Tag: izzet-charm

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Eric Jeffrey Seltzer - May 13, 2014

Scapeshift modern by Jun Young Park (1st at GP Minneapolis on May 11th...

Champion’s Deck

Scapeshift Modern

Scapeshift Modern by Jun Young Park

1st place at GP Minneapolis Modern on May 11th 2014

Long has the tyranny of the awesome volcano Valakut reigned as a brutal strategy to incinerate opponents to ashes. This deck originally reared its ugly head in Standard using Primeval Titan to power out your Mountains to a quick and decisive victory. But once the Modern format was born the interaction between Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Scapeshift was too powerful to not be abused. There have been other variants of this deck as well which have used Prismatic Omen and Wargate to turn all your lands into Mountains but this straightforward style relying upon countermagic to control the game into a surprise combo finish is what has been most successful.

So the game plan of this deck is to burn your opponent to death using multiple triggers from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle with Mountains entering the battlefield. Valakut will trigger for three points of damage whenever a Mountain enters as long as there are five other Mountains already in play. And in Modern with the fetch/shock manabase that most decks are using this means that six triggers will often be enough to blast the opponent to bits. With Scapeshift you are able to combo out those triggers in one big shot by sacrificing any seven lands to it and searching your deck for a copy of Valakut and six Mountain cards, shocklands count as they are subtype Mountain, for a big finish. Now one of the golden rules of Magic is that you can play but one land per turn which when you are attempting to combo finish with seven or more lands in play can be a devastating restriction. So in order to skirt this restriction we have ways to search out more lands and put them directly into play with the decks main turn one play of Search for Tomorrow which can be suspended for just one mana and also perennial chump blocker Sakura-Tribe Elder which can often act as blocker to soak some damage then after it is declared as a blocker can still sacrifice itself to go and find a land to put into play. To ensure that you are going to hit your land drop each turn the deck has Serum Visions and Telling Time to dig through your deck, and also Electrolyze which does have damage attached to it as well but is used mostly for more draw. In fact, almost every spell in the deck has some sort of drawing effect attached to it and a solo Halimar Depths in the manabase will also help set up you next critical draw steps. The other huge facet of the deck is that it runs a very strong permission package with Remand, Cryptic Command and Izzet Charm to assure that even if it starts to stall that it won’t be falling behind and gets to continue digging with more draws. The removal is small but headed by Repeal which can get rid of any problem permanent such as the variety of hate bears that will thwart your plans, but also Charm, Cryptic and Electrolyze double themselves as additional removal. Finally we get to the last piece in this puzzle with Snapcaster Mage which is able to rebuy any of your spells in the graveyard especially a surprise counter when you need it most, and is also able to beatdown some life points if that’s what is necessary.

While the deck was said to be well positioned in the field due to the high concentration of Birthing Pod decks which it is a good match up for it I’m sure we will not see any major shift in the meta to specifically combat it. It is a very powerful but all in strategy which is rewarding only if you are able to master the Math of the Mountains. The decklist is very tight and the number of Mountains very specific where you need to be always wary of how many remain in your deck and how many you need to kill your opponent. But if you are a fan of Combo decks then this is definitely a deck that you should try. I guarantee that the results will not disappoint you, but remember to practice, practice, practice.

Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
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Eric Jeffrey Seltzer - March 13, 2014

Deck of the Day – Scapeshift by Andrew Calderon (13th at Grand P...

Valakut

Scapeshift

Andrew Calderon

13th Place at Grand Prix on 3/9/2014

As is the case with many decks in Modern the basis for the original design was found in Standard which was adapted and improved upon by the cards available in the expanded pool. This one is no different and comes from a very powerful deck which was known as Valakut. The basic premise of the deck revolves simply around the land Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and its interaction with Mountains which can turn a Mountain entering the battlefield into an uncounterable Lightning Bolt. The original design of the deck in Standard used Khalni Heart Expedition and Primeval Titan as was to get Mountains into play faster but Modern had a very different way to combo for the kill…Scapeshift. Once you have achieved a critical mass of lands in play you are able to use Scapeshift to sacrifice all your lands to search for either one or two Valakut and usually six or seven Mountain in order to kill your opponent on the spot.

There are a few pieces to the puzzle to help get lands into play ahead of schedule in the form of Sakura-Tribe Elder, Search for Tomorrow and two Explore. Since you need the lands in play for Scapeshift to do its magic these cards are critical and opening turns will often go turn 1 Suspend Search into turn 2 Elder which basically advances your combo by two turns. With Blue in the deck and a combo finish that needs protection we find a permission suite that consists of Remand and Cryptic Command, the latter usually the reason the deck will float four mana when going for the kill. There is also the utility player Izzet Charm which can act either as additional counter, dig to draw into answers or combo pieces, or even a way to burn small pesky creatures especially hate bears. There’s also a pair of Lightning Bolt, an Electrolyze and an Anger of the Gods to help as removal or a small amount of reach if needed to finish them off. And that Electrolyze pairs up with Peer Through Depths as the draw power of the deck with Cryptic and Explore as well. And finally what has quietly become a format all-star Snapcaster Mage is able to rebuy any of the already cast instants or sorceries and even do a little beatdown himself to work your way towards victory.

Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
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Three Kings Loot - April 26, 2013