Modern

Moving Mountains

The quickest way to move a mountain is to cast [card]Scapeshift[/card]…. Often we will be moving 6-7 mountains. RUG [card]Scapeshift[/card] is a combo-control deck that wins the game by casting [card]Scapeshift[/card] with 7-8 lands in play. Once resolved the [card]Scapeshift[/card] player sacrifices their lands and searches through their deck for 1-2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and 6-7 mountains. When all the lands enter the battlefield Valakut checks the mountain count and sees over 5 therefore triggering for each mountain, either dealing 18-36 damage to your opponent’s face.

Until you are ready to cast [card]Scapeshift[/card] the goal is to play lands and ramp while disrupting your opponent’s plan with spot removal or counter magic. As far as combo decks go it is straightforward and forces the pilot to keep track of the number of mountains left in their deck, their opponent’s potential life total, and having some sort of counter spell to protect their [card]Scapeshift[/card].

In terms of difficulty this is an easier Modern combo deck to pick up and a great way to begin a Modern career.

For this article I will provide a brief overview of some match-ups and a quick summary of a 44 player tournament.

RUG Scapeshift

[deck]
[Lands]
3 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
1 Hinterland Harbor
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Mountain
3 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
[/Lands]
[Spells]
3 Anticipate
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
2 Farseek
3 Izzet Charm
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Spell Snare
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Sakura Tribe-Elder
[/Creatures]
[Sideboard]
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Batterskull
1 Counterflux
1 Dispel
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Feed the Clan
2 Inferno Titan
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Negate
2 Rending Volley
1 Spellskite
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Vs Burn

Setting things on fire is popular in the current meta and knowing how we can put those fires out is important. Where do we stand against burn? Well it’s a race. The ideal start for us is basic forest into Search for Tomorrow passing with a Tribe Elder on turn two. The Elder allows us to block if they kept a creature hand, failing having an Elder, either an Izzet Charm, [card]Remand[/card], or Lightning Bolt to stem the damage is what we want on turn 2.

Our focus in this match is simply staying alive. We will often lose game one especially if we lost the die roll as burn on the play will likely be a turn faster. As the tournament report will show this match-up is not impossible. Our sideboard is there to help us a lot in the match up with [card]Feed the Clan[/card] and [card]Batterskull[/card]. Admittedly the [card]Batterskull[/card] might want to be a [card]Thragtusk[/card] for the sake of immediate life gain. Remember that Snapcaster can be used as a blocker.

Vs Twin

Being able to ramp into more mana than them allows us to win the counter war. This match up is much better than the Burn one. In my own experience I would give the edge to [card]Scapeshift[/card] in all Twin match-ups except Grixis. Hand disruption from a combo deck can make our life miserable. We can have all the lands in the world but not having spells to cast is ruinous.

When playing this matchup it is advisable to sequence ramp spells in a way that allows us to keep up counter magic whenever relevant. For example if you have three lands and they have also have three, suspend the Search for Tomorrow and hold up Remand mana, don’t hard cast it and fall victim to an EOT [card]Pestermite[/card] or Exarch. Playing against Twin will test your ability to play the control side of the [card]Scapeshift[/card] deck. Out of all the matchups that will teach you the most about playing this deck correctly it is this one. Find a good Twin player and jam as many games as possible to improve your overall ability with the deck.

Sideboard games give you better control options. However after board the Twin player may have a heavier control or midrange plan and it is advisable to bring in the Titans and [card]Batterskull[/card] as they will help you switch into beatdown mode quickly. Jace is another good card to bring in out of the board as his +1 can keep you safe for some time. If we’re bringing in all these cards after board what do we remove? I will typically remove the Sakura Tribe Elders and the Lightning Bolts in varying numbers. If you want to bring in more sideboard tech the Farseeks can go as well. Do not remove the Searches as the suspend ability allows us to conserve our mana while ensuring our ramp plan.

Vs R/G Tron

Every deck needs to have at least one match up that is a near auto win. For the most part we ramp, cast [card]Scapeshift[/card] and don’t worry. All you need to do is keep a turn 3 fatty from landing and you should be good to go. The biggest reason behind our edge here is that we have counter magic and R/G Tron does not.

Sideboarding in this match up is as easy as taking out two [card]Izzet Charm[/card]s and replacing them with [card]Negate[/card] and [card]Counterflux[/card].

Vs B/G/x Midrange

In my experience this match-up is in our favour when the B/G/X player does not play two discard spells followed immediately by a Tarmogoyf. Often they are not fast enough to compete with the ramp into an early [card]Scapeshift[/card].

After boarding they will likely remove some number of removal spells; we should therefore be bringing in the Titans, Jace, and [card]Batterskull[/card]. To make room we can remove the [card]Izzet Charm[/card]s and one two mana ramp spell. Jace helps us find our win condition while the Titans and Batterskull provide us with more top deck opportunities to win should our opponent strip our hands bare. I have played many post board games where we have both exhausted our resources and are waiting on something sweet to appear on the top of our decks. Unfortunately for the B/G/x deck our top decks will often have a higher impact than theirs.

