• STORE
  • EVENTS
  • ARTICLES
  • DECKS
  • BUYLIST
  • HELP
  • GAME CENTER
  • NEWSLETTER
Advanced Search
Deck Builder
  • LOGIN /
     REGISTER
  • CART
    #
  • WISH
    LIST
  • Magic Singles
    • English
    • Foil English
    • Non-English
    • Foil Non-English
    • Scanned & Graded Cards
    • Misprints and Rarities
    • Wholesale Lots
  • Magic Sealed Product
    • Booster Boxes
    • Booster Packs
    • Box Sets
    • Bundles & Fat Packs
    • Duel Decks
    • Introductory Products
    • Multiplayer Products
    • Non-English Products
    • Tournament/Starter Packs
  • Gaming Supplies
    • Ultimate Guard®
    • Apparel
    • Binders
    • Books & Fat Pack Guides
    • Boxes & Bags
    • Clothing
    • Collectibles
    • Deck Boxes
    • Life Counters & Dice
    • Miscellaneous
    • Playmats
    • Sleeves
  • Specialty Items
    • Creature Collection
    • Gift Cards
    • Lithographs
    • Next Level Library
  • Digital Products
    • Complete Commander
    • Next Level Library
    • OMG: Official Miser's Guide
    • Tha Gatherin'
  • We Buy

Video Daily Digest: The Ideal Still Endures

Ross Merriam
12/22/17
#Select  #Modern  #Video  #SCGCOL  #MTGO  #DailyDigest 
  •  

I've been seeing Enduring Ideal decks more and more recently, and I think this variant does a good job elevating the archetype without doing too much to reinvent the wheel and muck up a good thing.

The primary plan here is to be a prison deck based around annoying enchantments. Leyline of Sanctity, Runed Halo, Suppression Field, and Ghostly Prison all slightly restrict your opponent's ability to play naturally, and when played together, they can almost completely lock them out of the game.

And since they provide significant devotion, they allow you to play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx as a critical mana accelerant towards the end-game of Enduring Ideal. Once you have four or five white mana symbols on the battlefield, you're netting mana with Nykthos, which lets you get to seven mana a turn or two ahead of schedule, which is all you really need, given how much your enchantments impede your opponent.

For those who weren't around for Enduring Ideal's time in Extended, the basic plan is to get Dovescape to stop your opponent from casting relevant spells, Sphere of Safety to ensure that any Bird tokens they generate can't attack en masse, and finally Form of the Dragon to finish them off. If you need anything else like a Leyline of Sanctity or Oblivion Ring to lock out a specific card your opponent has for interaction, you can get that too. The idea is to make sure they can't do anything relevant; no matter their deck, you have that capability with some odd collection of lock pieces.

The innovations I like in this list come from the light red splash and Lotus Bloom. The latter is the mana accelerant that was historically found in this deck and works great here as well. It's just a powerful card and there are going to be some games where you want to get to Enduring Ideal quickly.

The former is there just for Blood Moon, which works poorly with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, but it's powerful enough against some decks that it's more than worthwhile, and Temple of Triumph facilitates the splash while providing some much-wanted card selection.

Since this is a combo deck, the temptation is to rush through things and try to kill your opponent quickly, but Enduring Ideal is really a prison deck masquerading as a combo deck, so you'll want to be patient and aim to virtually end the game well before actually ending it. When you resolve Enduring Ideal, always think about what your opponent's outs are and play to eliminate all of them, and you'll be fine. That this list plays into that mentality means it's on the right track.

Enduring Ideal
Shayne Morris
3rd Place at StarCityGames.com Classic on 12/3/2017
Modern
 

Creatures (2)

  • 2 Simian Spirit Guide

Lands (23)

  • 11 Plains
  • 1 Mistveil Plains
  • 2 Rugged Prairie
  • 1 Sacred Foundry
  • 4 Temple of Triumph
  • 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Spells (36)

  • 4 Lotus Bloom
  • 2 Blood Moon
  • 1 Dovescape
  • 2 Form of the Dragon
  • 4 Ghostly Prison
  • 4 Leyline of Sanctity
  • 1 Oblivion Ring
  • 1 Overwhelming Splendor
  • 3 Phyrexian Unlife
  • 4 Runed Halo
  • 1 Sphere of Safety
  • 4 Suppression Field
  • 4 Enduring Ideal
  • 1 Idyllic Tutor

    Sideboard

  • 1 Defense Grid
  • 2 Ensnaring Bridge
  • 2 Greater Auramancy
  • 1 Oblivion Ring
  • 2 Rest in Peace
  • 2 Stony Silence
  • 1 Story Circle
  • 3 Silence
  • 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
 
 


  •  
#Select  #Modern  #Video  #SCGCOL  #MTGO  #DailyDigest 
« Previous Article
The GAM Podcast, Episode 57: A Little Bit Of Everything
Next Article »
Video: B/R Hollow One In Modern!

About Ross Merriam

Ross has been playing competitive Magic for over ten years and has been a fixture on the SCG TourĀ® since 2012. With a highly analytical approach, he stresses playing fundamentally sound Magic with a preference toward proactive strategies. Always ready and willing to teach, his quest to achieve competitive success will help guide your own path to improvement.

