SCG and TCG Player Modern State Championships – RG Scapeshift

by Richard Meshell

Since SCG Regionals in February, I had tried several versions of Scapeshift to make it through Eldrazi Winter (I had only played in FNMs, and chose not to travel to GP Detroit). I had tried RUG Scapeshift and Bring To Light Scapeshift (splashing white for Supreme Verdict and Timely Reinforcements), but neither were as much fun in such an aggressive meta. I then decided to resleeve RG Titanshift in time for SCG States. I played it successfully in a few weekday modern events and decided to hop back on the RG train!

This is the list I sleeved up for SCG Modern States.

Deck: SCG Modern State Championship – RG Scapeshift
Lands		Spells		Creatures		Sideboard
4	Cinder Glade	3	Explore	4	Primeval Titan	1	Koth of the Hammer
3	Forest	4	Khalni Heart Expedition	4	Sakura-Tribe Elder	3	Obstinate Baloth
7	Mountain	4	Lightning Bolt			1	Inferno Titan
2	Stomping Ground	2	Prismatic Omen			3	Nature’s Claim
4	Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle	2	Relic of Progenitus			1	Ancient Grudge
3	Windswept Heath	4	Scapeshift			2	Sudden Shock
4	Wooded Foothills	4	Search for Tomorrow			3	Anger of the Gods
		2	Summoner’s Pact			1	Nourish
27	cards	25	cards	8	cards	15	cards
Display deck statistics

Before the tournament, an extra slot in the sideboard was either going to be devoted to Burn or Collected Company decks. Nourish earned the spot at the last minute over Grafdigger’s Cage. Koth of the Hammer and Inferno Titan were concessions to Blood Moon and also doubled as alt-win cons.

SCG Round 1: Jason with Affinity

Jason is a regular at my shop. He had been playing both Affinity and GW Hatebears, so I was unsure of what he brought to the tournament. I kept a turn four (T4)  kill regardless and he keeps what I believe was a slower Affinity hand powered by Master of Etherium. I’m able to race it and take game 1. In game 2, I had ballsy play in attempting to Nature’s Claim an Arcbound Ravenger to stay alive. If it had resolved, my follow up Scapeshift would not have been lethal and I likely would have lost, however if the Ravenger remained I could have lost that turn. He opted to modular onto another creature that was not attacking and I followed up for lethal. 1-0

SCG Round 2: Michael with Melira Company

I lose the dice roll and lose on his turn 4 after passing his turn 3 with just a Wall of Roots (CoCo’d into two combo peices, cast the 3rd). I’m on the play for game 2, but I lose on his turn 3 to pretty much the exact same play. I was not thrilled since both my hands were Turn 4 kills. There might have been a lack of interaction on my part (my hands were good, but did not contain a bolt), but still. 1-1

SCG Round 3: Molly with UWR Kiki Control

UWR is a very good matchup for this deck, as you eventually don’t need to resolve your threats (Scapeshift, Primetime) but gain incremental value with your ramp spells. I misplayed in Game 1, where I had a window to resolve a non-lethal Scapeshift (or Primetime I think), but opted to play a ramp spell to go longer into the game. I lost to the Kiki Jiki-Restoration Angel Combo. In game 2, I mulliganed to 5 but my Valakut was able to get online and I eventually burned her out. In game 3, I mulliganed to 5 as well, but Valakut and Prismatic Omen closed the game out. In game 3 I opted to cast a non-lethal Scapeshift (which did resolve) to grab a few Valakuts with an Omen on the field. That way I just make land drops and win. 2-1

SCG Round 4: Brian with Melira Company

In game 1, I kept a good turn 4 hand but lost to his turn 3 combo. It was a blind keep, as I did not know what deck he was playing. In game 2, I kept some interaction but ultimately lost due to a misplay on my part (I believe). My interaction was Sudden Shock and he led off with a Seer. I opted to go ahead and Shock it to free up my mana, however he was able to buy it back and get his combo off. In retrospect, I should have held up the sudden shock (ramp be damned), and interrupted the combo. 2-2

