the average performance in my humble experience. Lurrus is much easier to deal with imo, since it's most often bringing back a lone bauble, never particularly threatening as a 3/2, and followed by a Titan immediately after. If a Reveler ever hit the field, you were most certainly dead — possibly that very turn.

Although, I will say that playing 4 grazer wasn't the norm before Lurrus, so having a blocker for Kiln Fiend was always difficult. I've had Dryad down, and they just Bolt+Darted it and swung for lethal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit: Oh man, I just recorded match 5 and it is INSANE. :) I'll let you know when it's on yt.

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

Match 5 is up! It was a fun one.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match 5 is up! It was a fun one.
That was a wild one! I am actually a bit unsure if Lurrus Jund should side in Boil or not. It does seem solid with the combination of Pillage, which I'm 100% sure comes in. I think Boil at 4 mana for Jund just is very conditional. If a Dryad lands, usually they have 1 turn to try to do something. Not to mention, I mean I don't know, but does Lurrus Jund get to 4 mana easily and reliably? If so, the card has much more merit. I guess in the situation that Amulet uses Dryad to ramp into a next turn Prime Time and Jund gets to 4 mana and has Boil also, it will be devastating. I'd have to see what cards got sided out for the 3 :dizzy: Boil. Glad you got the 4-1. :)

Exceptional play and great videos. You articulated your plays and reasoning very well. I definitely enjoyed them, even though I do prefer to just watch the whole League or tournament at one time. It was really interesting seeing your mulligan decisions, especially, since you keep more often than fpawlusz does. I mulligan much closer to how you mulligan than how fpawlusz does, fwiw. I would describe it as you - 3, me - 4, fpawlusz - 9 on a list of 1-10 of how frequently and easily someone mulligans (probably not the best way to put it). The hands worked out very well for the most part and going down a card always has a cost.

In Match 5, Game 2, I think you missed something that normally you wouldn't. You had 2 Forest in play, 2 Dryad of Ilysian Grove, and an Amulet. You went to Dismember his Goyf at end step, which I totally agree with. You paid 4 life for the Dismember instead of 1, since your other Forest is a Forest, Swamp, Island, Mountain, Plains. You can tap 1B and pay 2 life instead of 1 and 4 life. I'm pretty sure that you just overlooked that and it definitely did not make a difference. I noticed also that the full art basics that you have don't show all types like other lands do on MTGO. So that probably added to that, since usually stuff like that is easy to see on MTGO.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match 5 is up! It was a fun one.
That was a wild one! I am actually a bit unsure if Lurrus Jund should side in Boil or not. It does seem solid with the combination of Pillage, which I'm 100% sure comes in. I think Boil at 4 mana for Jund just is very conditional. If a Dryad lands, usually they have 1 turn to try to do something. Not to mention, I mean I don't know, but does Lurrus Jund get to 4 mana easily and reliably? If so, the card has much more merit. I guess in the situation that Amulet uses Dryad to ramp into a next turn Prime Time and Jund gets to 4 mana and has Boil also, it will be devastating. I'd have to see what cards got sided out for the 3 :dizzy: Boil. Glad you got the 4-1. :)

Exceptional play and great videos. You articulated your plays and reasoning very well. I definitely enjoyed them, even though I do prefer to just watch the whole League or tournament at one time. It was really interesting seeing your mulligan decisions, especially, since you keep more often than fpawlusz does. I mulligan much closer to how you mulligan than how fpawlusz does, fwiw. I would describe it as you - 3, me - 4, fpawlusz - 9 on a list of 1-10 of how frequently and easily someone mulligans (probably not the best way to put it). The hands worked out very well for the most part and going down a card always has a cost.

In Match 5, Game 2, I think you missed something that normally you wouldn't. You had 2 Forest in play, 2 Dryad of Ilysian Grove, and an Amulet. You went to Dismember his Goyf at end step, which I totally agree with. You paid 4 life for the Dismember instead of 1, since your other Forest is a Forest, Swamp, Island, Mountain, Plains. You can tap 1B and pay 2 life instead of 1 and 4 life. I'm pretty sure that you just overlooked that and it definitely did not make a difference. I noticed also that the full art basics that you have don't show all types like other lands do on MTGO. So that probably added to that, since usually stuff like that is easy to see on MTGO.
Well I'm glad you think I normally wouldn't miss the Dryad thing haha. Clearly you have more faith in me than I do. :) That was a good catch.

I've never really thought of myself as a conservative mulliganer (is that a word?). That's interesting. It also reminds me of talking about siding out Stirrings, which I did pretty frequently throughout the league. What did you make of that? Do you think my sideboarding choices made sense?

I have no clue why Lurrus Jund would even play Boil, honestly. Damping Sphere just seems so much better, and it can recurred with Lurrus. I do feel that Boil is reliably useful against us in that the matchup is just fast enough that we probably don't get to Titan without a ramp source, but I would imagine it's high variance since we have many other ramp elements that aren't Dryad that still get to Titan quickly.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Well I'm glad you think I normally wouldn't miss the Dryad thing haha. Clearly you have more faith in me than I do. :) That was a good catch.