@RossHunneds Twitter
Read more by Ross Merriam


ORGANIZED PLAY
  • THIS WEEK
  • NEXT WEEK
  • +
  • THIS Saturday, April 28
  • Atlanta OPEN
  • IQ Danbury, CT - Gamers Gambit
  • IQ Frederick, MD - Tournament City Games
  • THIS Sunday, April 29
  • Atlanta OPEN
  • Atlanta Modern CLASSIC
  • Atlanta Standard CLASSIC
  • Atlanta Legacy CLASSIC
  • IQ+ New Holland, PA - Six Feet Under Games
  • IQ Newington, CT - Tabletop Shop
  • Saturday, May 5
  • Baltimore OPEN
  • Sunday, May 6
  • Baltimore OPEN
  • Baltimore Modern CLASSIC
  • Baltimore Standard CLASSIC
  • Baltimore Legacy CLASSIC

SCG TOUR ® EVENTS

  • Apr 28 - 29: Atlanta OPEN
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Modern CLASSIC
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Standard CLASSIC
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Legacy CLASSIC
  • May 5 - 6: Baltimore OPEN
  • May 6 : Baltimore Modern CLASSIC
  • May 6 : Baltimore Standard CLASSIC
  • May 6 : Baltimore Legacy CLASSIC
  • May 19 - 20: Louisville OPEN
  • May 20 : Louisville Modern CLASSIC

  • Complete SCG Tour® Schedule | Coverage Archive
1 CALEB W SCHERER 175
2 BENJAMIN NIKOLICH 169
3 JONATHAN ROSUM 167
4 JIM I DAVIS 156
5 TODD STEVENS 148
6 DANNY JESSUP 147
7 ZAN SYED 143
8 DYLAN DONEGAN 141
9 COLLINS MULLEN 130
10 PIETER TUBERGEN 125
11 BRENNAN M DECANDIO 118
12 ANDREW JESSUP 105
13 KEVIN JONES 102
14 JODY M KEITH 97
15 KAZU NEGRI 96
16 JULIAN JOHN 95
DECKLISTS
  • STANDARD
  • MODERN
  • LEGACY
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Durham, US
  • 4/07 Grand Prix Seattle, US
  • 3/25 SCG Classic Cincinnati, US
  • 3/24 Grand Prix Kyoto, JP
  • 3/24 SCG Team Open Cincinnati, US
  • 3/10 Grand Prix Madrid, ES
  • 3/10 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 2/24 Grand Prix Memphis, US
  • 2/18 Invi Qualifier Medford, US
  • 2/18 SCG Classic Indianapolis, US
  • 2/10 Invi Qualifier Glassboro, US
  • 2/03 Preliminary PTQ Roanoke, US
  • 1/28 SCG Classic Philadelphia, US
  • 1/27 SCG Team Open Philadelphia, US
  • 1/21 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 1/20 SCG Team Open Dallas, US
  • 1/06 Grand Prix Santa Clara, US
  • 12/17 Invi Qualifier Clarksville, US
  • 12/16 Invi Qualifier Port Charlotte, US
  • 12/03 SCG Classic Roanoke, US
View More Standard Decks - Search Decklists
  • 4/15 Invi Qualifier Cary, US
  • 4/15 Invi Qualifier Niles, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Moore, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Roanoke, US
  • 4/14 Grand Prix Hartford, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 4/14 Grand Prix Sydney, AU
  • 4/08 Invi Qualifier Bernardsville, US
  • 4/08 Invi Qualifier Falls Church, US
  • 4/08 SCG Classic Milwaukee, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Denton, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Lexington, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Kingsport, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Toronto, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Glassboro, US
  • 4/07 SCG Modern Open Milwaukee, US
  • 3/31 Invi Qualifier Bernardsville, US
  • 3/25 Invi Qualifier Middletown, US
  • 3/25 Invi Qualifier Falls Church, US
View More Modern Decks - Search Decklists
  • 4/08 SCG Classic Milwaukee, US
  • 4/06 Grand Prix Seattle, US
  • 3/25 SCG Classic Cincinnati, US
  • 3/24 Grand Prix Kyoto, JP
  • 3/24 SCG Team Open Cincinnati, US
  • 3/10 Grand Prix Madrid, ES
  • 3/04 SCG Classic Worcester, US
  • 3/03 SCG Open Worcester, US
  • 1/28 SCG Classic Philadelphia, US
  • 1/27 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 1/27 SCG Team Open Philadelphia, US
  • 1/21 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 1/20 SCG Team Open Dallas, US
  • 1/07 SCG Classic Columbus, US
  • 1/06 Grand Prix Santa Clara, US
  • 11/19 SCG Classic Baltimore, US
  • 11/18 SCG Team Open Baltimore, US
  • 10/29 SCG Classic Washington, US
  • 10/28 SCG Open Washington, US
  • 10/22 Invi Qualifier Bristol, US
View More Legacy Decks - Search Decklists

 

Connect with us

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive content, sale notifications, and more!

Need help?
Contact Us
Help Center
Organized Play
SCG Tour
Schedule
Leaderboard
Coverage
Coverage Archives
In-Store Programs
Invitational Qualifiers
Game Night
Prerelease Playmats
Organizers
StarCityGames.com
About Us
Careers
Game Center
5728 Williamson Road NW

Roanoke, VA 24012


© 2018 StarCityGames.com®
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Statement | Refund & Return Policy