SCG Round 5: Nick with Mardu Green

I do not enjoy playing friends at events, and Nick had been brewing a Mardu Green deck with Liliana, Goyf, Lingering Souls, Bolts, Helix, etc. The deck is good when running but has a fallacy of not being able to apply pressure (outside of Goyf). We had tested a few matches and knew it was a bad matchup for him. Game 1, I have a T4 or 5 win and he doesn’t have much to interact with it. In game 2, I don’t have a lot of ramp, but I do have an Omen and Scapeshift. I know his deck has exactly 1 card to interact with Prismatic Omen (Anguished Unmaking), so I play the Omen and Scapeshift with 4 lands to grab 4 Valakuts (to get around his targeted discard). He’s dead in two turns (the 6th land was a fetchland which triggered each Valakut twice). 3-2

SCG Round 6: TJ with Dredge

I did not know what deck he was playing, but my blind keep contained a Relic of Progenitus and enough ramp to get there. He leads off with a Faithless Looting and my blind keep looks a lot better. I take game 1 with a Primeval Titan and a few Valakut triggers. A common card for Dredge is Gnaw to the Bone, which gave me troubles playing RUG but the RG version with Prismatic Omen could handle it. In game 2 he gets off to a fast start and I die the turn before I can combo. In game 3, he plays a mostly fair game and has sided in a Spellskite. I have an Omen and Khalni Heart Expedition on the field, and I’m running through the math of how many triggers I can get and if I can win this turn. I have a Primetime in hand, but elect not to cast it. At this point, several of my friends are watching and ask why I didn’t try to win that turn. The answer was I was starting to fall to fatigue and just didn’t see the play. It was a terrible game on my part, but I was still able to pull out a victory. 4-2.

SCG Round 7: Robert with Naya Burn

Going into Round 7, I’m tied for 16th so I’m still in the running for prizes. The naya burn matchup is fairly tough, and is not favorable. I knew what the guy was playing since we were seated near each other in the previous round, so I kept a hand with Tribe Elder to block and a Lightning Bolt, but no finishers (Pact, Scapeshift, Titan). The first two turns go as planned, but I do not see my finishers in enough time. In game 2, the mental fatigue hit hard as I left all my cards I intended to side out in the MD and continued to draw all of them. His deck became more potent against my MD cards (Khalni Heart Expedition, Omen, Relic) as he brought in a few Destructive Revelries. It was not my finest hour, but staying sharp after 7 rounds is part of the battle. 4-3

 

I finished in 22nd place with a 4-3 record. Overall, I could have played better. The maindeck setup felt pretty solid, but my sideboarding plans and sideboard in general could use some work. Knowing the next event I wanted to participate in were TCG States, I played in several weekday modern events, tweaking the maindeck and sideboard. Over 17 matches, my record was 10-7 against various decks. It wasn’t a great record, but a rough win percentage of 58% was fine.

I made a few changes to the sideboard, as I expected a lot of Chord and Company decks. Two Gragdigger’s Cages were a concession to that. Sudden Shock and Melira come in for Infect and small creature matchups (I saw plenty of Infect at SCG States). Melira can also act as a bear against burn decks, where Baloths come in as well. The 3 Claims/1 Grudge split was tested for a few weeks. I tried 2 Grudges/2 Back to Nature as the artifact and enchantment removal package, but found I wanted more numbers of a particular hate in the matchups were I was bringing it in. For instance, Ancient Grudge is a great card against Affinity but the sideboard can only have so many since it is not as useful in a lot of matchups. Back to Nature can wipe the board of multiple Leylines/Blood Moons, but is more narrow in a general field. Nature’s Claim gives some flexibility here. Inferno Titan was chosen as the alternate win condition to fill in the last slot (Koth still needed more testing).

This is the list I registered for TCG States:

Deck: TCG Player Modern State Championship – RG Titanshift
Lands		Spells		Creatures		Sideboard
4	Cinder Glade	3	Explore	4	Primeval Titan	1	Inferno Titan
3	Forest	4	Khalni Heart Expedition	4	Sakura-Tribe Elder	3	Obstinate Baloth
7	Mountain	4	Lightning Bolt			1	Ancient Grudge
2	Stomping Ground	2	Prismatic Omen			3	Nature’s Claim
4	Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle	2	Relic of Progenitus			2	Sudden Shock
3	Windswept Heath	4	Scapeshift			2	Anger of the Gods
4	Wooded Foothills	4	Search for Tomorrow			2	Grafdigger’s Cage
		2	Summoner’s Pact			1	Melira, Sylvok Outcast
27	cards	25	cards	8	cards	15	cards
Display deck statistics

