Hey Bmoor,

So this deck is a bit oldschool nowaday's, but I was hoping to get
some advice on it anyways. I've always been a fan of modular decks from
the mirrodin block but always found them to be without any consistent
killing power (unless i buy the arc ravager or mycosynth or darksteel
colossus which are just a bit more expensive than i'm willing to pay),
and I loved the idea of graft but the dang things are too slow so now
i'm trying to combine the two.


Creatures:
3x simic guildmage
4x arcbound worker
4x arcbound stinger
4x arcbound crusher
4x arcbound reclaimer
3x cytoplast rootkin
3x plaxcaster frogling

Other:
4x energy chamber
4x power conduit
4x evolution vat
4x thrive

Land:
4x tree of tales
4x seat of synod
4x novijen, heart of progress
5x forest
5x island

63 cards total

I have 2x arcbound overseer but it's cost makes it useless most of the time.

I like Extruder, dragon blood, forcemage advocate, machinate, override,
reshape, sage of lat-nam, sporeback troll, helium shooter, simic
anything vigean anything for this deck but i'm not sure what to take out
or which to put in or even if i am on the right track with any of them.

I can't seem to accumulate big stompers (the point of this deck) fast
enough. Should i add drawing cards, mana accelerants, control cards,
none of them, all of them, or is there a problem i am missing? I just
don't seem to be able to produce the synergy of graft and modular in
gameplay that seems so freakin cool in my head. I figured u haven't
seen this particular blend before (or if u have i haven't seen it in
your deck garage archive, big fan btw) and might take an interest. Any
help is greatly appreciated.

-Phil

Ahh, graft and modular.  If only there'd been a card with both during the keyword-mixing of Future Sight.

The keywords do seem like a match made in Serra's Realm, don't they?  Both involve +1/+1 counters, and both can then give those counters to another creature.  Essentially it's the ultimate recycling plan.  Graft makes a gift of one counter for each new creature that comes into play, and modular lets your artifact creatures bequeath all their worldly possessions to another lucky artifact creature when they die.  The end result is one lucky golem's great-grandchild who has "inherited" several generations' worth of counters and can now swing for 10 or 11.

So what's the problem?  The main problem I see is that you're using the wrong counter-making technology.  Evolution Vat is indeed slow as molasses, or whatever that gooey liquid inside it is.  Novijen, Heart of Progress?  Three mana for what rarely amounts to more than one counter?  It's a more conditional Dragon Blood, and I'm not even going to suggest Dragon Blood because it's too slow and mana intensive.

Lucky for you, there's better tools out there for piling on the glass beads.  Most of them are green, since green is all about building bigger and better creatures.  In fact, I'm not even sure if you need blue in this deck at all.  You have no Auras for Simic Guildmage's blue ability, Evolution Vat and Novijen are both too slow, and Seat of the Synod can be replaced by Darksteel Citadel.  The only real strength blue brings to the table here is Plaxcaster Frogling.  But we'll find something better.

First, since you mentioned a lack of speed, I'd like to recommend Simic Initiate.  It may look like a 1/1 for 1 to most, but it's really more like a "Seal of Battlegrowth", a pre-emptive pump to the next creature to show up atthe party... or maybe the one after that.  Like Arcbound Worker, it comes down on turn one in case you need a blocker.  Unlike the Worker, it can give its prize to another creature right away, instead of waiting until it dies.

Next, find some room for Doubling Season-- probably the room that Evolution Vat was taking up.  Doubling Season has an interesting interaction with Graft and Modular.  Not only does each creature come into play with double the counters, but when it moves its counter(s) to anothe creature,  that effect is "putting counters" on a creature, so the Season will double the moved counters as well.  So when Arcbound Stinger hits play, it hits play with 2 counters.  And when it dies, it'll give 4 counters to somebody.  The same with Graft-- the Initiate will be a 2/2 for 1, and each creature it grafts onto will get 2 counters instead of 1.  The same applies to Power Conduit, Energy Chamber, et cetera.

The next problem we need to tackle is your trouble getting big creatures into play.  There's a few solutions for this.  One is to try Fungal Behemoth.  This thing not only puts counters on creatures, but it's a */*, meaning the potential for hugeness is already there.  He also plays well into this "doubling" technique, since with him out, each additional +1/+1 counter that hits play gives him +1/+1 whether it's on him or not, adding 2 extra power to the table.

Another solution, which I used in my monoblue Arcbound deck once upon a time, was Darksteel Gargoyle.  You see, the fundamental flaw in Modular is that there always needs to be at least one artifact creature left behind when a creature with modular dies.  If your opponent can wipe the board, or just kill the last one, there's nobody left to give the counters to.  Having an indestructible creature makes this scenario less likely.  Granted, you could stuff any indestructible artifact creature in that slot, but I liked the Gargoyle because it had flying.  After all, what good is a 14/14 if your opponent can just throw an Augur of Skulls in front of it every turn?  I'd understand if you wanted one that costs less than 7 mana, though.

Then there's the other issue that Modular only triggers when the creature goes to the graveyard.  If your opponent can make your creatures go elsewhere, then any counters you had stockpiled are gone.  Evacuation will hurt a lot more than you think, but what mostly gets played are Boomerang effects and Condemn effects to remove cards from the game.  To protect your one big creature, I suggest a set of Avoid Fate.

Finally, for sheer counter volume, try either Stand Together, Incremental Growth, or Decree of Savagery if you find extra room for them.  A few Llanowar Reborn lets even your lands get in on the fun.

That's everything I can do for this deck, Phil, but it should be more than enough.  Good luck!

~BMoor