Faithless Brewing

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Modern After Regionals

October 28, 2019

Faithless Brewing, Episode 26: New Spice from SCG Regionals

In this second half of our double header episode, we are tackling all things Modern: spicy brews from SCG Regionals, testing results with The Great Henge, plus Damon's Top 8 finish in his Standard MCQ in Mox Boarding House, Seattle. Does the Czech testing house's Bant Ramp deck hold lessons for Modern as well?

Two other important announcements this week:

First: We are extremely excited to announce the launch of our Faithless Brewing PATREON (https://www.patreon.com/faithlessbrewing)! Many of you have been asking us about this over these past five months, and lo, it has at last come to pass. Patreon is where you can support the show directly, and receive a variety of cool benefits as thanks, including bonus content, swag, and access to our Faithless Brewing Discord channel. We are very excited to build a community of brewers in the Faithless Family, which we hope can be a place to interact not just with us but with the many talented and creative brewers that make up our listener base. So if you like what we produce, find value in it, and want to help us make it even better, be sure to check it out!

Second, I mentioned that this Episode is part of a double header. The other half, which is posted as separately (as Episode 27), is already available on our channel and offers a guide to the Pioneer format from the perspective of a Modern player. We unpack the manabases, removal options, disruption tools, the most powerful cards and strategies, and how to combat them. If you are Modern player wondering how to get started brewing in Pioneer, you won't want to miss this!

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Timestamps:

Weekend Roundup

5:21 Bant Ramp (Damon, via Czech testing house): Top 8, Standard MCQ at Mox Boarding House, Seattle

13:57 Urza Oko (by Zan Syed): 1st place, SCG Regionals Raleigh-Durham

18:23 Simic Eldrazi (by aspiringspike): 7-2 regionals, several 5-0s, also top 8 in MTGO PTQ (by C_E.L)

23:14 Foodie Niv-Mizzet (by Cameron Martinez): 1st place, SCG Regionals Knoxville

25:01 Faeburrow BTL Saheeli (David): 4-1 league

33:33 BTL Kiki Copycat (by forenmagra): four 5-0s in his last six leagues

Flashback: The Great Henge

35:58 Sultai Hengevine: 4-1 league

39:57 Golgari Undying: 4-1 league

45:29 Bant Monkeyhenge: 2-3 league

46:57 Mono Green Stompy: 2-3 league

54:22 Hengehammer Gruul: 4-1 league

Contact Us

WE ARE NOW ON PATREON! Come see how you can support the show, get access to the Faithless Brewing Discord, and earn cool benefits: www.patreon.com/faithlessbrewing

Twitter: @FaithlessMTG

Email: faithless.brewing@gmail.com

Homepage: faithlessbrewing.podbean.com

We rely on brewers like you to help us improve the show and bring you better content. We want to hear from you!

How to Brew Successfully in a New Format

October 25, 2019

Faithless Brewing, Episode 27: A Brewer's Guide to Pioneer

Well that was unexpected. The birth of a new format is a strange and wonderful thing. “Brewer’s paradise” is a phrase that gets thrown around often, and if that doesn’t apply to times like these, when does it ever apply? For a brewing podcast like ours, a completely unexplored format must be a dream come true.

The truth is that successful brewing is actually quite difficult when a metagame is completely undefined. We cannot attack a meta from unexpected angles if we ourselves have no idea what to expect.

So what should we expect from Pioneer? How do we build decks in this exciting new format? Fear not, you Faithless Brewers, we have you covered!

In this special bonus episode, we take a deep dive into the Pioneer card pool. We unpack the mana bases, removal options, the most powerful cards and strategies, and the decks you will need to be prepared for on Day 1 -- everything you need to get brewing and start battling in the queues!

Timestamps

2:38 What is Pioneer?

5:18 Initial reactions + unpacking the B&R philosophy

11:15 Getting to know the card pool: Pioneer and Modern, compared

17:00 Understanding Pioneer mana bases: lands and ramp options

32:11 Cards that used to be banned in Standard and Modern

45:42 Understanding interactive tools in Pioneer: removal, sweepers, counterspells, and hand disruption

1:02:16 Understanding the Day 1 metagame: the most powerful strategies in the format

1:22 Summary: The Rules of Engagement for Day 1 of Pioneer

Contact Us

Twitter: @FaithlessMTG

Email: faithless.brewing@gmail.com

Homepage: faithlessbrewing.podbean.com

We rely on brewers like you to help us improve the show and bring you better content. We want to hear from you!

The Great Henge and Beyond

October 20, 2019

Faithless Brewing, Episode 25: The Great Henge

Some weeks, when we pick a card to feature, we know it will be a hit. Charming Prince is a versatile role player. Emry is insanely efficient. Oko is simply Broko, and might prove too strong even for eternal formats. Brewing around these cards is a great way to get acquainted with future format staples, and maybe rack up some trophies in the process.

Other times, however, it is helpful to brew from the other end of the spectrum: pick a card that might prove totally unplayable, explore it to its fullest, and see where that leads. The Great Henge is one such card. Like the rest of Eldraine's mythic artifact cycle, The Great Henge demands an impossible mana investment, but offers a quest that might let you summon it on the cheap. Meeting this condition is already a giant puzzle, to say nothing of crafting a game plan that can exploit the Henge's abilities while also keeping pace with the brutal Modern format.

This week, our goal is to stretch our deckbuilding muscles. This means brewing in Hard Mode. Forget about 5-0s, or tuning a sideboard for the meta; these decks might not even survive the goldfishing stage. But the farther there is to climb, the more we stand to learn from the attempt. Join us as we venture to the Great Henge and beyond!

