Deck and SB guide, effective 3/2/23 (Plus Solitude Discussion!)

After last month where I gave y'all 4 potential lists, I couldn't just give you the stock list and be happy, could I? As such, I'm got both a "Stock" UW Mite (UWg) list which has been tested and is very solid, as well as a an updated Solitude list (calling it "Lonely Hammer" for now) with a SB guide included. I haven't gotten to focus test with the new build as much as I'd like, so take that SB guide with a grain of salt and adjust accordingly.

While I've tried a lot of things to beat the new versions of Amulet and Mill, it has been tough to crack the code while not giving up notable percentage points in other matchups. I tried hatebears, using a lot of removal, and couldn't find anything that I was really satisfied with.

To clear my mind and break things up a bit, I played around with HanktheObese's Shining Shoal Humans list and it got me thinking: "Could we put Solitude into Hammer if we jammed Emeria's Call as additional white cards?

And well, I'm pretty sure the answer is "Yes we can".

I've put both SB guides (both layouts supported) on the same document, so without further ado, here you go:

Stock UWg List

Lonely Hammer List

SB Guide

Of course, make sure to adjust your mid-match decisions based on the specifics of any list you face and use this as a guideline, rather than a hard and fast rule!

Current Deck Configuration Notes:

-1 Outfitter - Still kind of hate the card, but it does its job pretty well. I don't really like 2, but 1 has been a treat.

-2 Memnites - Trading with Monkey is good, and I don't mind having the extra 0's to improve my early metalcraft numbers and ways to leverage drum/paradise mantle.

-0 Giver, 2 Pierce, 2 Skill - With the meta speeding up with more aggressive combo decks, I like Skills and Pierces as points of interaction when you're splashing blue over Giver.

-1 Paradise Mantle - Mantle is back, and I still really like the card. While it's turn 1 appearance is worse than drum, it is better on almost every other turn of the game.

-3 Meddling Mage - Amulet is a problem, and Meddling Mage is arguably your best single tool against them. If they can't cast Primeval Titan, you are very likely to win the game incidentally.

-No "fair" equipment (cyst/sword) - the adoption of Outfitter and the extra Memnites mean that I like pushing the combo more.

-3 Sanctifier: Still a chunk of RB decks, so she's still good.

Okay, but WHY work so hard to get Solitude into the deck?

-It is the best removal spell printed perhaps ever for Hammer. Not only is it a clean answer to every popular creature in Modern, but it costs 0 mana so it can't get pierced, and when you get to 5 mana, it is a solid body that can attack and 2-for-1 the OP.

-Solitude's downsides: 

1. Pitching a white card - this is the biggest restriction on putting Solitude in Hammer, not because we are short on white cards, but because the white cards that we do have are generally so important. Adding the Emeria's Calls to the deck helps alleviate this problem.

2. Giving the OP life. In most aggro decks, this can be a problem. In Hammer where we are dealing 10-20 damage at a time, this... doesn't really concern us quite as much.

-Solitude's Upsides: 

1. It answers every problematic creature for us. It kills Titan, Murktide, Yawgmoth, Dryad, every creature in the mirror, Kaldra germs, Omnath, as well as Elementals that have gotten to stick around. 

2. It does all this at instant speed, meaning that you can manage the course of the game more effectively.

3. It is 0 mana, and can't get pierced as a bonus. This means that not only will it address problematic targets (see point 1), but in any racing matchup, it lets you progress your board aggressively while still holding up interaction.

4. At its worst, Solitude is a 3/2 lifelinking body with flash. That means it can carry a hammer and win effectively any race.

A couple things to note about the Solitude builds:

-While I've played 20+ matches with iterations of this deck, I am still working out the kinks and getting an idea for how this version plays a bit differently, and if it is legitimately the better option. This is the main reason I put out 2 different lists this month.

-Splash? I don't think you can reasonably play 4 Saga, 3 Inkmoth, 4 Emeria's Call, and support an adequate number of Blue/Red/Black sources for the splash to reliably be castable. Green for Haywire mite is a bit different because not only do you not need the secondary color until turn 2-4 (like Pierce/Thoughtseize), but drum effects will always count as green sources when Haywire Mite is in play.

-SB configurations w/Solitude - One thing to stay aware of is keeping your white card count as high as reasonably possible when bringing in Solitude to help mitigate its downside. You'll see this reflected in some specific matchups if you directly compare the UWg version SB guide to the WW Solitude version.

-Paladin + Mantle is leagues better in the version where you have the ability to leverage 5- and 7-mana spells. Basically, never cut Mantle post-board.

-Fun quirks to note about these Solitude builds:

1. Your Mill matchup gets a lot better with 4 Calls + 1 Solitude main (that's an extra 33 mana value for Tasha's Hideous Laughter) 

2. Solitude is comically good against burn, as it not only kills their creatures including eidolon without taking damage, but the lifelink could be incredibly relevant. The big upside is that it can exile your creature that they choose to use Deflecting Palm on.

3. Solitude gets a lot better against any deck that uses Boseiju since it will ramp you to hard casting the Elemental friend.

Anyway, I am still exploring this iteration, but it has initially felt very promising. Adding another MH2 card to your modern deck is powerful, who knew?