masonclark
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Money Pile sideboard guide October 3rd 2022
🕑 Added 2022-10-03 22:06:29 +0000 UTCBinding money pile
9/21/22
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5099072#online
This build of the deck is the weirdest and most “Mason Clarks four color build” of all time. I am going to spend some time talking about why we are back on ephemeral and eternal witness, along with both traverse. Which as far as I can tell has never been done before. However first lets start with the big upgrade card from Dominaria United.
Leyline Binding
Money pile has gotten a huge upgrade with Leyline binding. I will admit I was a little hesitant at first. After all, we are already so good at controlling the board. Would having a two mana O-ring effect really matter all that much? I was wrong, it really helps. I think part of my mistake was thinking of it versus cards like prismatic ending and not versus unholy heat and bolt. Now worth noting that in none eternal witness builds you maybe want to cut some endings for bindings, but when you have eternal witness you put a premium on cards that go to your graveyard to be reused and abused.
Once I framed it next to the red removal it was much clearer that I wanted this catch all compared to one of those and march of otherworldly light. March is a card that basically only I still played and advocated for. This was mostly because of its catch all nature and interaction with eternal witness. However the brutal efficiency of binding has me finally putting down the march.
Binding's biggest strength is being another Murktide answer. While already a good matchup the axis they would try to push us on was having a low number of outs to Murktide. While two isn't a huge increase its meaningful when compared to the cards we cut for it.
Binding also has proven to be weirdly strong against legendary permanents, especially walkers. As your able to answer them then flicker our bounce the binding in this deck meaning they will lose one of the legendary permanents to the legend rule then your binding will answer the one left behind. While seemingly fringe it has come up a big time in grindy matchups and the mirror.
In general though binding allows you to answer lots of problematic cards that were previously very taxing on your leylind bindings. Something that some decks looked to exploit vs us.
A quick aside on binding. Some players are splashing a black triome so it cost one mana. I am really against this if your only playing two and still fairly resistant if your playing three to four. While being one mana is obviously good. Its very hard to take a bunch of turns off in the early game fetching triomes and very painful vs the agro decks to be fetching triome into shock land in order to enable this card. As it currently stands you can fetch jeskai triome into forest and have both w6 mana but also binding mana.
Eternal witness
When I last wrote about four color we had moved off of eternal witness. This was just a concession to playing a team event and expecting a lot of mirrors and murktide. Now that I am back in a solo field mindset I am moving back to witness. She still is the most powerful late game available.
This is my preferred late game. Presenting the loop is as powerful as ever and when reaching the super late game in the mirrors is still the ultimate end game.
A lot of players have completely moved away from the loop and that in part was due to ephemarte being at an all time low, but as my want for fury has come back with Yawg and Hammer making big waves in the metagame, my want for ephemeral has re risen. Meaning Eternal witness has as well. We have gone down to just two witnesses, but that is in part due to some fudging of the numbers when it comes to traverse.
Traverse
A common card in four color but not when both baubles are missing and a witness is present. To figure out how we got here we need to look backwards.
Since first starting to play four color I have wanted more lands in the deck. I never went over 30 but I often wanted 31. When you have Wrenn and Six its not a problem but too often that doesn't happen or your opponents answer her. Your deck is also prone to flooding out. While your deck has lots of cantrips its doesnt have much card selection outside of expressive iteration.
This would lead to many games where you would just run into these 3-4 turn stretches where you would just draw lands. Since we are a deck that needs such heavy mana requirements you just need a lot of lands. This was slightly fixed by the delirium builds of four color. Where you not only had to traverse to find lands in your deck allowing you to go as low as 28 lands, but you also had Mishra bauble. Which allowed you to bauble yourself in combination with your fetch lands to control your draw step. Which is its own form of selection.
After playing a lot of the delirium build I was happy with Traverse as it allowed me to play a high land count and still have a card that when you're late wasnt useless. However I wasn't happy with the rest of the deck. Four color lends itself to answering problems and winning later. The delirium builds while slightly better in the mirror are much worse at those super long games.
So I wanted to go about figuring out how to combine the best parts of witness with the best parts of delirium. Leyline binding allowed us to play a strong removal spell on the level of unholy heat and not needing to commit hard to delirium. So that problem was solved but what about Traverse? Are we happy having a spell that for the first 7 turns on average is just a basic land with extra steps?
The answer is yes. Anytime my Traverse gets to search a creature I am incredibly happy, but I also signed up to play it as a basic land. So when building the deck I was able to go down to 29 lands and still have the 31 lands I always wanted.
I have never been a big fan of the traverse for sideboard bullet plans outside of the promised end. That was when we had bauble to help with delirium and finding those creatures. So I simply moved away from all of that noise and went in on a traditional grind you out blink deck.
Conclusion
This deck is really built to attack a lot of the trends in the metagame and position itself as far as possible on the “I am the go long deck” as you can be. Decks like living end are on a decline and decks like hammer are on the rise. So moving back to this more traditional build is very appealing personally and I have been incredibly happy with the deck so far.