I've never really thought of myself as a conservative mulliganer (is that a word?). That's interesting. It also reminds me of talking about siding out Stirrings, which I did pretty frequently throughout the league. What did you make of that? Do you think my sideboarding choices made sense?

I have no clue why Lurrus Jund would even play Boil, honestly. Damping Sphere just seems so much better, and it can recurred with Lurrus. I do feel that Boil is reliably useful against us in that the matchup is just fast enough that we probably don't get to Titan without a ramp source, but I would imagine it's high variance since we have many other ramp elements that aren't Dryad that still get to Titan quickly.
I mulligan conservatively as well. Brian Braun Duin is a very conservative mulliganer. Someone who is super conservative in mulliganing is Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa and Ross Merriam. Seth Manfield is also pretty conservative. As long as they have reasoning and have a game plan, there's nothing wrong with a few differences. I almost never side out Ancient Stirrings, but it got me thinking. I side out lands a lot more often. I even go down to 27 in matches that are quick and I feel that slight mana flood will lose me the game. But I have the Ancient Stirrings in, which usually gets a land of my choice. So it's me giving up a Green mana in order to sort of sculpt the lands I can get.

The sideboarding choices make a lot of sense. I think they were almost exactly how I mulligan. I have had an existential crisis with Dismember in the BGx matchup and especially the Shadow matchup. Since they have a lot of discard, they can make you discard it before landing their Goyf. I feel like I definitely want it vs. BGx, but against Shadow w/ more discard (a smaller deck due to cantrips) and often Stubborn Denial, I don't want to be reactive. So I am really unsure against Shadow, but then I haven't done well there, so I'm still experimenting.

Regarding Boil, Jund absolutely needs that card vs. the Yorion "blue" decks. Those decks just have too much value and go over the top of Jund, so having Boil/Choke is very important. And honestly from the matches I've seen, it just increases their percentage just a bit. The Yorion player will play around it much more in the next game or sometimes right away, anticipating the side in. Since Yorion decks are more common than Amulet, it makes sense for them to have Boil. I'm sure there are Jund players that do run Damping Sphere, as Amulet is almost played at the same percentage as Yorion Blue. They end up siding it vs. any deck with Dryad because when Dryad players are unprepared, it can "get them." Kind of like how Blood Moon occasionally "gets" people - that gotcha moment.

*There's a lot that can be said about mulliganing, which probably is the weakest part of my game. Glass Cannon combo decks will be harder for someone who is conservative in mulliganing to play since they will throw back too many hands. I watched Todd Stevens (not sure if you remember that SCG grinder who got banned). He was a really good player and played several decks and archetypes very well. But I watched a video of him playing Modern Cheerios and he was TERRIBLE. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it here since he just didn't have an idea how to play Glass Cannon decks to success (like finalnub on MTGO knows how to for example). He mulliganed a hand w/ 1 land where he had the Puresteel Paladin, Retract, and 0 cost artifacts with 1 land. With 13 more land in the deck, I feel like you have to take a chance to draw the 13 cards in the next 2 turns and win by turns 2-3. If you mulligan, you could have a hand that needs Paladin/Sram and those are only 8 cards in the deck. Retract is only a 4 of and they played only 1 Hurkyll's Recall at the time. So I would much rather have a 13/53 chance than other possible worse scenarios. Sure, you could mulligan and find Paladin, 2 land, Retract, and 2 Cheerios, but it's unlikely to find that perfect hand. The 7 was just missing 1 land; that's it. He SNAP MULLIGANED the hand. I like to actually at least see some thought to mulliganing. Yes, losing to mana screw sucks, but losing to not finding combo pieces results in the same thing - losing.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
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Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

Match one of the next league is up. :)

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match one of the next league is up. :)
A brave soul trying Saffron Olive's old Octomancer deck, lol. :grin:

I actually lost to this deck at a PTQ (putting me at 4-3 going into the last round) with Neobrand. Game 1 went like this. I have the Allosaurus Rider and Neoform. I just need 1 more Green card to combo off. He does nothing but cast Seasoned Pyromancers and Lingering Souls. I started with a 2 lander and ended up playing a land for the first 6 turns. On turn 6, he attacks and I'm dead. In game 2, he has a pregame Leyline of the Void (he didn't know how to board vs. this deck), then casts a Blood Moon on turn 3. I don't have the combo by then, but get it a few turns after. But now I need Manamorphose to get UG. I don't find it and lose to some 2/2s and 1/1s again. Lol.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

Match two is up. Should I keep posting these updates tho? I sort of feel like I'm spamming. :/

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
Match two is up. Should I keep posting these updates tho? I sort of feel like I'm spamming. :/
I think it's fine because nobody else is really posting here. You could message me as well if you like.