Vs Merfolk

Merfolk can be too fast for us to handle without a [card]Cryptic Command[/card] or early removal to break up the lord party. When the fish player begins with a turn 1 [card]Aether Vial[/card] it is advisable to begin the ramp plan as quickly as possible as it is unlikely we will be able to counter their creatures. If there is no turn 1 Vial we can approach this match-up as the control deck and slowly build our land count.

When building your land count do not under any circumstances play a Valakut unless you have no choice or are ready to combo off. The reason for this is that [card]Spreading Seas[/card] is something to fear in this match-up. When fetching make sure to get multiple green sources as they may quickly become islands. [card]Cryptic Command[/card] will often be a fog in this matchup.

For sideboarding bring in the [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] for [card]Aether Vial[/card], and the [card]Rending Volley[/card]s for more timely spot removal. The [card]Izzet Charm[/card]s can be removed here as the Volleys are more effective removal spells, especially when you are looking at a Kira, the Great Glass Spinner.

Vs Podless

In this matchup we will always be the control deck. [card]Electrolyze[/card], [card]Izzet Charm[/card], and [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] can easily break up a potential combo from them. Because of the high creature count use the removal sparingly and look directly at your life total as a resource. Podless cannot typically deal instant speed damage to us, Chording for Murderous Redcap aside, and we are therefore safe to take damage and save our [card]Cryptic Command[/card]s for critical turns.

Out of the sideboard we want to bring in [card]Inferno Titan[/card] as it can be a removal spell on a stick as well as being a win condition all on its own. We are certainly favored in this match-up.

What would I change?

Finding a place for a third basic island is first on the list of potential changes. While I was never under a [card]Blood Moon[/card] I would like to have access to [card]Cryptic Command[/card] should that occur.

Anticipate was great, adding a fourth might be advisable as there were a couple matches where I was unable to dig for an out quickly enough. I would likely look at cutting out an [card]Izzet Charm[/card] for an [card]Anticipate[/card] as three Charms felt too heavy in a couple of matches. Plus anytime I cast the loot side I sat there wishing it was [card]Anticipate[/card].

In the sideboard I’d like to find a place for a sweeper. Either Anger of The Gods or [card]Firespout[/card] would be my cards of choice. The card I’d be most likely to cut is [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] as it was negligible all day.

Tournament Report

Round 1 Merfolk (2-0)

I did not see any land disruption or major counter magic either games and was able to break up his lords long enough to gather 8 lands and cast [card]Scapeshift[/card].

Round 2 B/G [card]Necrotic Ooze[/card] (2-0)

Ramp backed by counter magic was too much for the slower B/G deck. I did not see a lot in this match-up and can’t comment too much beyond that. I think that had it been a more traditional B/G/x deck that I would have had a harder time battling through hand disruption and [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s but without further testing I can’t be too sure.

Round 3 Merfolk (2-1)

Unlike my first round this was a nail biter. I was at 1 and had to either draw [card]Scapeshift[/card] or Cryptic all while dodging counter magic. It took 5 turns of first casting Cryptic, drawing [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] to flash it back, drawing Cryptic and then drawing another Cryptic into win condition. After this match up I felt I’d used up any sort of luck that I had with those final draws.

Round 4 Boggles (2-0)

I was able to break up the Voltron of enchantments game one with counter spells and then in game two played a turn two [card]Spellskite[/card] that went unanswered.

Round 5 R/G Tron (2-0)

My opponent and I both agreed that this was my match to lose. To win this match up all that is needed is the namesake card, 1-2 ramp spells and a Remand or two.

Round 6 G/W Aggro (1-2)

I could have drawn into Top 8 in this round but I wanted to play. Either way I was a lock for top 8 and I wanted to see what my opponent’s deck was like, as I hadn’t had a chance to see him play beforehand. With fast ramp I quickly won game one. Game two and three though saw me unable to find enough ways to handle turn 2 and 3 [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]s. Looking back on this match is what makes me want access to either a sweeper or fourth Cryptic. I was simply a turn too slow in games two and three and either would have given me just enough time to win. It is possible that if I’d boarded in the [card]Feed the Clan[/card]s I would have been okay as well.

Quarter Finals Burn (2-1)

This match was a race games one and two. Game three my opponent flooded and a Feed the Clan was enough to let me live until [card]Scapeshift[/card].

Semi Finals R/G Tron (2-0)

A complete repeat of round 5 down to the same friendly face.

Finals Boggles (2-1)

Game one my opponent mulled to 4. Game two I fetched for a basic island when it should have been a Breeding Pool leaving me unable to cast a Farseek and [card]Scapeshift[/card] in the same turn. Game three a turn 2 [card]Spellskite[/card] that went unanswered gave me the time I needed to accrue 7 lands, end of turn bounce his [card]Leyline of Sanctity[/card], untap and cast [card]Scapeshift[/card].

I’m starting to hear whispers of a Day’s Undoing, Quicken, [card]Scapeshift[/card] brew and I am beyond excited. I’d love to hear about your [card]Scapeshift[/card] experiences.

* Thank you Eduardo for your input on the list.

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