Let's try a deck - Modern Living End

I have started a new series called "Lets try a deck". The four first entries are all Modern decks. Today I am going to talk about Modern Living End that got a few new toys in Amonkhet.

Living End is still a rather cheap deck in Modern and plays very differently from anything else. I am still a noob in playing the deck but if I like it I might go deeper into the strategy.



Here is the deck list used in the videos

Main deck
4 Archfiend of Ifnir
1 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Demonic Dread
4 Desert Cerodon
2 Faerie Macabre
1 Swamp
1 Stomping Ground
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
3 Living End
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Fulminator Mage
4 Street Wraith
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Violent Outburst
4 Architects of Will
1 Beast Within

Sideboard
3 Blood Moon
1 Dismember
2 Faerie Macabre
4 Ingot Chewer
2 Brindle Boar
1 Fulminator Mage
2 Shriekmaw

In my first match I took on Red Deck Wins.




More discussion on Living End after Amonkhet here: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/220258-living-end?page=251

Not conceding

Holding out for hope, even when your deck doesn’t contain any ways out, is understandable, but not conceding is a strategic misplay. A round of Magic has 50 minutes and you are suppoused to determine winner within this amount of time. At the end of the time limit, if you are still playing, then you get a few extra turns. At the end of those turns, the player who won more games in the match will emerge victorious and if it is tied 1:1, the game is a draw. We may almost treat draw as a loss in a tournament play.

When is it right to give up? First, think of your odds for winning the game. Even if they are really low it doesn't mean that you should concede straight away. It is always possible to topdeck 3 times in a row, but when you are far behind and even topdecks won't change the state of board it is time to think of moving on to the next game. Except for saving time it prevents from giving your opponent more information about your deck.
Secondly, follow the clock. You exactly know how much time your deck recquires to win a single game. Bear in mind, that your opponent will probably not act as fast as you wish while he won the first game and there is no much time left. Give yourself at least 10 minutes for a game.

Don't fall into trap of thinking that conceding is weak and not a good sportsmanship. It's about winning the match, not winning a specific game

Oversideboarding

Learning how to sideboard correctly is a long trial-and-error process and it takes time to achieve mastery. Of course, if you feel uncertain you may Google or ask around how to sideboard against other decks in order to create a sideboard plan for every matchup. Sticking to it guarantees you can't sideboard wrong in games 2 and 3. Don’t be embarrassed to refer to it while sideboarding. Even pro players are doing it this way. But the thing is, Magic is a fast-paced game and metagames or decklists change rapidly. What if a player encounter a deck he is not familiar with? Then, the most common mistake is oversideboarding. If you ignore lands, your deck consists of about 40 cards that do anything. If you take out 8 cards it is 20% of 40. It is a lot. You will have totally different deck now. It's just so easy to get overexcited about all the great tools in your sideboard that will hinder the game to your opponent and will grant you a free, easy win. However, it turns out that if your focus is exclusively on making your opponent stumble, you are very likely to stumble as well. Not losing the game is great, but always our focus must be on winning the game ourselves. Deciding what to take out is an underrated skill that can require quite a bit of creativity. What you take out is almost as important as what you put in.

MTGGoldfish: Chrome plugin

I quess each of us is using MTGGoldfish to track prices. And now it is even easier. Instead of visiting mtggoldfish.com you need only to install Chrome browserer plugin (click here). This official MTGGoldfish extension automatically adds popups containing card images and online and paper prices.

A lifehack, that some of you may find very useful.

Binkabi goes to GP Copenhagen with Modern Grixis Delver

My buddy Binkabi is going to GP Copenhagen (May 26-28 2017) and he is now playtesting every day on our youtube channel.

The format is Modern. His deck of choice is Grixis Delver.

The deck list is constantly mutating. Here is one version. You can find another in the first video below. The things that differ is the choice of counterspells, which Delve creatures to use etc. Main deck
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Saclding Tarn
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendillion Clique
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler

4 Serum Visions
3 Spell Snare
4 Thought Scour
3 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Censor
1 Collective Brutality
2 Terminate
1 Electrolyze
1 Mana Leak
2 Kolaghan's Command

Sideboard
1 Dispel
1 Collective Brutality
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Vandalblast
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Countersquall
1 Fulminator Mage
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Painful Truths
1 Molten Rain

How the testing is going? Well, here is a league he played including a deck tech in the first video.



Please let us know what you think of the deck, its strength, its weaknesses and what he should do differently.

A good time to buy Modern staples

Modern Master 2017 have been replaced by Amonkhet and now is the time to get your Modern staples from MM3. Also, other Modern cards are down generally because everyone is focusing on Amonkhet, both limited and the new Standard.

I decided to put my money where my mouth is and invest heavily.



This time I invested as a long-term player of Modern and not a speculator. Still, I think I made some solid investments.

Here is a list of the stuff I got:

4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Gemstone Mine (not in MM3 but still low)
4 Bonfire of the Damned (for RG Ponza)
3 Entreat the Angels
2 Griselbrand
4 Temporal Mastery
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Blood Moon
4 Etched Champion
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Primal Command
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Steel Overseer
4 Thragtusk
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Verdant Catacombs

Expect some more Modern videos on my youtube channel (above).

Iconic Masters

This year we get two Masters sets instead of one Masters set and Conspiracy. Now we talk about Iconic Masters, which offers players a tour through some of the most powerful cards in over 23 years of Magic history. Featuring new artwork on many cards, the set brings an array of massive Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons and Hydras alongside some favorite and most memorable spells. Every box of Iconic Masters contains 24 booster packs — each with fifteen randomly inserted game cards, including one premium card in every pack. Like for its predecessors, the MSRP of one booster is set to $9.99

Iconic Masters, which is being released as part of Magic’s 25th Anniversary celebration, does not actually release until November 17, but that’s what makes the event at HASCON so special. There are no previews. Likewise when Magic was still young. Prereleases used to be experiences that players entered into without knowing a single card in the set.

Wizards confirmed that they will not be reprinting reserved list cards, because there are plenty of iconic cards outside of them.