[Modern] First modern deck ever

[cob507]

First modern deck ever

please give feedback. i need it.

[KouriNick]

Deck looks like a pristine example of Modern Affinity. Did you have questions about how the deck works or the sideboard?

[cob507]

Hi,
Thanks for responding. My main question is when to keep or mulligan down?
I've been getting advice by my 2 friends who play modern, one plays affinity. What I'm taking from what they are saying that its mostly about getting a lot of board presence early. is that true?

[KouriNick]

For mulliganing, it does depend a bit if it's game 1 or 2 and whether or not you're on the play or draw, but for now let's assume it's game 1 and you're on the play. The ideal hand would be a land, an accelerator (like spring leaf or moxie opal), a couple creature and a Haymaker  (any non vault skirge 2 or 3 drop). Inkmoth nexus is also a very good reason to keep a hand since a lot of decks struggle to deal with it and it can be such a fast clock.

Really what it comes down to with affinity is: With a keepable affinity hand you should be able to look at it and know how it's going to win the game

Affinity is such a fast deck that what will kill your opponent is most likely in your opening hand, and keeping a hand without a clear way to win is risky since most other decks will be able to get ahead if you in the late game. The good news is you can mulligan pretty freely since your deck is already so explosive and able to play so much so quickly.

So a keepable could be like:
1 inkmoth Nexus
1 ornithopter
1 memnite
1 mox opal
1 cranial plating
1 darksteel citadel
1 galvanic blast

But if that cranial plating is a signal pest... I'd now probably mulligan, because the hand doesn't have a clear path to victory. Signal pest and attack with everything is okay... but its only 2 infect a turn and at most 3 damage, so its a very slow clock.

Post Sideboard you also need to judge your hands through the lens of "can this beat whatever artifact hate they brought in?" If your only Haymaker is an Overseer, then you have to worry about artifact destruction, creature removal, board wipes, and Stony silence  (all or which are ikely to come in against you), whereas if your Haymaker is Cranial Plating or Arcbound Ravager, it becomes a bit mre resilient to that sort of hate.

As for what your friends said, I agree, affinity ALWAYS wants to be the fastest deck, so early board presence is high priority. You more or less live by the mantra, "the best defence is a good offence", since you always want your opponent to focus on dealing with what you have over developing thier own board state.

Anywho, thanks for reading my novel of a comment. I hope you find it helpful. And if you have more questions, feel free to ask!

[cob507]

Hi nick,
thanks again.
what would you consider the win cons of this deck?

[KouriNick]

In affinity, your primary win conditions will be cranial plating and inkmoth nexus, with cranial going on just about any creature to make it super high damage, and inkmoth quickly wiping out your opponent through infect counters.

Arcbound Ravager, Overseer, Master of Etherium, and Etched Champion are all sort of secondary win conditions in that they need something else to push them over the top. Ravager + inkmoth is great, overseer with a swarm of little guys will get thete, Master can beat down if you have an army, and Etched Champion + plating or ravaher ends games real fast.