Deck: Amulet Titan

Record: 10-5

Decklist: https://www.topdecked.me/decks/4ec09d82-c177-4305-84d7-10a88236219a

Comments on deck selection: I've been playing modern for around 4 years. Until 2019 I was a die-hard Grixis player. However the landscape of Modern has changed in the last year and value-oriented strategies have lost a lot of viability. I wanted a deck that gave me the challenge of Grixis but had a proactive game plan, which led me to Amulet Titan this February. I'm a "proficiency over metagame" mindset player in Modern but I do think Amulet is better positioned in Hogaak's world than people like to believe. Being able to deal lots of burst damage out of nowhere and having maindeckable, tutorable graveyard hate does a lot for the matchup, which I hope you see further in my report. That being said Hogaak is dead, but I think Amulet will only get better in a more fair metagame as its worst matchups are the lightning-fast decks like Red and Druid and Infect trying to race Hogaak.

Comments on card choices: I chose a Bant Trinket Mage shell like the majority of amulet players at this event. This wins over Temur and Karn amulet variants because of Path to Exile and the fact that Karn is simply too slow for a Hogaak meta. However after Hogaak is banned I'll be testing Karn variants as they excel versus the forecasted boogeyman, Urza. I varied from other amulet players in the room on a few cards:
• Golos over Arboreal Grazer: I'd never been impressed with Grazer and I wanted a more impactful card in my list. There are a lot of times you can only turbo out 5 Mana versus the 6 you need for Prime Time and Golos shines there. Golos can go find impactful utility lands in a variety of matchups and is a 2-for-1 against the fair decks. I'm not sold on Golos though but after the tournament I don't regret registering it.
• Maindeck Pact Of Negation: Most amulet players killed this sacred cow for this tournament and I think it was correct to do so. I missed this in my testing because my local meta had less Hogaak warping.
• Second Force of Vigor vs second Grafdigger's Cage sideboard: I should have done this too. But now that Hogaak's gone I'm back to 2 Force.

OK now for the round by round:

DAY 1
Round 1: The Gaak (2-1)
I mulligan to 5 and die immediately. Game 2 and 3 I can stabilize with tutorable Cage and a swath of zombie tokens from Field of the Dead.
Round 2: Hollow One (2-1)
Game 1 my deck does a more powerful thing than my opponent's. We have a good giggle about how to resolve Burning Inquiry. Game 2 he presents a Blood Moon which I answer but then he bolts my face 3 times. Game 3 is the same as Game 1. Slops to Nullhide Ferrox for not getting randomly discarded to Burning Inquiry.
Round 3: The Gaak (2-1)
This guy is better than my Round 1 opponent, but also a much slower player so we go to time. Game 1 I kill him on turn 2. Game 2 I make a bunch of zombie tokens to wall his Hogaak. He asks "are you playing a 60 card deck?" then tanks. Ten minutes later he has milled himself to one card in library and decked me with Altar of Dementia. Game 3 my Cage and Paths get work done, but I sweat a little as he opens on double Hedron Crab and starts targeting me.
Round 4: The Gaak (2-1)
Slops to this guy. He trash talked my deck after I whooped his ass. He didn't have Altar so it went the same as Round 1 really.
Round 5: Jeskai Restore Balance (0-2)
My opponent is Warren Woodward, a grinder from the Bay Area who one of my friends idolizes for his strong finish with BW Smallpox at Vegas in 2017. The games are over fast as Gargageddon is really good against bouncelands.
Round 6: Amulet Titan (2-1)
My opponent is Francisco Pawluszek, better known as fpawlusz on Twitch. He popularized the list I played and we both knew it was a mirror as we'd been chatting before this round. We both had a good laugh cause the Amulet mirror is totally miserable. Game 1 he has a turn 3 kill on the play but I have a turn 2 kill on the draw. Game 2 he Galaxy brains me by flashing in a Vesuva with Sakura-Tribe Scout copying my Ghost Quarter to blow up a bounceland while I'm going off with an Azusa I pacted for. Then he Pacts for Ramunap Excavator and Ghost Quarters another land so I can't pay for my pact. Well played. Game 3 he leads with an EE on 1 and I'm staring at a double Amulet hand. I sandbag them and have a draw that comes together faster than his, which is pretty much how the mirror goes. Definitely the highlight of my weekend to play against a streamer I watch (and beat him!) though.
Round 7: The Gaak (1-2)
I'm starting to get tired as we move into the end of Day 1. It shows when I try to cast Primeval Titan with 5 Mana and then die. Biggest punt of the weekend.
Round 8: Burn (1-2)
This is my win and in for Day 2. Luckily it's also a bye for Amulet. I somehow lose game 1, then roflstomp him game 2 by playing basketball with Kabira Crossroads. Game 3 my opponent marks me taking two damage somewhere and his graveyard is four bolts and his board has no creatures. I try to explain and he doesn't get it so I call a judge who almost immediately sides with me. My opponent extends the hand before the judge leaves the table.
Round 9: Mono Red Phoenix (2-0)
Yay I've made Day 2 for the first time! And I'm immediately paired against a nightmare matchup. Luckily I body my opponent with a 10/6 vigilance trample haste double strike in game 1. Game 2 he boards questionably, cutting all his Arclight Phoenixes and not bringing in Blood Moon. EE on 1 cleans up all the creatures still in his deck and he tilts off the face of the Earth.

