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Main » Articles » Shadow and Rhino Update Plus 2K Top 8 Report

Shadow and Rhino Update Plus 2K Top 8 Report

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on September 29, 2021
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

It feels like deja vu, but I'm back with another 2K top 8 report from Galactic Toys in Kentwood, Michigan. The similarities continue as I played the exact same Dress Shadow maindeck in last month's Top 8 and there were 73 competitors again.

I was torn between Shadow and Temur Rhinos right up until the final hour of the event. Rhinos was easier to play and I feel confident with my 75 while Shadow is able to pull out more wins regardless of sub par draws and losing the die rolls. In the end I settled with Shadow despite seven rounds with an early start time potentially burning me out.

Today I'm going to talk about the Shadow list I played, the Shadow changes I would make, and an updated Temur Rhinos list.

Let's get to it!

I like playing paper events much more than online. My shadow list has some cool old cards and playing them makes me happy. I recently started to double-sleeve because the shocks and fetches are old.

Grixis Dress Shadow | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

The maindeck plays one less Dress Down than Aspiringspike because there are so many 2-drops. I play an additional Unholy Heat to have another early removal spell for opposing Ragavan.

I play the first Terminate over the fourth Drown in the Loch to unlock another sideboard slot. The Modern metagame is very diverse and I typically want two targeted spells for the major pillars of the format. In this case I must play two Terminates in the 75.

I've recently added a Gut Shot to the sideboard for Esper Sentinel out of Hammertime and I can also kill opposing Ragavan and Dragon's Rage Channeler out of mirror matches. This was suggested by Adam Wasburn-Moses.

The third Flusterstorm is optional. I was hedged for Rhinos and Living End. Cascade appears to be on the decline so it's not required. Azorius Control has moved to as many as four Solitude and Kaheera, the Orphanguard making their deck less susceptible to Flusterstorm. I would play two in the future.

I never drew the single Mystical Dispute, but it was boarded in about half of my rounds. It's a way to counter a haymaker out of Tron on the third turn or a Murktide Regent.

The single Kolaghan's Command was once again much better than a third Engineered Explosives. I had the option to destroy the Amulet of Vigor in a situation where an Engineered Explosives would not have been brought in because I need to apply pressure with 1-drops.

Two Alpine Moon was good, but I would have wanted a third against exactly Green Tron. The matchup is challenging and the onus is on Dress Shadow to have a good draw. I don't want to board in Alpine Moon against Jund Sagavan because I would rather have all of the Dress Downs after board to kill Constructs and Tarmogoyf.

Aspiringspike's Jeskai Phoenix deck is a bad matchup for Dress Shadow because they can apply pressure quickly and the creatures are good against traditional Red removal. I'm happy to see the Jeskai Phoenix deck was enabled by Faithful Mending. Graveyard decks were missing one piece and a new looting effect helped make it a contender without being oppressive. Nihil Spellbomb is fine against Phoenix, but Surgical Extraction is the most tailored answer.

Jund Sagavan is currently the most popular Lurrus deck which bodes well for Dress Shadow. Dress Down helps create great tempo situations. Every other Lurrus deck doesn't care about Dress Down so I would have two Nihil Spellbomb in the sideboard, but I can now make room for a Surgical Extraction to fight Jeskai Phoenix.

Let's go to a round-by-round breakdown!

Round 1: Mono Red Prowess WIN (1-0)

The tournament began on an interesting note. My Companion app said I was at table 8, but Michigan ringer, Stephen Dykman, said we were playing at table 10. It turns out I was in the event twice so Dykman wound up getting a round one bye.

I win the die roll; a good start to the day. My draws are good in both games; I kill early creatures and stick a couple threats. Drown in the Loch stabilizes in the late game so I don't get burned out once I have control of the battlefield.

I didn't board in Engineered Explosives because I would be trading down on mana. It's a losing battle to clear the board when the opponent can topdeck burn spells. Ideally Engineered Explosives kills Chalice of the Void, Rhino tokens, or Santifier en-Vec.