Murktide
In 3 Veil of summer 1 Supreme Verdict 2 Flusterstorm 2 Endurance 1 Promised End
Out 2 Dress down 3 Counter spell 2 Ephimerate 1 Fury 1 eternal witness
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-murktide-regent#online
This match up almost always comes down to the play pattern of Murktide plus counter spells. Often early with 4 mana, but they are able play into the latter game and often do this on six to seven mana. Its your job to be pressuring them so that they can not set up for murktide for forever. You also want to be saving your murktide answers for murktide, as it often takes two answers to actually win the game given the play pattern we mentioned above. The cards that are best at this are Icefang Coatl, Teferi 3, Leyline binding and Solitude. So try and save these answers for the Murktide Regent. Sometimes other cards will line up well versus Murktide, but for the most part these are the cards you should prioritize protecting. When it comes to beating up murktide we have the three verdicts which completely trumps the dynamic presented of murk and counterspell.
Traverse 4c
In 1 Supreme Verdict 2 Endurance 1 dress down 1 promised end
Out 4 Coatl 1 Counterspell
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5026528#online
It's all about two things in this mirror. Card advantage and mana advantage. As such Wrenn and SIx and Omnath are two key cards in the match up. Keeping these in check is priority one when playing.The rest of the mirror comes down to making good trades and attacks and setting up the Promised End. It's a card that puts up so many cards on the opponent and can only really be answered by verdict and solitude in the match up. After that the matchup comes down to making solid trades like a traditional game of magic. Don't be afraid to take the role of the beatdown if you start falling really far behind on cards. You do have the better late game thanks to Witness, but that doesnt mean you should just make the game go long if you can captalize on them being behind on board.
You bring in the Supreme Verdict so that if you are behind on board you're able to catch up and answer cards like Emrakul. We also have the two Endurance as an Emrakul hedge potentially rotting it in there hand for the rest of the game. Turning off an Unholy Heat and Traverse the Ulvenwald is also a fine use of the card which can create some blow out moments for you in the match up.
4C Elementals
In 1 Supreme Verdict 2 Endurance 1 dress down 1 promised end
Out 3 Coatl 2 Counterspell
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5026530#online
A lot of the same stuff applies here with one caveat.Some times these games go super long so endurance yourself to put back threats is a real line. Outside of that they are the bigger version of your deck, but they need cards like Risen Reef to actually out card you. So make sure you're keeping that card in check as best you can.
Amulet Titan
In 1 Dress down 1 Boseju 3 Chalice 1 force of vigor
Out 3 coatl 3 Teferi 3
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5026527#online
This is a bad match up. Not unwinnable but they are favored especially game one. They are fast and consistent and have ways to dodge some of our most impactful hate cards.
They win by chaining threats against you thanks to pact plus Tolaria West. So Chalice stops them from doing that which means winning is typically much easier as they have less threats. Boseju and force of vigor is a good way to stop any sort of quick kill shenanigans.Things to keep in mind with it are you will be able to blow up a bounce land with untap on the stack from the amulet, you also can blow up and amulet or dryad. I try to save dress downs for cultivator colossus if I can afford to but don't be too committed to that line if it means you will fall really far behind.
Another spot where leyline binding and ephemeral shine. Binding removing either the dryad, the titan, or the amulet is some all star stuff, and ephemeral allowing us keep multiple titans in check is indispensable
Shadow
In 2 Veil of Summer 1 Supreme Verdict 2 endurance 1 flusterstorm
Out 2 Dress Down 3 Counterspell 1 ephimerate
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-death-s-shadow-472#online
This matchup is a lot like Murktide, except they can reach the end game of murktide plus counter spell as easily and will instead present a bunch of early threats then try and clear the way with discard. In this matchup prioritize keeping the battlefield clear. Your endurance does a good job of keeping DRC in check from the opponent, but also a great way to turn off a Drown in the Loch that is trying to break up one of our more powerful cards. Endurance is an important tool to match up.
Living End
In 3 Chalice 2 Fluster 2 Endurance 2 Veil
Out 2 lightning bolt 1 leyline binding 4 Prismatic Ending 2 Dress Downl
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-blue-living-end#online
This is your worst match up that is commonly played. Things like belcher are worse Matchups but worse vs the field. You need to mulligan down to at least 5 looking for one hate piece. Ideally 2 ( note counterspell and teferi 3 when on the play counts as a hate pieces IMO)
Most of the SB is obvious just a few quick hits. First Verdict is to counter shardless agents so don't fight over shardless as much if you have a verdict. Endurance is often better used to pitch cast if you have some way to protect it with a blue spell due to them playing disputes fairly often. Veil is an interesting card as it only stops a few things but I think compared to everything else we have it often comes out being worth the exchange. If you have Veil or Fluster make sure you're playing your lands before casting your chalice on turn 1. So that you can fight over the chalice.
