Modern Storm for SCG Regionals

LIST

CHANGES

Compared to my previous post the maindeck has not changed much even with the banning of KCI and the current dominance of Arclight Phoenix and Dredge. The only differences are the reintroduction of the 7th “bear” in Goblin Electromancer and adding the 2nd Unsubstantiate. In doing so I have completely removed Remand from the deck to make space.

The inclusion of the 7th bear is mainly due to the meta now significantly picking up in speed and the now normal encountering of maindeck graveyard hate which makes having a bear in play all the more important to try and combo off. Important to note that the mainboard hate is a lot of the times Surgical Extraction (mostly from Phoenix decks) so we cant even rely on tapped out opponents to signal the coast is clear.

These factors also lead to the inclusion of the second unsubstantiate as now the top decks all have critical creatures to bounce (Phoenix, Humans, Spirits, Scales, Shadow) but with all the additional graveyard hate we still want to be able to execute a “Grapeshot + Remand + Grapeshot” line, especially with the added emphasis on the Pieces of the Puzzle plan postboard (as discussed below).

In the Sideboard there have been quite a few changes. First off is the going back to a full set of Pieces of the Puzzle as with the very large amount of graveyard hate, especially postboard, we now need to completely get rid of the main Gifts Ungiven plan a lot. To make space I decided to cut the Echoing Truth. This was due to lots of hate switching to being stack based as well as with the 4th pieces also letting us ignore RiP/Leyline more easily.

The next change is the Shatterstorm over the 2nd Abrade. Here we are giving up some creature interaction to have an actual haymaker against the Prison decks as well as against Scales. While this does give us one less card to board in aginst decks such as Humans, which is on the rise, we have the 2nd Unsubstantiate to help keep the numbers the same.

The final change to the board is the dispel over negate. While Dispel is definitely much more narrow it helps us fight the faster decks (such as Phoenix) on the stack easier while still being good against control (unlike Pierce). Dispel also costing one here is huge in that it is much easier to hold up when we don’t have a bear in play or want to play it out and expose it just yet, while also letting us further develop.

MATCHUPS

Izzet Phoenix

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Empty the Warrens, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Dispel

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Repeal, 1 Sleight of Hand, 3 Goblin Electromancer

Humans

In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Gifts Ungiven

Burn

In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Spell Pierce

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Repeal

Grixis Death’s Shadow

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dismember, 1 Dispel, 1 Spell Pierce

Out:  4 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Past in Flames, 1 Repeal

Dredge

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Spell Pierce

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Sleight of Hand

4C Whir Prison

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Empty the Warrens

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Past in Flames

Hollow One

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Lighting Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Abrade, 1 Flame Slash

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Sleight of Hand, 2 Goblin Electromancer 1 Repeal

Infect

In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dispel

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal, 1 Empty the Warrens

Titan Shift

In: 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade

Out: 2 Sleight of Hand

Affinity

In: 1 Abrade, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Dismember

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand

Storm

In: 1 Lighting Bolt, 1 Dismember, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dispel

Out: 1 Empty the Warrens, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal

Living End

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Spell Pierce

Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Sleight of Hand

Bogles

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Abrade, 1 Wipe Away

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 2 Sleight of Hand

Tron

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Wipe Away

Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 1 Repeal

Ponza

In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Flame Slash

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Empty the Warrens

Bant Spirits

In: 1 Dismember, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Empty the Warrens

Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Sleight of Hand

Jund

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Lighting Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Abrade

Out: 2 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer,  1 Unsubstantiate, 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance, 1 Past in Flames

UW Control

In:  4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel,  1 Wipe Away

Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Pyretic Ritual

Jeskai Control

In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel, 1 Wipe Away

Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance, 1 Past in Flames

Scales Affinity

In: 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade, 1 Shatterstorm, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Dismember, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames

Amulet Titan

In: 1 Wipe Away, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Spell Pierce, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle

Out: 3 Sleight of Hand, 1 Empty the Warrens, 1 Repeal, 1 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames

Blue Moon

In: 3 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Dispel, 1 Spell Pierce

Out: 2 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance

Counters Company

In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Wipe Away

Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal, 1 Empty the Warrens