Holy shit. Do you all get as excited to watch the pro tour as I do? Jeez! It’s always my favorite event of each season. What will the pros play in Modern? Now we know and I’m going to come right out and say it: Dickmann’s (tee hee) RUG Twin deck has most of my attention. The RUG Twin deck is the most exciting deck I’ve seen in a while. The combo is the back-up plan. THE BACK UP PLAN! So good. Now that I’m allowing myself to counter other people’s spells I can’t wait to play Remand and Cryptic Command to keep my Goyfs alive and protect my Deceiver Exarchs. Holy shit.

Here’s his deck tech from the ProTour coverage on the mothership (WOTC’s site):

Here’s Dickmann’s list:

Green Twin

Lands (21)
Scalding Tarn
Misty Rainforest
Steam Vents
Breeding Pool
Stomping Ground
Island
Forest
Mountain
Hinterland Harbor
Sulfur Falls

Creatures (16)
Snapcaster Mage
Tarmogoyf
Scavenging Ooze
Pestermite
Deceiver Exarch

Spells (23)
Splinter Twin
Serum Visions
Gitaxian Probe
Lightning Bolt
Flame Slash
Remand
Electrolyze
Cryptic Command
Sideboard (15)
Ancient Grudge
Nature’s Claim
Anger of the Gods
Engineered Explosives
Combust
Dismember
Spellskite
Batterskull
Sword of Feast and Famine
Scavenging Ooze
Dispel
Negate
Counterflux

Willy Edel’s Jund List looks pretty sweet, too. Here’s the ProTour deck tech with Zac Hill and Willy:

And the list:

New Modern Jund

Lands (24)
Verdant Catacombs
Marsh Flats
Twilight Mire
Overgrown Tomb
Forest
Swamp
Blackcleave Cliffs
Blood Crypt
Raging Ravine
Copperline Gorge
Fire-Lit Thicket
Stomping Ground

Creatures (14)
Courser of Kruphix
Scavenging Ooze
Tarmogoyf
Dark Confidant

Spells (22)
Inquisition of Kozilek
Thoughtseize
Lightning Bolt
Anger of the Gods
Abrupt Decay
Terminate
Maelstrom Pulse
Liliana of the Veil
Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard (15)
Thoughtseize
Slaughter Pact
Batterskull
Thrun, the Last Troll
Liliana of the Veil
Fulminator Mage
Grafdigger’s Cage
Anger of the Gods
Ancient Grudge
Engineered Explosives
Rakdos Charm

Seriously though, I’ll probably just play Bogle. Suiting that tongue flapping bastard up with many pants, hats, spirit animals, crowns, Star Wars creatures, and card drawing powers is super fun. The recent update with Spirit Mantle replacing Unflinching Courage makes the thing EVEN BETTER.

Something like this:

GW Bogle

Lands (21)
Dryad Arbor
Forest
Horizon Canopy
Misty Rainforest
Razorverge Thicket
Temple Garden
Verdant Catacombs

Creatures (12)
Gladecover Scout
Kor Spiritdancer
Slippery Bogle

Spells (27)
Daybreak Coronet
Ethereal Armor
Hyena Umbra
Keen Sense
Path to Exile
Rancor
Spider Umbra
Spirit Mantle
Sideboard (15)
Leyline of Sanctity
Nature’s Claim
Rest in Peace
Spirit Link
Stony Silence
Suppression Field
Torpor Orb

The maindeck Path to Exile seem really good with all the Twin and Pod decks floating around. But … that Green Twin deck has my attention in a big way. Li and I will hopefully stream testing it this week on my Twitch page (www.twitch.tv/mattjonesrules).

I’m watching the semi-finals of the ProTour right now. Dickmann vs. McLaren. My girlfriend’s in the room listening, too. She keeps making fun of Rich Hagon and occasionally bursts into saying, “Nerdtalknerdtalk, nerdtalk? Nerdtalknerdtalk!” and laughing riotously. Oh, Magic.