DAY 2
I was drinking until 2AM but I wake up feeling great because I forced myself to drink like 3 bottles of water. Don't forget to hydrate ladies and gentlemen.
Round 10: Eldrazi Tron (0-2)
Usually my 6/6 can beat their 5/5 and 4/4s. But I get Chaliced on 0 the turn before I can go off with my Summoner's Pacts. I transmute for EE so I can play it X=1 with a colorless land to pop the Chalice but he snags it with a Thought Knot and I die. Game 2 I have five draw steps to find a bounceland with two Amulets in play and I don't. Woof.
Round 11: Bogles (0-2)
I brought great shame to the Amulet Titan community as I became the first Amulet player to lose to Bogles in the history of Modern. Seriously, this is our best matchup. Game 1 I take a risky line I don't need to take and the last card in his hand is Path to Exile which kills me. Game 2 I mull to 5 and mono brick. My opponent sweetens the loss by showing me he still had all deez and giving me some unsolicited advice.
Round 12: Mono Red Phoenix (2-1)
I'm a little tilted and I get paired against a nightmare matchup. My deck functions pretty well though and I scrape two wins out. It helps that I didn't see Blood Moon. I also think my opponent was unfamiliar with the deck cause he bolted Azusa after I didn't make additional land drops off her. That's basically all I remember from this round as the coffee is starting to leave my bloodstream.
Round 13: Spirits (2-0)
This poor guy. His turn two Selfless Spirit tries to block my turn two Primeval Titan and it doesn't go well. Then he mulls to 4.
Round 14: Mardu Shadow (2-0)
As a former Grixis Shadow player, I'm delighted to see this deck in the X-4 bracket. He picks apart my hand with discard spells but I use Field of the Dead, Vesuva copying Field, and Sakura-Tribe Scout to create an army of chump blockers that eventually murder him. Game 2 I develop my Mana pretty quickly with Azusa and Amulet and I'm gonna kill him with the last card in my hand, Primeval Titan. Unfortunately he unearths a Tidehollow Sculler and takes it. He then Baubles me and frowns. I take my draw for turn and find out why as it's another Prime Time. Better lucky than good.
Round 15: Mono Red Phoenix (0-2)
It seems like my luck against this deck finally ran out. I mull to 5 looking for an explosive hand and don't find one. His turn 1 is Mountain, tank, Crash Through, pass. His turn 2 is Runaway Steam-kin, go. Guess who died after a ten minute turn 3. I'm up against the ropes for that elusive 11-4 and my deck doesn't deliver in a similar way to Round 10: I have the double amulet and the Titan but I can't find a bounceland to save my life and I die to some 1/2 Prowess creatures. Double Path wasn't enough.

Impressions: I finish 156th which is good for 200$. Pretty cool to cash my first Day 2 but I'm kicking myself for not playing better at the end of Day 1 and on Day 2. Any Amulet player knows the deck is straight fire, but for the non Amulet players: I urge you to reconsider this decks viability. Amulet has been on a decline in metagame percentage lately and I don't really understand why. We had six pilots that I know of in Day 2. I think people are still scared to learn to play this deck. Going forward I'd definitely reccommend it to anybody who is willing to put in a little time to learn the lines. I'm gonna play around with Karn shells after the Hogaak ban because I think they are going to be the future of the archetype.

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