A couple Thoughtseize remain because I fear Blood Moon. It's a lot to ask of the single Swamp to hold the mana base together.

Round 2: Mono Green Tron WIN (2-0)

I lose the die roll and get destroyed in the first game. I keep a one-lander that doesn't pan out and the opponent keeps seven cards.

The next game goes more smoothly on the play. I'm able to stick quick threats and assemble the Dress Shadow combo.

The final game features Tron mulling to four cards. My opening seven card hand has an Alpine Moon to slow them down. Without the Alpine Moon I'm not sure I would be able to win the game. I prioritized adding Lurrus to my hand in the mid game to recast an Alpine Moon in case it gets hit by Blast Zone.

Round 3: Gruul Sagavan DRAW (2-0-1)

I win the die roll and have a strong start. Overall I like the Urza's Sagavan matchups because Death's Shadow can outmatch a Tarmogoyf and Dress Down undoes the Construct tokens. Kroxa is also one of the larger threats.

The scariest threat out of the Sagavan decks is Wrenn and Six. I deprioritized playing Ragavan on the draw because dashing can keep it out of harm's way. Dragon's Rage Channeler can quickly get delirium to avoid Wrenn's -1 ability as well. Hand disruption is a valid first turn play to discard a planeswalker.

I don't board in Alpine Moon because it's only good against Urza's Saga.

The first game took a long time which is characteristic of the matchup. Both decks have grindy elements making it difficult to finish three games.

I lost the second game because of mana flood, but still was in the game. An Expressive Iteration chain could have rolled off the top to take the match which kept me from conceding. Klothys was in play from an early turn which kept the life gain flowing. I lost Game 2 in extra turns which automatically ends in a draw.

Round 4: Amulet Titan WIN (3-0-1)

I lost the die roll and got run over in the first game.

I didn't want all of the Drowns in after sideboard because the graveyard stays relatively empty. A Bojuka Bog or Endurance can also take cards out of the graveyard as well.

Alpine Moon can name Urza's Saga for quick land destruction. Other good targets include: Simic Growth Chamber, Valakut, Blast Zone, and Radiant Fountain.

Watch out for Engineered Explosives to kill Alpine Moon and your 1-drop army.

Lightning Bolt isn't good in the matchup, but can hit Arboreal Grazer to clear the way for Ragavan.

Round 5: Humans LOSS (3-1-1)

I lost the die roll and had a land-light hand. Thalia locked me out of doing anything relevant.

I began with a quick pair of delirious Channelers that were stunted by an Imperial Recruiter that fetched a Sanctifier en-Vec. Most of the post board matches revolve around keeping Sanctifier off the battlefield.

Kolaghan's Command is medium in the matchup because it primarily kills a small creature and discards the opponent's worst card in hand.

Remember Thalia doesn't do anything against Engineered Explosives. You can set x=1 on EE and pay the Thalia tax with a different color mana to get the second Sunburst counter.

Round 6: Jund Sagavan WIN (4-1-1)

I played against carmate, Hunter Craite.

I lost the die roll, but ended up fading a Wrenn and Six on the second turn and snuck a victory by escaping Kroxa.

The Kolaghan's Command can come in for a Thoughtseize on the play as Wrenn is much scarier on the draw. Gut Shot not only kills Ragavan and DRC, but also Tarmogoyf with Dress Down on the battlefield.

I was taken to Game 3 because I made a greedy mistake in the second game. Tarmogoyf blocked my Ragavan when I had Dress Down in hand. I could have ensured Goyf died by letting damage resolve, but I played Dress Down before which prompted a removal spell from Hunter. The Goyf killed me a couple turns later.

Round 7: Esper Stoneblade WIN (5-1-1)

Since I came into round 7 with a draw I could face either a random 5-1 or 4-2. In this case I faced a 4-2.