Team Draft League—Week Three

The ScryDucks took on Team Handsome. Let’s meet Team Handsome*

dom

Dom Neitz

It’s impossible to know which is greater: the number of people currently lost in a daydream about Dom or about his cat.

sean

Sean Morse

Sean Morse once had dreams that trapping opponents in a ‘Geddon-Tradewind Rider lock would win every game; sadly, Oath of Druids then Urza’s Saga was printed and Sean quit, too intimidated by all the manas being made. Lured back in like many players by the ever-improving design of the game and the excess cash in his pocket, Sean returned circa Innistrand (U/R self-mill in draft never gets enough love…). While not playing – which isn’t often – he slings sentences together and molds the young minds of tomorrow. Our future isn’t bright.

derek

Derek Gallen

From the womb Derek knew something was slightly afoot, and it was Autumn in 1994 watching his brother’s basketball game when a friend revealed two starter decks of Revised. There, under the dim elementary school light, he cast his first Serra Angel. Barron’s Comics and Cards was in Milford, CT. His first visit he met Melissa Benson and spent one dollar on a single copy of Channel. Many Years and many tournaments later, his mother gifted him $200 to purchase his first Black Lotus, which he carried with him in his front pocket until he graduated high school. Once, he qualified for the Pro Tour, but went 0-2 and decided to drop on day one. It was during his tenure at Boston University he resolved to selling his collection to help finance his education. And, over the next ten years, Derek let go of Magic: The Gathering. Last summer in 2013 on a sunny afternoon he decided to spend a days curiosity catching up with the game. Not a few days went by when he emerged, bright and disheveled, ready again to exercise his devotion at Twenty Sided Store.

I tried a chest mounted GoPro this week. Here’s the draft:

I struggled with some picks and eventually decided on blue and black. I mean, two huge bombs came at me so, yeah, black was obvious. My blue ended up being pretty sweet. Here’s deck building:

And here’s what I headed into round one with:

IMG_0952

IMG_0953

UB Team Draft Deck—ScryDuck Style

Spells (7)
Retraction Helix
Drown in Sorrow
Divination
Griptide
Lash the Whip
Eternity Snare

Creatures (15)
Returned Phalanx
Baleful Eidolon
Omenspeaker
Shipwreck Singer
Mnemonic Wall
Prescient Chimera
Shrike Harpy
Sphinx’s Desciple
Felhide Minotaur
Guardians of Meletis
Chorus of Tides
Anvilwrought Raptor
Erebos’s Emissary
Abhorrent Overlord
Eater of Hope
Lands (18)
Swamp
Islands

Round One vs THE SEAN MORSE

Sean’s good at drafting Magic deck that win.

It felt damn good to win a game with a deck that isn’t my usual style (or what I don’t think is my usual style but probably is).

Taking the match was a real treat. How good is Mnemonic wall in my deck? I almost didn’t have it in but Kadar saw it in the board and forced it in the five slot. You know how he does.

Round Two vs. Derek

Hopefully these videos upload before Monday at midnight. (Spoiler alert: they didn’t upload.) As of right now we’re going on memory. Maybe you’re reading this and wondering what I’m talking about because of there IS a video above my words. (There aren’t any videos from this match.)

Anyway, Derek beat me, badly. I never stood a chance. I incorrectly sided in both Gainsays from my board and he played nothing but green spells game two (after thrashing me game one). It’s the first time the two of us ever played Magic together (as Derek notes at the beginning of the video you can or cannot see).

Round Three vs. Dom

dome2

My GoPro’s battery died. There’s no footage of me and Dom’s match. He mulled a bunch and we barely played Magic and just like that my 2-1 was good enough to give ScryDucks the win over Team Handsome.

Best cards in my deck: Retraction Helix and Mnemonic wall, no joke.

I can’t stop thinking about this Green Twin deck. Thanks for making it, Dickmann (or whoever made it). I’m grateful.

Thanks for reading!

Love to all,
Matt Jones
MTGO: The_Obliterator
Twitter: Die_Obliterator
Matt Jones is a sometimes PWP grinder, all the time spell slinger, and one passionate dude. He started playing at the end of Revised and quit at Exodus. Upon sobriety and running out of self-help groups to join, Jones picked Magic back up at New Phyrexia, found his favorite non-Necropotence card, Phyrexian Obliterator, and earned himself a nickname. He loves Constructed and tolerates Limited.

*Bios taken from www.teamdraftleague.com

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