That was messed up. I normally would say that Company decks are tough for Amulet, but your opponent sided in Tocatli Honor Guard and Auriok Champion, 2 cards that just don't matter in the matchup. Tocatli Honor Guard also seems to affect many of their creatures, so I'm not sure why it's in the board - maybe someone hates Yorion with a passion?

I'm assuming they don't have Black so they can't put in Thoughtseize to take away your Dismembers/Beast Withins/EEs? They are a quicker combo deck and very consistent, so their best bet is to push the pedal to the metal, dodge removal on Devoted Druid or backup with Feeder/Heliod and win fast. I've played this deck from both sides many times, so I feel like this is the strategy.

There is also a side strategy if they gain infinite life. You hope that they will deck/time out first if they're not careful. You can eventually get to a point where you do Valakut triggers to remove anything they have on the battlefield, try to keep cards in your deck, and leave up Beast Within/Dismember/EE on 0 to respond to their Walking Ballista/Heliod Combo. I've been on both sides of this stalemate and it's pretty disgusting. :sick:

*I guess Tocatli may be okay. I wasn't completely sure if it affected Spike Feeder, but it looks like it doesn't. Just the life gain from K Finks. Also saw an online list from Jan. with 1 Honor Guard in the SB. :smirk:
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

I think Tocatli Honor Guard is pretty good in the MU, but obviously Auriok Champion isn't haha. Match 3 is up now btw.

As for the side strategy, that's just such low EV for my time and the viewers. I think I'd rather concede there haha.

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Post by FoodChainGoblins » 3 years ago

TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I think Tocatli Honor Guard is pretty good in the MU, but obviously Auriok Champion isn't haha. Match 3 is up now btw.

As for the side strategy, that's just such low EV for my time and the viewers. I think I'd rather concede there haha.
I think it's okay to side in. I'd have to see what they sided out. I just think it's approaching the matchup incorrectly. They are a quicker, more consistent combo deck. I feel like the strategy in the matchup is to combo as quickly as you can and hope to dodge Beast Within or Dismember (Beast can be easily telegraphed). Them stopping Amulet from doing what it does is not usually a winning recipe. But then maybe there were worse cards in the main. I would not side out any combo pieces, Giver of Runes, or mana dorks imo vs. Amulet. Our strategy is to slow them a little bit, then combo off ourselves. If we just sit with removal and don't get Titan, we can't outvalue Ranger Captain of Eos.

I respect you for not doing that strategy on MTGO. I just wanted you to be aware that it does exist, in paper and online.

I also wanna ask you if you're sure about whether this Amulet or Amulet with Karn, the Great Creator is better right now? In the Modern Streamers League, one of the finalists is using Karn, TGC and he said it's been great. But it could just be the tournament h'es in currently. I've seen the other version. You know what, f it. I'll just test myself. I have foil Amulet and non foil Amulet built, so I can just do that.
Standard - Will pick up what's good when paper starts
Pre Modern - Do not own anymore
Pioneer - DEAD
Modern - Jund Sacrifice, Amulet, Elementals, Trollementals, BR Asmo/Goryo's, Yawmoth Chord
Legacy - No more cards, will rebuy Sneak Show when I can
Limited - Will start when paper starts
Commander - Nope

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Post by TheAnnihilator » 3 years ago

FoodChainGoblins wrote:
3 years ago
TheAnnihilator wrote:
3 years ago
I think Tocatli Honor Guard is pretty good in the MU, but obviously Auriok Champion isn't haha. Match 3 is up now btw.

As for the side strategy, that's just such low EV for my time and the viewers. I think I'd rather concede there haha.
I think it's okay to side in. I'd have to see what they sided out. I just think it's approaching the matchup incorrectly. They are a quicker, more consistent combo deck. I feel like the strategy in the matchup is to combo as quickly as you can and hope to dodge Beast Within or Dismember (Beast can be easily telegraphed). Them stopping Amulet from doing what it does is not usually a winning recipe. But then maybe there were worse cards in the main. I would not side out any combo pieces, Giver of Runes, or mana dorks imo vs. Amulet. Our strategy is to slow them a little bit, then combo off ourselves. If we just sit with removal and don't get Titan, we can't outvalue Ranger Captain of Eos.

I respect you for not doing that strategy on MTGO. I just wanted you to be aware that it does exist, in paper and online.
That's fair. I got the read that they weren't playing Druid Combo, just Heliod, which is admittedly a little slower. Even CoCo is a bit slow vs us, and they played that in G1. Still, their best line is likely just to go all in, as you mentioned. Tocatli may be too low impact, since it doesn't stop attack triggers or Dryad, but it might gain them the extra turn they need to combo. I agree that it isn't better than any of the cards you listed, but I'd side out a Finks For it, for example. The finks combo is 3-cards and a total of 7 mana, too unreliable imo. Their wincon should be Spike Feeder, just combing in response to removal anyways.

I appreciate you letting me know on that strat vs. infinite life. I wasn't aware before. I don't think I'd employ it though, even in paper, since that's just boring gameplay. It's still good to know about.

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