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Main » Articles » SCG Regionals Top 4 With Azorius Stoneblade

SCG Regionals Top 4 With Azorius Stoneblade

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on March 18, 2020
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I'm back from SCG Regionals in Saginaw, Michigan with a Top 4 finish piloting uw Stoneblade. Today I'm going to discuss the event as well as my take on Azorius and Bant Stoneblade after the banning of Once Upon a Time.

Let's get started!

Tournament details:

  • 7 rounds

  • 110 players

  • Stacked competition: Edgar Magalhaes, Matt Dilks, Zach Allen, Raja Sulaiman, Stephen Dykman, and many more.

The top players in the room are significantly better than the average player which makes the elimination rounds harder.

Here's the Top 8:

  • Raja Sulaiman: Sultai Snow

  • Three Amulet Titan

  • Amuletless Titan

  • Snowblade

  • Azorius Stoneblade (me)

  • Mono-Red Prowess

Here's the list I used:

Azorius Stoneblade | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

The single Dismember was great; an additional early piece of interaction was even wanted against Titan to stop Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. It's a very well-positioned removal spell.

I keep seeing massive amounts of Archmage's Charms in Blue decks, but it underperformed. Most of the time it was just an awkward Cancel. I stole a prowess creature once and never drew two cards. Moving forward I want nothing to do with this card.

Three Snapcaster Mage was just the right amount.

I tried Aven Mindcensor over Ashiok because the Titan decks were ready with Beast Within and Mystical Dispute. It's better to have non-Blue cards that can be played on the turn Titan is cast. I wanted a fourth card to board in against opposing Blue decks because I need to be able to cut all four Path to Exiles if necessary. It never had an impact, but I drew it a couple times. Not impressed overall.

The single Winds of Abandon was never drawn, but I wouldn't have been sad to see it. I was happy with the Supreme Verdict over the second copy as the overload is more expensive.

Here were my matchups:

Round 1: Polymorph WIN 1-0

The deck was all about resolving Polymorph or Indomitable Creativity on a Dwarf token from Dwarven Mine to get Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on the battlefield. It was a neat idea, but the combo being disrupted by both Force of Negation and Path to Exile made it a good matchup for me.

I used the following sideboard plan:

Dismember looked better than Path on the surface, but I saw a Stomping Ground which indicated Veil of Summer.

Round 2 Kat Light playing Jund Shadow WIN 2-0

I like my matchup against Shadow decks because I have many ways to cast additional Path to Exiles. Snapcaster Mage and Mystic Sanctuary play a key role. Teferi is also a big help as bouncing a creature can act as a Time Walk.

Force of Negation was valuable in the first game because it protected against Kologhan's Command on Batterskull. All of the cards in the maindeck are decent against Jund Shadow so I prefer sideboarding a small amount.

Round 3 Bant Snowblade WIN 3-0

My opponent made a remark before the game started that we were in for a grindy match. That helped me in keeping a loose opening hand that would be punished against a fast deck. It was a one-lander with Opt and Snapcaster. He was watching my prior match, but I forgot what deck he was playing. The hand worked out well even though I spent the first few turns searching for lands.

I think Azorius Stoneblade is a very powerful deck, but the lack of Ice-Fang Coatl hurts me in mirror matches. My experience playing Blue mirrors throughout the years helped me take the match, but I felt disadvantaged.

The logic behind the single MIndcensor is fetch lands have late game utility with Mystic Sanctuary. Watch out for a flashed Coatl when attacking with it.

Round 4 Dredge WIN 4-0

I was afraid of this matchup, but Force of Negation plus a quick Batterskull was able to take Game 1. The opponent mulliganed to four.

The second game was interesting because I didn't mulligan to Rest in Peace, but was able to win a fair game. It ended up being Bloodghast and Spell Queller trading blows. I used countermagic on Creeping Chills to stay one turn ahead in the race.

I've seen some sideboard guides that advocate for bringing in Aether Gust, but I'm not a fan in this build. I already have four Force of Negation and a Spell Snare to fight the first wave of enablers. Mana Leak got cut because I was on the draw and the scary spells would have already resolved.