Hammer
In 1 Dress Down 1 Boseju 1 Verdict 1 force of vigor
Out 4 Counter Spell
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5026056#online
Historically this is one of our best match ups, but as time has gone on and we have inbred for the mirror, murktide and living end. This has led to fewer cards that are heavily impactful. Combine that with them picking up cards like Black Smith’s skill and Kaldra, making this matchup much more tricky then it used to be. While still in your favor I think it's less so than it was before and does require you to really respect their plays. Our 4 sb cards all are just slight swings to help stabilize. Just do your best to keep things under control and pressure on them and work towards ending the game sooner than later.
Leyline binding has been a great get for this match up as it answer any size creature but can also take the hammers or enables depending on the axis you want to fight on. The move back to ephemeral has also helped move this match up back to its former glory, however its still not as easy as it was back in the fall of last year.
Crashing footfalls (rhino)
In 3 Chalice 2 Fluster 1 Boseju 1 supreme verdict
Out 2 Dress Down 3 Coatl 2 lightning bolt
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5026076#online
This is a fairly good match up. Your opponent really needs to have a draw that puts pressure on you early and back it up with permission. Generally speaking your main game plan is good enough in this match up. Protect Omnath and play around Blood Moon post board. They sometimes can steal games but for the most part you are a heavy favorite.
There have been some players moving to the YoRhino’s deck. The match up is the same sideboard wise. They only big difference is they can more easily break up our hate pieces. While frustrating its not unwinable and doesnt mean your with out counter play. Cards like Boseju that we bring in to answer Blood Moon out of the Temur builds does heavy lifting here as a way remove the binding and put your lock piece back in play. Which can be devastating in the case of Teferi, which will make your opponent unable to respond before hand and near impossible to stop the bosjeu given its a channel ability.
Just like normal rhinos they can sometimes cheese you but the match up is very good if you play tight and have a normal draw
Jeskai Breach
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-grinding-station#paper
In 3 Chalice 1 Force of Vigor 1 Dress down 1 Boseju 2 Endurance
Out 1 Ephimerate 1 Fury 2 Verdict 1 Omnath 3 Coatl
This is a fairly tough match up. When they have a fair draw your often able to overcome them. However when they have the combo half of the deck it is much harder but not impossible to stop there combo. As we have many potent cards against them and they need specific cards in play.
The problem comes when they have a mixture of both draws. This duel competing axis of attack is how we fall behind and lose this matchup. When they are making constructs and we cant full tap out to answer them due to the combo we start falling further and further behind.
To win this match up work on establishing something early like Omnath to pressure them and mitigate the fair plan.
All our sideboard cards can be beaten by them, no plan is foolproof versus them. This is why establishing some sort of clock is so important so you do not give them infinite time to work through your hate pieces.
You should chalice on zero if your on the play. Once you draw your 2nd chalice, its often good to put it to two if you dont have counterspell in hand. Another trick to use second chalice is to play yorrion, flicker the chalice then play another one on zero making the opponent get through two chalices before combo’ing.
Rakdos Scam
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-rakdos-midrange#paper
In 3 Veil of Summer 1 Dress Down
Out 2 Ephimerate 1 Eternal Witness 1 teferi3
This matchup is fairly easy if they dont scam you. Your deck is built to fight fair value games. However if they double grief on the play you might get chessed that game. Same goes true for the main deck blood moons. Ultimately your game plan beats their plan on a conceptual level. This is why we have seen the Rakdos scam deck succeeding recently. The Four Color decks have been at an all time low.
Tourach is the only card they have that presents a huge problem and we sideboard accordingly for that. They also only have two on average so not enough to consistently have it on turn four when its often its most powerful against us. You just want to make sure your using your white removal before Tourach so you are not caught with them in hand and it in play.
Creativity
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-indomitable-creativity#paper
In 1 Boesju 1 Force of vigor 1 dress down 2 Fluster storm
Out 4 Coatl 1 Lighting bolt
This is the new hotness in Modern right now and it's very good. They have a fairly strong long game with the ability to quickly close the game out with and early archon. Typically in this matchup you want to slowly establish board dominance in some way.We are often wanting to establish something like Wrenn and Six or Teferi and protect it. These cards will help force them to do something sooner then later. As an archon ETB’ing is bad but often not the end of the world. Especially if we got decent value out of these cards. The matchup is favored if we make it to the super late game. This is why the card FOV is good in the matchup. As they stop you from getting archon early via treasures or clues, which is a card type we struggle to interact with.While not perfect for this matchup. If they quickly get an archon down it can be hard to come back from. Especially since they are now adopting Leyline Binding which is a card we are starting to lean on and is very potent in this matchup. While we are not boarding out bindings out its very frustrating just how impactful hey are in the mirror. Small note on binding in this matchup. Use it early on tokens if you have a teferi 3 as a way to reduce the number of targets they can have for creativity.
This deck has started exploding in popularity because it has such a good matchup versus us but its not unwinable by any means.