I lost the die roll and mulled to five. Overall I think Stoneblade is a favorable matchup and was able to pull out Game 1 by holding up Drown in the Loch for most of the game. I could have tapped lower, but preferred to play it safe and hold out for a third land. Land screw beat land flood.

I had no idea how to sideboard so I just hedged for hate cards. There were three Snapcaster Mages cast in the first game which made Dress Down line up well against Stoneforge, Snapcaster, and the potential Sanctifier en-Vec.

Engineered Explosives is awkward and slow, but has the potential to answer Sanctifier en-Vec and Rest in Peace. Even though RIP doesn't combo well with Snapcaster Mage I still felt it could come in after board.

Top 8

I entered the Top 8 as the seventh seed which meant I faced teammate, Raja Sulaiman, in the first round on the draw. I voted to split the top 8 prizes, but someone rejected the offer meaning we were playing it out.

Top 8: Raja Sulaiman with Azorius Control LOSS

I mulled to five on the draw and didn't find enough lands to escape Kroxa. The game was surprisingly close. It took a few turns to get Lurrus online and Raja's clock was a Celestial Colonnade.

We both mulled to six cards. Raja kept a one-lander with two Chalice. He played the Chalice on the third turn and I only drew a third land and five 1-drops. There were two Kroxa in the graveyard meaning a fourth land would have likely won the game.

Overall, I thought this was a great showing for Dress Shadow. I faced eight different decks making my proactive game plan an asset. My draws were way below average and was still able to sneak into the Top 8. I was also on the draw six out of eight rounds and lost five out of eight Game 1s.

I would once again not change the maindeck, but would play the following sideboard:

Spell Pierce might have been better than the third Flusterstorm the entire time. Not only does it counter Teferi and Chalice of the Void against Azorius Control, but also hits Blood Moon out of Temur Rhinos. I can also board it against Tron to counter Karn and Ugin. Aspiringspike was boarding in Flusterstorm to counter early Sylvan Scrying and Ancient Stirring, but Pierce also gets the Expedition Map.

If your local metagame has a lot of Izzet Murktide then feel free to swap the second Flusterstorm with another Mystical Dispute for Murktide Regent.

Dress Shadow will continue to be one of my favorite Modern decks and I'll play it more in the future.

My other favorite Modern deck is Temur Rhinos. Here's my current list:

Temur Rhinos | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

Each tournament I play with Temur Rhinos features me being overly impressed with Cryptic Command and disappointed with Prismari Command. Both cards interact with Chalice of the Void, but you just have to bounce it for a turn to resolve some rhinos and then the card is no longer relevant.

The single Seasoned Pyromancer gets stronger when I trim down to a single Prismari Command as the looting effects have diminishing returns. Pyromancer wants me to dump my hand while Prismari wants me to hold the less useful cards to cycle.

I could play a second Dead // Gone over a Bonecrusher Giant, but prefer the more versatile card in Game 1. Either way they will likely be swapped for Endurance or Blood Moon depending on my post board strategy against non-creature decks.

Blood Moon can be used as a random disruptive element, but Cryptic Command means I want to be more purposeful when I board them in. I would like to be able to cast Cryptic as it's a high impact card, but there are only two Islands.

The sideboard numbers work well in this list. Against combo and control I cut two Bonecrusher, one Dead // Gone, and four Fury. I can bring in four Mystical Disputes and then my pick of three Blood Moon or Endurance. I don't want Endurance and Blood Moon in my deck at the same time because there's only a single Forest.

Against creature decks the sideboarding is even easier. Swap four Force of Negation for three Endurance and a Dead // Gone.

That's all I have for today. Modern is in a great place. No deck is "the best" and you are heavily rewarded for knowing your strategy inside and out.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

TAGS articles, metagame, constructed, tournament reports, analysis, tournament report, modern, decklist, sideboarding, kyle boggemes, 09292021

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