Winds of Abandon shines here as the overload can wipe away a crowded battlefield. I prefer Path to Exile to Celestial Purge as it hits Narcomoeba. Since the games get weird and scrappy I prefer the utility. Dredge doesn't do much with their extra Mountains.

Spell Queller stops chip shots from Bloodghast and Narcomoeba while also exiling a critical Life from the Loam or Creeping Chill.

Round 5 James Johnston, SCG Grinder, playing Amulet Titan WIN 5-0

James mulled to five in Game 1. Things didn't really ever come together for him, but my Teferis looked silly in the face of multiple Sakura-Tribe Scouts. I eventually pulled away with Stoneforge Mystic and Sword of Feast and Famine.

The second game showed the power of Sword of Feast and Famine as I was able to attack through scouts, titans, and zombies. I had so many Cryptic Commands thanks to Mystic Sanctuary to lock creatures from attacking while getting extra mana from the sword.

There was a tension of when to tap creatures. If I tapped the zombies and titans on upkeep it plays around Beast Within on the Mystic Sanctuary on Mystic Sanctuary or Mystical Dispute. This line bit me one turn as a titan was drawn and got haste from a bounce land returning the Hanweir Battlements. I ended the game with a Supreme Verdict in hand to clean up the zombies if they truly got out of hand. The equipment is extremely powerful in this matchup.

Round 6: ID

There were three players with a 5-0 record at this point. Only the last round of swiss pairs by tiebreakers which meant I had a random chance of being matched up against someone who could not draw into Top 8.

Since there were 110 players we were far away from the eighth round which requires 129. This meant I was safe drawing with another 5-0 as things can get dicey as you approach the cap.

I was luckily paired against a 5-0 so the draw was safe.

Round 7: ID

I entered the Top 8 as the fifth seed which meant I would be on the draw against the fourth seed.

Top 8: Mono Red Prowess WIN

I voted for a Top 8 cash prize split of $425, but it was rejected by at least one person which means it doesn't happen. My Prowess matchup is quite good as my friend, Andy, plays it at Monday Night Modern. We play most weeks and the games feel in my favor.

Since I was on the draw against the 4th seed he was able to take Game 1. This game can be challenging as I could die on turn three after tapping out for Stoneforge Mystic. I mulliganed a hand featuring Spell Snare and Snapcaster Mage only to die on turn three to Kiln Fiend. It was a risky keep that would have ultimately panned out, but it's more likely I die to early prowess creatures.

Despite being down a game I felt confident I would take the match. This is because the sideboard plan allows me to kill all of the early creatures. The game will devolve into the opponent trying to resolve Bedlam Reveler against a hand of Cryptic Commands. Oddly enough it was the first game I lost all tournament.

My opponent never cast a Bedlam Reveler in the post board games. Timely Reinforcements were excellent as was finding redundant copies with Mystic Sanctuary.

Top 4: Raja Sulaiman with Sultai Control LOSS

I accepted the split of $625, but it was rejected again.

I already felt scared of Ice-Fang Coatl, but Raja is one of the top players in the room, too.

Zach Allen worked on this deck and it's certainly very good at grinding. Azorius Stoneblade shines brighter against linear decks, but Uro and Thoughtseize are great when fighting fair.

I never felt like I was in either game.

Sultai Control | Modern | Raja Sulaiman

I ended up drawing too many Snapcaster Mages with Rest in Peace on the battlefield. I didn't want to cut them despite the lack of synergy because both cards are individually powerful. It turns out the Sultai Control deck can function with RIP on the battlefield.

I liked the way the Sultai deck played out. Thought Scour allows you to play three Uro. This plan doesn't work as well with Bant because Stoneforge Mystic isn't friends with Thought Scour. Tarmogoyf becomes a more powerful early threat to apply pressure when coupled with Thoughtseize.

