1. Vendillion Clique Basics
This card targets, do not flop your hand onto the table when your opponent plays it, do not choose your target until you know it has resolved. Do not ask "targeting?" if you plan to counter it since doing so would imply you let it resolve. This card also is not a compulsory choice, if their hand sucks let them keep it!
Draw step Clique means they can't cast the sorcery speed spell they just drew, a good way to lock out a strong play.
2. Clique Trick
Your opponent taps Aether Vial? Clique in response! Take their guy from their hand and watch them be really sad if they don't get another guy to vial in.
Also when your opponent play an Isochron Scepter you can let the imprint trigger go on the stack and Clique them to remove or lessen their options. You could also do this with the Scepter itself on the stack which may be preferable since if this trick doesn't yield the optimum result you still will reserve the right to counter the Scepter.
3. Dems the Daybreaks
Daybreak Coronet is a strange bird. It has a special restriction preventing it from enchanting a creature without another aura. Like any other aura with a restriction this falls off when the condition is no longer true and cannot target things for which the condition does not hold. What does this mean for you? Well if you can destroy or bounce the only other enchantment on a creature with Daybreak Coronet the Coronet will fall off. Quite the value play! Good news for you boggles players though is that this card can skirt one of your worst enemies: Spellskite. How you ask? If you have an enchanted dude and you play a Coronet they cannot redirect to Spellskite unless the Spellskite is somehow enchanted since it is not a legal target. Games are going real bad if they land a Spellskite, so make sure to pay attention to this out since you'll need to be able to win the games that don't go perfectly if you are looking to do well in a big tournament.
4. Arcbound Ravager? I don't want to Arcbound Ravage anyone.
Arcbound Ravager is a sweet magic card and here is an edge case where it is even sweeter. You're opponent is about to wrath your board with Living End and you like your board. Don't fret! Sac your whole board to Ravager and since the modular trigger doesn't go on the stack until the whole spell resolves you can place all the counters on any guy that came back! Now that's what I'd call an arcbound savaging.
5. Cage Rage
Grafdigger's Cage does nothing vs Living End. The creatures enter from exile, not from the graveyard, so don't board in Cage vs Living End. You'll be sad.
6. It's quite fetching
Normally with shocklands you'll crack your fetches at the end of your opponent's turn but you need to watch out for when this is wrong. When you want to draw land, helping out by not fetching is good. Also, if you have Delver of Secrets you can check your top card first, then after flipping your Delver, crack it to get a new card. It's also even better when you have more than one Delver and the first one whiffs. You can crack a fetch for a new chance at flipping!
This trick works in reverse if you have an army of Goblin Guides beating on your door. Obviously cracking if you don't like the top card is one thing(or not cracking if you do like it) but you can also shoot for more chances at cards by cracking in between triggers if the first missed. You'll be goblin' up that value in no time with this trick.
7. Stormy Interactions
Pyromancer Ascension is a sicko card in storm, copying spells in a deck that aims to play 20 of them in one turn is quite absurd, but here are a few things of note if you plan to win by tossing 20 grapes at your opponent to win the game: Flashbacked cards don't count themselves for quest counters, they aren't in your graveyard as you play them. Flashbacked cards will count other copies of themselves, which is especially excellent with Past in Flames. The Ascension will not copy storm triggers as that is a trigger upon casting the spell not a part of the resolution of the spell itself. Think of it this way, an active Ascension gives you one extra "storm", that is, one extra copy of the given spell. Finally, copies off Pyromancer Ascension are not cast so they will not be adding to your storm count, unlike other similar cards like Isochron Scepter which do cast the copied card.
8. The Porphyry Diaries
Day One:
The opposing mage has summoned an ancient, odd looking enchantment, should be no match for my duo of a Ravager and a Memnite. he'll go to blow up one and with the trigger on the stack i'll sac it to the Ravager and put the counter on the other Ravager.Day Two:
IT JUST DESTROYS THE GUY WITH THE LOWEST POWER, WHAT KIND OF ARCANE MAGICKS IS THIS??? When I responded to the trigger with the sacrifice he just chose the only guy left on the board, but all is not lost Etched Champion has Protection from this colored menace and will be ridden to victory!Day Three:
HE CAN KILL CREATURES WITH PROTECTION??? It seems this vile thing can simply choose as it pleases with wanton disregard for the rules of targeting, thankfully with the Champion gone so goes the Nodes.What is this crazy card that blast through creatures with protection, and prevents Ravager nonsense? It's a color shifted version of Drop of Honey known as Porphyry Nodes that is legal in modern. The card doesn't target, it simply destroys the creature with the lowest power or in the case of a tie your choice of the creature with the lowest power. Even the current Pro Tour Champion Shaun Maclauren treated this as a targeted spell on camera, so you should know this is a tricky one. Note it also gets through regeneration so it is the ultimate answer to Thrun, the Ultimate Troll. Hopefully these examples can help you navigate this card that has picked up a bit in popularity thanks to the Pro Tour, but for this one I'd be sure to ask a judge if you are less than certain(good advice for any situation, really).
9. Fearful Symmetry
Many of the most powerful cards in modern are that way because they offer a powerful effect on the game for a cheap price because it's symmetric. Most decks run these effects because they break the symettry pretty effectively, but if you run these cards or have them run against you you need to be aware when they are cutting the other way.
One example is defense grid, often employed by combo decks. The card is used to prevent countermagic from messing with things, but if you play this card make sure to use your instant speed stuff on YOUR turn or else you may be locked out. Ensnaring Bridge is another similar card, you can lock out attacks from your opponent with it but if you want to attack yourself you'll need to build your hand back up. Rest in Peace and Torpor Orb are usually more obvious about their symmetry but while sideboard make sure not to blow yourself out with bad interactions such as with Snapcaster Mage(for either of the two aforementioned cards).
10. Snapcaster? No one but me finds this joke funny.
Finally, no matter what a spell cast from the graveyard will be exiled. There are no nifty tricks to skirt this and Remand IS a blowout vs. a Snapcaster Mage.
Wrap-Up
That's it for the quick hits this week, let me know if you'd like to see more articles like this in the future, did you like having an article not focused on a decklist. Your feedback will help drive the future of not only this column but the blog as a whole. Since this IS modern brew of the week here is a decklist from Travis Woo's stream, if you like the deck it may be a good idea to "buy-in" since the prices of his brew cards usually rocket after publication. If he doesn't write about this deck you got a glimpse into a deck that many will likely miss, enjoy!
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