Roundup: Latest Developments in Modern

Utopia Niv-Mizzet (Dan): Top 4, SCG IQ Danbury, Sprawls are quite good at landing a planeswalker on turn 2, which may prove more important going forward

Sultai Into the Story (Raphael Mark): Top 2, SCG IQ Danbury, a strong take on the Mystic Sultai hard control archetype

Flashback: Charming Prince

Naya Dubious Defector: 13-7 leagues, hilarious and powerful, struggles to play defense

GW Charming Challenge: 2-3 league, Iona is stronger than Woodfall Primus/Worldspine Wurm, but requires giving up Through the Breach

Boros Blink: 2-3 league, grinds well, but struggles to disrupt unfair decks

Charming Taxes: 2-3 league, relies heavily on Aether Vial and Stoneforge Mystic to present anything powerful

UW Charming Soulherder: 3-2 league, very strong but requires a lot of clicks and triggers to win

Brew Session: The Great Henge

Sketch #1: Golgari Hengevine

Sketch #2: Yolo Yorvo Combo Henge

Sketch #3: Basic Henge Stompy

Sketch #4: Arcanist Hengehammer Beats

Elfball Combo Henge (Meryn MTG): 5-2 in 1v1 queues

Contact Us

Twitter: @FaithlessMTG

Email: faithless.brewing@gmail.com

Homepage: faithlessbrewing.podbean.com

We rely on brewers like you to help us improve the show and bring you better content. We want to hear from you!

Searching for Prince Charming

October 12, 2019

Faithless Brewing, Episode 24: Charming Prince

Oko, Thief of Crowns crushed it last week. We tested five homes the new Simic walker, and the trophies just started stacking up. Sultai Faeries, Bant Okoblade, Bonecrusher Kiora, even Faeburrow Niv-Mizzet got in on the 5-0 action. 38-7 is not a normal record for our testing sessions. Was it just good luck, good decklists, or is Oko simply brok-o? What is clear at least is that the card has many hidden modes, functioning more like a six- or seven- ability walker. "Five-Oh-ko" (too much?) looks to be a multi-format staple going forward, so pick up your copies now.

Four trophies will be a tough act to follow, so this week the crew takes a crack at a more humble offering from Eldraine: the Charming Prince! Like Oko, Prince Charming offers three modes, but contextually they can feel like four or five. Versatility like that on a 2 drop is great, but the blink mode in particular has Dave's gears turning as potentially enabling broken plays. Can the young prince rescue our permanents from the enemy’s clutches, and stake his claim as a future Modern staple?

Timestamps and Decklists

Flashback: Oko, Thief of Crowns

03:45 Bant StoneBlade: 5-0 league

12:29 Shape Anew: 2-3 league

21:14 Sultai Faeries: 9-1 leagues

30:04 Bonecrusher Kiora: 17-3 leagues

39:10 Faeburrow Niv: 5-0 league

Roundup: Eldraine Week Two

51:03 SCG Team Open results

52:48 Once Upon a Time, Castle Garenbrig

54:06 Emry, Lurker of the Loch

54:56 Witching Well

55:34 Mystic Sanctuary

58:35 Gingerbrute, All that Glitters

59:24 Merchant of the Vale

59:43 Fires of Invention + Fae of Wishes

1:01:15 Fires of Invention + Savor the Moment + Mystic Sanctuary

1:04:55 Glass Casket

1:05:16 The Royal Scions

1:06:18 Drown in the Loch

Brew Session: Charming Prince

1:09:24 Charming Prince Overview

1:11:53 Sketch 1: Wr Humble Blink

1:26:37 Sketch 2: Naya Challenge

Reference lists:

Mono-W Taxes (kaosofmind): 5-0

Mono-W Emeria (Fincown): 5-0

GW Dubious Prince (k_f_chicken): 5-0

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Contact Us

Twitter: @FaithlessMTG

Email: faithless.brewing@gmail.com

Homepage: faithlessbrewing.podbean.com

We rely on brewers like you to help us improve the show and bring you better content. We want to hear from you!

Mr. Steal Your Crown: Six New Brews with Oko

October 5, 2019

Faithless Brewing, Episode 23: Oko, Thief of Crowns

Oko, Thief of Crowns, is a mischievous trickster. He’s so devious that he tricked Wizards into printing him with three powerful abilities and a giant pile of loyalty, all for the low, low price of three mana. Already poised to dominate Standard, the crew thinks Oko will be flaunting his skills in Modern in the very near future, and Dave has six new decklists to prove it.

Also, Dan has a new article up on Arenadecklists.gg: a comprehensive Brewer’s Guide to Throne of Eldraine! Expanding on our discussions in the podcast and analyzing 65 cards across four different Top 10 lists (math checks out, right?) this article has everything you need to start brewing with one of the most exciting new releases that Modern has ever seen. You won’t want to miss it!

As always, thanks for listening!

— cavedan
@FaithlessMTG

Dan’s Article: A Brewer's Guide to Throne of Eldraine

https://arenadecklists.gg/2019/10/02/a-brewers-guide-to-mtgeld-in-modern/

Damon’s Tournament Results

Rainbow Niv-Mizzet (Damon): 6-2 Modern challenge, 5-0 league

Brazen Cutthroat Kiki (Damon, based on kahluah777’s 5-0 list): 5-0 league

Roundup: Throne of Eldraine Week 1

Paradoxical Emry (Kevslinger): 7-1 Modern Challenge

Emry Ascendancy (Rav104): 5-0 League

Wishclaw EmrySword (haubidtran): 5-0 league

Grixis Into the Story (aspiringspike): 5-0 league