Scapeshift isn’t tier 1 and the list that got T8 at Pittsburgh didn’t even run BtL. Although I still think BtL is decent, and I even bet on Scapeshift at Pittsburgh, it’s also clear that both the deck and the BtL version in particular have a long way to go in Modern.

Care to change your views on BTL Scapeshift now that its pushed Scapeshift to T1?

I’ve tried Vampiric Rites as a 2-of in my BW Soul Sisters/Humans deck. Briefly speaking, its the Soul Sisters + Ajani Pridemate, + Champion of the Parish as an alternate growing threat, with a black splash for Death Cultist + Bloodsoaked Champion, Phyrexian Arena and Dismember.

Because the deck cares about lifegain, I saw great opportunity in BFZ. Vampiric Rites when live is an absolute nightmare for opponents in the midgame – I chump block, sacrifice for lifegain, growing Pridemate and drawing a card. And heres where it gets sweeter – BfZ gave us a creature who cares about death – Zulaport Cutthroat.

Of course, using creatures as disposable assets is such a waste if you can’t bring them back – I also field Immortal Servitude. Bringing back Champions of the Parish, Soul Sisters, Bloodsoaked Champs and Death Cultists is terrific. Every time the opponent let me resolve that, the game was basically over.

Ulamog the Infinite Gyre (“Oldlamog”) is fantastic in grindy matchups, particularly those that play counterspells (read: Grixis). Destroying a permanent, eating a cryptic command, and reshuffling for the “do-over” two turns later is big game, especially since it’s harder to get up to 13/15 mana for the spaghetti monster to shut things down. The annihilate 4 trigger is extremely relevant: instead of a 2-3 turn clock where your opponent can play magic versus a 2-3 turn clock where your opponent loses all their lands and can’t play magic.

Newlamog exiling is relevant, but he isn’t resilient to countermagic, so I don’t think he’s flexible enough to make the final cut over the Infinite Gyre.

The case against lantern control is intriguing. Elsik stated that the Tron matchup can be sketchy, so the help MIGHT not be needed, though it’s unclear how many people will pick up the deck for competitive events. It’s certainly worth consideration if we wind up with lantern overlords.

Ultimately, I don’t think Tron wants Newlamog. I’ll be experimenting with it for sure, so we’ll see how things work out. I guess I won’t be surprised if it’s a slam dunk like Ugin. A lot of people were heavily against the planeswalking dragon because you can’t cast it T3, but then they tried it and found that exiling all their opponent’s colored permanents straight-up wins a lot of games, whether it is T4 or T10! My win percentage with a resolved Ugin is astoundingly high – the power of playing cards versus theorycrafting!

I do not expect them to stick. Think about it, the phrase is “it takes two to tango” but there are three lands after it ETB.. That poor third leg would be left out. I saw someone on twitter say hedge lands because of the Hedge-mages from Eventide.

I tried it out at my LGS last week and hopefully it will stick! #hedgelands

I would have put Tango-Lands at the number one spot. They help Emeria Control but I think most decks will want the enemy colour Tango’s if they get printed next time.

I agree with your comment there. This card is not a widespread playable, but it can provide value in a deck that fits its niche. Like perhaps a deck running Bitterblossom alongside Abyssal Persecutor and Bloodghast. Thanks for the response! Hope to read a ban list prediction soon 🙂

by mountain i mean paladin. derp.

I can just imagine games where you rip a hada freeblade, and immediately use the encampment for a double set of triggers to win the game on the spot collected company style. And it’s got to be strong against wrath effects and mid-game spot removal. My only gripe on the card is that it swings the pendulum back towards aether vial – and I really like hardened scales ><

“tangos” works fine, I expect this is the name that will stick.

I can potentially see it fitting into shells that desperately need better late game card draw or topdecks – Mardu shells come to mind because they can so completely run out of gas, and they can mitigate the lifeloss from lifelink effects. It’s a VERY hard card to evaluate because it doesn’t really exist in any context, but resolving a draw three when both players are hellbent basically reads : win the game.

Totally agree, and Blisterpod is a strictly better Thallid in that same list. If I had an honorable mention section, both cards would have made it. I actually discuss both of them in a recent Quiet Speculation article on Modern finance. You’ll need QS Insider but you can read it here:
http://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/09/insider-five-modern-pickups-after-battle-for-zendikar/

I’ve also seen the Domain Zoo or Blue Zoo take on the combo, and I see its merits over Bant. As an added bonus, Bant is basically nonexistent in Modern, whereas Naya is a much more established combination. This means you are working from a better initial shell than in the Bant builds. Can’t wait to see how these turn out!

On the one hand, Read the Bones is totally unplayable as a 3 mana draw 2 with selectivity. Sign in Blood is also unplayable as a 2 mana draw 2 with no selectivity. So i’m not sure where this leaves a 3 mana draw 3 with no selectivity, especially when it’s also sorcery speed. This seems like something you want to play later because getting this countered/Remanded early seems really bad, but I think there’s better things to do with your lategame mana. What shells do you see it fitting in?

My biggest issue with Vampiric Rites is that it reminds me of both Barrage of Expendables (the bad Goblin Bombardment) and Molten Vortext (the worse Seismic Assault). Even Evolutionary Leap isn’t quite making it! None of these cards saw serious play or any play at all and Rites fits solidly in their category. It’s very rare for a card to slot into lower-tier decks and increase their playability without some very strong effect. Something like Lantern Scout can do it because it adds a crazy effect to an existing deck and the creature itself has few build-around requirements that Allies isn’t already fulfilling. Rites, however, seems just too niche and weak for Modern.

Of course! I’ll always try to do some kind of set review after a new release, although in weaker sets it might be more of a Top 5 than a Top 10 kind of piece.