TCG Round 1: Wenjaun with Junk

I sit down determined to start the day off well. I lose the dice roll and my opponent leads off with a turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. I get the feeling that she either doesn’t know what I’m playing, or is just new to Modern as she’s taking a while reading my cards and making a decision. I have some good ramp and a Relic to keep her Scavenging Ooze in check, but no action or plan but to build towards natural Valakut triggers. That plan goes sideways with consecutive Siege Rhinos and I lose soon thereafter. Game 2, she plays a turn 2 Stony Silence. I get in with some hits off a Baloth then end it with a Scapeshift. She readjusts her sideboard plans and leads off with a Leyline of Sanctity, which I had not boarded for. My plan then became to play board control with Valakut and beat down with Titans and Baloths. She Thoughtseized a Summoner’s Pact from my hand (which represents a Titan), but I managed to get Valakut online pretty quick to take out a large Siege Rhino and a 6/7 Goyf and finish the game with beats. I felt lucky, but I’m glad the deck has some resilience to switch gears like that.  1-0

TCG Round 2: Alex with Grixis Delver

He leads off with a Delver that immediately gets bolted. His follow up is a Pyromancer and Thought Scour (revealing Terminate). I get up to seven lands and cast Scapeshift. I assume his hand must have been some mix of Terminate and Snapcaster (with no good targets) because it resolved with no problems. Game 2, he snap keeps so I can only assume the hand has a Blood Moon. He then thoughtseizes the Inferno Titan out of my hand, and I crack a fetchland to grab a basic forest when he casts Blood Moon (on cue). He establishes a clock of Pyromancer and Bolts while I’m hoping to draw either a second green source to cast the Baloth in my hand or one of the Nature’s Claims I sided in. Neither happens in time. In game 3 I think he stumbles on mana a little bit, but also seemed to overvalue Blood Moon as he was aggresively Thought Scouring for it (or something at least as he played all 4 copies that game). I eventually resolved a Scapeshift and won (with Nature’s Claim/Primeval Titan backup). 2-0

TCG Round 3: Mahindra with UWR Nahiri

I’m feeling pretty good and confident at this point as I usually start 1-1 and ruin my breakers for the day. This guy was seated near me, and I remebered he was playing UWR (his Expeditions and foil Snapcasters were hard to forget). I also noticed he was playing Nahiri/Emrakul. I kept a hand that slowly developed into a nautral Valakut kill, and since I’m on the play my Heart Expeditions are easier to resolve. I kill him with natural Valakut triggers, but also have to play around Cryptic Command (which can just bounce the Valakut I have in response to me finding a land). He has no pressure so this is easily done. Game 2 plays out much of the same way, except he manages to stick a Nahiri. I could not kill him before Nahiri brought in Emrakul (he had mana leaked my Grafdigger’s Cage earlier), so I was forced to devote resources to get it off the table. Prior to that he had a few turns where he wasn’t doing anything, so that signaled to me that he was holding a Crumble to Dust. I waited to play Valakut until I could make use of its triggers. He did burn the Crumble on a Stomping Ground, but I only have 2 so it wasn’t a huge loss. After managing to Valakut Nahiri off the table, I eventually closed it out. 3-0.

TCG Round 4: Chet with Melira Company

Ah yes. This deck. This one that was my poltergeist from the last tournament. Luckily he is seated near me in the previous round, so I have an idea of what he was playing. He wins the die roll and rolls out with a Birds, which I Bolt. His next creature is a Hiearch and then Finks. He passes to me on his turn 5 with 4 mana up (OH I WONDER WHAT IT COULD BE). I go for a lethal Scapeshift and he casts a Collected Company looking to hit two pieces of his combo. He doesn’t and we move to Game 2. I don’t remember much of the second game except that it involved Viscera Seer, Kitchen Finks, and me not getting to turn 4. I kept my SB the same and decided to just keep the first  hand I saw with Grafdigger’s Cage. It was in my first 7, but it only contained 1 land (still castable right?). I played the Cage, which he did not know turned off Company and Persist nor saw in game 2, and it was enough to slow him down enough for me to draw into some lands and let my ramp get me to Scapeshift mana. 4-0