Teferi, Time Raveler was weaker as Coatl was able to pressure him. I liked that Coatl wasn't paired with Snapcaster Mage as he doesn't work well with Uro.

Field of Ruin is notably absent. This is fine because Celestial Colonnade is on the downswing. The best thing to do with Field against control is to wait for them to find a spell to stack with Mystic Sanctuary. Tron isn't popular at the moment and a single Field won't stop them for long anyway. Field only shuffles Primeval Titans from the top of the library after Aether Gust against Ramp.

Overall regionals was a success. I haven't been able to play Modern in a couple weeks due to a busy work schedule. It's nice to see Stoneblade still has what it takes. I'm also not sad to take home $400 cash at the end of the day.

Once Upon a Time being banned means Amulet Titan will still be a top tier deck with less consistency. I was personally all right with the power level of Titan as it's one of the weakest "best decks" I've seen in a while. Azorius Stoneblade has a great matchup without specific hate cards like Aven Mindcensor or Ashiok. I rarely draw the Aether Gusts in my sideboard, but feel like the game would be over if I did.

Here's how I would build Azorius Stoneblade today:

Azorius Stoneblade | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

As Ice-Fang Coatl becomes more popular I am looking to try a Monastery Mentor in the board. I can also tap out more freely after sideboard with four Force of Negation against combo. It's similar to a Legacy deck at this point.

Aether Gust is the no nonsense answer to Titan so I'm looking to play the most copies while still having a reasonable sideboard.

Ceremonious Rejection was never boarded in during Regionals, but that doesn't mean it's bad. I wanted cheap interaction against Tron because it's still an evergreen deck and I wasn't sure if I would face UrzaBreach. Eldrazi Tron is also a generically popular deck that can get you.

I'm getting the Ice-Fang Coatl bug as well so I wanted to try my hand at Bant Snowblade. I still like Spell Queller and Teferi so I'll make it more of a hybrid just to keep up with the other value decks.

Here's what I'm starting:

Bant Snowblade | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I regret cutting Deprive from my Regionals list. It would be nice to have a large amount of impactful spells to put on top with Mystic Sanctuary in Game 1.

The logic of Field of Ruin being weaker currently means I can cut down to two because of tougher mana constraints in Bant. I need snow mana early for Arcum's Astrolabe which makes Field even more of a liability.

Ice-Fang Coatl is essentially replacing Snapcaster Mage. I don't want to play Snapcaster because the Opts were replaced with Astrolabes thus reducing the number of spells to flash back. I would prefer to not play cards that interfere with escaping Uro, too.

Since Ice-Fang isn't at least three mana like Snapcaster Mage I have more opportunities to hardcast Force of Negation. This is valuable as Arcum's Astrolabe replacing Opt reduces the amount of Blue cards in the deck.

I like the Teferi and Spell Queller base, but I cut one of each to make room for Uro. A split of all three spells reduces the diminishing returns of each spell. Teferi still gets better with less Quellers because you can bounce Astrolabe for value.

The single Dismember gets better because I can filter Black mana with the Astrolabe. It becomes a valid target for Mystic Sanctuary as I can cast it multiple times in a game.

I have two Breeding Pools because Uro is the only spell in the maindeck that requires more than a single non-Blue mana. At the same time I need to find Islands to turn on Mystic Sanctuary.

The Temple Garden looks bad, but can be the perfect land to go with a Snow-Covered Island. This is because you can cast Stoneforge Mystic, Coatl, and Astrolabe in the early game.

Bant decks offer some of the best sideboards in Modern and this deck is no different.

Rather than playing a Monastery Mentor against opposing fair decks I can add a final three-drop in Tireless Tracker. I don't want too many three-drops in the sideboard because I need to leave up mana for Mystical Dispute and Veil of Summer.

I think both of these Stoneblade decks are well-positioned. The Green cards are exciting to try.

Thanks for reading!

Kyle

TAGS articles, constructed, tournament reports, analysis, tournament report, modern, decklist, sideboarding, kyle boggemes, 03182020, bant snowblade, azorius stoneblade

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