Hammer Deck and SB Guide 11/21/2024

It’s November, and hopefully it’s the last full month where the Ring is legal in modern. For full transparency, there are a couple things I want to address up top this month:
1. You will see that the list is identical to last month’s list. Despite my best efforts, I haven’t identified any meaningful changes I’d make.

2. While I still love the deck, I have become less and less convinced that it is a reasonable choice in the Ring-filled metagame. That means that if the Ring is *not* banned in December, I will have to revisit my overall content plans around Hammertime.

As I’ve been putting a lot of effort into tuning the Broodscale Eldrazi deck, I have an update for both Hammer and Broodscale this month. Like last month, I’ve split them into separate pieces to keep the resources easier to access. So if you’re here for the Hammer list and SB guide, you’re in the right spot! If you’re looking for Broodscale, check out the other update I added :) 

**I’ve also been adding more niche matchups to the sb guides, so I hope y’all enjoy! If you keep running into decks, please feel free to ask and I’ll add sb recommendations as long as that archetype becomes prevalent/unified enough to warrant space** 

You may also note that the maindeck is the same as last month. That’s because honestly the shell feels about right. You can certainly swap the SB and MD tricks (Surge/Pierce/Consign) around based on your expected meta, but this is where I’d start. Tl;dr, the notes will also be the same as last month. Apologies for the lack of changes.

Decklist

Sideboard Guide

Notes on current configuration:

-4 Sentinel - Our little dude from Esper has returned! While the card is soft to Energy shells and Bowmasters, it performs well against Jeskai, Frog, and is just a strong card to have in the main. While it does get boarded out, I’m happy to have it as a cheap artifact creature game 1. If the meta evolves in a direction to further mitigate his impact, we can look at replacing him with memnite or another body. In the meantime, I’m happy to have access to him again.

-2 Giver - She still does a solid job of both protecting our threats, presenting a reasonable body, and can help push damage proactively. Additionally, she can help tax removal and open Giver > Stoneforge Mystic Kaldra lines. Solid card, happy to have her.

-2 Pierce - While both Surge and Consign are generally higher impact, I find that Pierce is the piece of interaction least likely to be dead game 1. That said, if the meta moves in a way to change this, I would certainly revisit pierce and either replace it with more gifts or swap them out with Consigns/Surge in the sideboard.

-1 Gift - Gift is a nice way to threaten additional hammers for a fast kill while also providing redundancy and finding your utility equipment like boots and spear as-needed. Plus it is a card that is easy to board out when you don’t need the effect. It also enables fun lines with a SFM in play since the opponent will have to kill the SFM in response to gift if they don’t want to get immediately Kaldra’ed.

-3 Drum - Without Nadu, I find playing extra acceleration effects is unnecessary beyond the first 2-3. At the same time, turn 1 saga, drum, thopter is still more powerful than it has been in a long time, especially against decks not running Wrath of the Skies. 

-2 Forge Anew - Extra equippers were always nice to have access to, but now that people are running cards like wrath of the skies, the reanimation effect of Forge has quite a bit of value. This is certainly a card you could trim, but I’ve liked having access to 2 in the main.

-Kaldra - You can play Cryptic Coat in this slot, but right now I’ve been a bit more impressed with Kaldra since there has been a downtick of exile-based removal in favor of destroy effects. I also find that the Kaldra is more threatening to opponents so it forces the removal on SFMs.

-1 Needle - Having access to one of these in the maindeck with a ton of Rings running around has proven to be incredibly valuable, and I am a firm believer in the 1 copy maindeck.

Sideboard

-3 Surge of Salvation - First, note that Surge is not coming in for some matchups you might historically expect (Jeskai), but that’s primarily due to the shift in what tools we have access to, as well as the specific tools that opponents are playing. Consign is often the better tool, but being able to get very aggressive against Boros/Mardu, Frog, and Domain with Surge is proving to be an excellent angle instead of typically playing the long game.

-4 Consign to Memory - Consign is an incredibly flexible card that provides an effective overlap between Surge and Pierce and covers a wide range of threats we face. Specifically, the card is incredible against Jeskai (Subtlety, Solitude, Ring, can tag Phlage triggers, and Leyline Binding if they are playing it.) Additionally, this card is backbreaking against the Eldrazi shells, getting us far ahead on mana despite how hard they ramp. That it also hard counters Cascade triggers against living end is also a huge upside. Additionally, the ability to replicate it means that you can actually force your spells through a chalice by countering the chalice triggers with the replicate copies.
Oh, and Consign is an absolute BEATING against Amulet. Not only does it counter Amulet and Saga Chapter 3 (more amulets), but it counters the Ring, Titan triggers, and you can even replicate it to stop multiple Amulet untap triggers in the event the timing lines up right.
**Notably, Consign has become increasingly potent even against Boros/Mardu, since it is a hard counter to their biggest adaptation since last month: The One Ring. The fact that it can also stop relevant triggers (Ajani token and flip, as well as the damage trigger from Ajani’s +2 activation, and Amped Raptor’s ETB). I don’t like all 4 against them, but having a few as a treat can be nice. 

-3 Pithing Needle - Yawg has failed to fully materialize, so the Totems are gone. That said, Needle is quite good right now as well since it has usefulness in multiples even against Energy, Amulet, and Twiddle Storm. I don’t always want multiple needles, but the flexibility and efficiency is hard to overstate.

-NO Suncleansers - The more I’ve played against the Energy shells (Boros/Mardu and Jeskai), the less impresed I’ve been with this card. Jeskai has shifted towards Supreme Verdict and away from Wrath of the Skies. Boros and Mardu are both exceptionally good at playing through a resolved cleanser thanks to Ajani, Phlage, and The One Ring. I think the better plan against Boros/Mardu is to be very aggressive and put them on the backfoot. Get a creature equipped with Spear + Hammer, and protect it as you push damage through.
-1 Vexing Bauble - Still narrow, but has a relatively large impact against Necro, Amulet, and the Cascade decks. I’m happy to have the first copy in the 75.

-2 Orim’s Chant - This card is a nice one that I called out in my MH3 review, but it didn’t fit very well until now. The energy shells have picked this up as a way to fight Storm, Cascade, and Titan decks. Remember that Chant has a kicker which prevents creatures from attacking, and we can leverage that well especially against Titan. 

-1 Soul-Guide Lantern - Especially with Goryo’s and Living End on the rise (despite the Grief ban), I am very happy to have access to a Saga target that attacks the graveyard. Lantern is the best graveyard hate against Goryo’s; if you’re looking for something against Mill or something, I would turn to Relic of Progenitus.