TCG Round 5: Lawence with Naya Burn

ID. I had been seated pretty high all day, so I knew at this point what everyone was playing. My opponent and I were the only undefeated players, so we can safely double draw into the top 8. 4-0-1

TCG Round 6: Doug with Melira Company

ID into Top 8. 4-0-2

First Round of Top 8: Mike with UWR Nahiri

I was very excited to be in the top 8. Going in as the 3 seed, I was had the option of play/draw. I chose to play. Mike had played all 6 rounds and most of his games had gone long, so I didn’t think there was a chance he knew what I was playing unless he spotted me earlier. I kept a hand with Valakut, 2 Heart Expeditions, and a bunch of lands. I eventually drew another Valakut and basically did not need to resolve anything the entire game (outside of the two Heart Expeditions early on). Game 2, he took the play and kept a hand with Crumble to Dust in it. He however stumbled on lands (missing 2 land drops before hitting his 3rd). At that point I had enough mana to cast a Scapeshift though a Remand/Mana Leak and had a spare in case it was Negated. 5-0-2

Second Round of Top 8: Lawence with Naya Burn

Concession. He wanted to leave since we were getting kinda late and the last match of the Round of 8 (Melira Company mirror) took well over an hour. In an ironic twist, the other semi-final match featured a concession as one of the players needed to leave to get ready for work (or something). It was truly odd. The Semifinals would have RG Scapeshift vs Burn and Melira Company vs Burn.

Finals: Doug with Melira Company

Doug made it to the finals of the SCG Modern States a few weeks prior, so it was impressive that he mirrored the performance. He also lost to Scapeshift in that finals match, so I was hoping to repeat that. I choose to play first, and he mulligans to 6. I keep a turn 4 hand with Omen and Scapeshift, so no reasonable amount of lifegain from Finks could fade him a turn. On his turn 3, he CoCos into Finks and Melira then casts Viscera Seer from his hand.

………

…………………………

……………………………………….Game 2 I guess.

In game two, I kept a hand with two Cages and a decent amount of board control. He’s never able to get the cages off the table as I keep his Pridemage in check. I can tell he’s also mentally fatigued from his last match because he casts a Collected Company into Gragdigger’s Cage, then proceeds to activate a fetchland (to which I respond by killing his Pridemage while he has no mana) and forgets to grab a land. He notices when we adjust our life totals. He moves to game 3 out of embarrassment.

For Game 3 I keep a very good hand with Sudden Shock, Anger of the Gods, and Scapeshift. I draw into a Grafdiggers’s Cage as well. A turn 2 Tidehollow Sculler took the Cage, which was Sudden Shocked back. By the time I had Anger mana, his board was a Birds of Paradise and a Kitchen Finks while mine had the Cage. I elected not to cast Anger, thinking I should get more value from it. His follow up play was a Tidehollow Sculler that interrupted that plan and became unanswered (Finks and Sculler became the clock). I lost with 6 lands and a Scapeshift. In retrospect, I made two errors in this particular game.

1. Did not respect the represented clock. Anger would have been a Stone Rain and a kill spell. In this matchup I am playing to live to 7 lands, not drag the game on.
2. I took 2-4 unnecessary damage from a Tidehollow Sculler. I had the kill spell ready, but did not fire it off during attacks in order to see the follow up play. I died on an attack for 6 while I was at 5 life.

I finished 2nd after a long day. I had a long drive home to think about how the last game could have played differently, but still felt good about my performance on the day. I felt like I played very sharp with few mistakes. Having decent matchups all day helped as well. I also improved my sideboarding for several matchups, identifying when I could cut ramp spells and play a more midrange game. I believe that contributed to a few wins over the day, so I will continue to develop my sideboarding guide for the deck (hopefully to the point to where I can post about it).

Final Standings

Going forward, the deck still feels like a solid choice. The two maindeck Relic of Progenitus may get swapped for something else, but have proven useful a number of times.  Some variations of this deck have forgone Scapeshift in favor of more Summoner’s Pacts and Through the Breach (to get hasty Titans). RG Scapeshift feels like it would be less explosive, but still consistently plays for a turn 4 win and would be less vulnerable to dead draws.

The next large event I plan on taking the deck to is the SCG Atlanta Modern Classic in June (barring some huge shift in the meta), and I’ll aim on improving my 5-3 record from the last classic.