2020-08
2020-08
Friday Aug 21, 2020
Discontinuities: When Titan Vial Ruled Modern, and Citadel in Pioneer
Friday Aug 21, 2020
Friday Aug 21, 2020
Core Set 2021, Episode 9: Transmogrify, See the Truth, Discontinuity
By all accounts, 2020 has been a Very Long Year. It keeps twisting and dragging us into unexpected places, each more disturbing than the last. And somehow, it is only August.
So it can't really be called surprising when, for inexplicable reasons, a Modern deck called "Titan Vial" is somehow causing the price of Elvish Reclaimer to spike on Magic Online, while in Pioneer noted hall of famers are earnestly debating the proper build of a deck that contains a playset of Bolas's Citadel. Who can explain it? Does it even need to be explained? It's just been that kind of year.
Late August can sometimes be the doldrums of competitive Magic, as Standard awaits rotation and the summer Core Set has mostly played itself out. We are lucky, at least, that M21 is a set with a very long tail: plenty of interesting cards can still spark the brewer's imagination for at least a decklist or two, if not quite rising to the level of commanding a full episode deep dive. We tackle some intriguing ones this week as we probe the far reaches of the M21 spoiler: Transmogrify, See the Truth, and Discontinuity. What will we discover? Only the leagues will tell!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Titan Vial by fpawluszmtg
Flashback: The White Episode
Soul Speakers: 3-2 league
Basri Bots: unplayable
Mardu Nine Lives: 3-2 league
Chonky Capridor: 3-2 league
Brew Session: M21 Potpourri
Jeskai Inspiring Transmogrify
Izzet See the Truth
Bant Lotus Discontinuity
Friday Aug 14, 2020
White Is the Loneliest Color
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Core Set 2021, Episode 8: The White Episode
Blue is not the loneliest color. In Magic at least, that hasn't been true for a while now, if it was ever true to begin with. Blue cards tend to bring along several more friends when you cast them. The same is true for Green, and Black, and even Red. One good card leads to another, all thanks to the magic of card advantage.
White, on the other hand... now there's a lonely color. With white cards, you tend to get exactly what you pay for, and nothing more than that. No undercosted rate monsters, no snowballing effects that run away with the game, no recursive threats or big mana engines. If your opponent removes your White card, it's usually just gone: my card for your card, the fairest possible trade. Imagine trying to win a game of Modern or Pioneer that way in 2020!
We haven't featured a White card on Faithless Brewing in a very long time. The options tend to be narrow and on the lower end of the power spectrum. Maybe they can spawn a deck or two each, but they're not likely to even be the best cards in their respective archetypes. If we're going to find success brewing around a White card, we'll need to take a more proactive approach and chuck the whole bag of darts at the dartboard. That's right, this week features no less than 7 new white cards from M21, with a frew brew for each: Speaker of the Heavens, Containment Priest, Griffin Aerie, Angelic Ascension, Nine Lives, Basri Ket, and Stormwild Capridor.
Will any of these cards have what it takes to make a splash in competitive play? You know the drill: let's find out in the queues!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Flashback: Second Chance Pioneer
Narset's Undoing: 4-1 league, 2-3 league
Tome Diviner: 4-1 league
GW Oath Enchantress: 2-3 league
Reference lists:
Narset's Undoing (by SrTortinha, 6-3 Pioneer Challenge)
RG Dinos (by Voltzwagon, 5-0 Pioneer league)
Brew Session: Seven Dubious White Cards
Sketch 1: Soul Speakers
Sketch 2: Priest and Taxes
Sketch 3: Griffin Aerie
Sketch 4: Jeskai Lukka Ascension
Sketch 5: Mardu Nine Lives
Sketch 6: Basri Bots
Sketch 7: Chonky Capridor
Reference lists:
Soul Speakers (by Gabriel Nassif, 5-0 Modern league)
Jeskai Lukka Fires (by FestiFan, 7-2 Pioneer Challenge)
Friday Aug 07, 2020
A Second Chance at Love in Pioneer (ft. Aspiringspike)
Friday Aug 07, 2020
Friday Aug 07, 2020
Core Set 2021, Episode 7: Surprise Pioneer B&R ft. Evart Moughon
Life has a funny way of giving you second chances. One week, you're flunking out of season 24 of The Bachelor, roseless and rejected. The next week you're the darling of Bachelor in Paradise, delighting audiences with your antics as you revel in another shot at romance. So, too, in Magic: one week your format is a ghost town, with near-empty tournament queues and a "healthy and balanced" metagame of four combo decks, each with strengths and weaknesses against each other. The next week, practically the entire Tier 1 metagame is banned, and we are suddenly presented with a second chance at love in a wide open Pioneer.
This week we welcome special guest Evart Moughon, aka Aspiringspike, to survey the new Pioneer landscape after the long shadows of Theros combo decks have been lifted. We tackle a bit of post-Astrolabe Modern as well, and wind down with some questions for Evart from the Brewers' Mailbag. Is this the dawn of a new era of brewing? What new decks and strategies might rise to the top? Which pre-Theros strategies are poised for a resurgence? The one thing we know for sure: if Aspiringspike has anything to say about it, it's going to involve a lot of Shark Typhoons. Happy brewing!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
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Where to find Evart:
https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart
http://twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Flashback: Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
Temur One-Mind Jolrael
BG Jolrael Enchantress
Sultai Jolrael Delirium
Brew Session: A Second Chance at Love in Pioneer
UB Narset's Undoing
UB Tome Diviner
UG Sublime Sharks
Jeskai Lukka Sharks
Mono-G Karn