Modern

Fran-tic Search: Modern Madness

Ever since the announcement that Modern would be the new format for Pro Tour Philadelphia, the format has exploded in popularity: Modern Dailies have been popular online, locally, where I live at least, there has already been a reasonably large Modern tournament, as well as 2 separate weekly Modern tournaments. Not only that, but a lot of the Modern cards are exploding in price and the only major Modern tournament so far was the PT.

Everyone, myself included, seems to love modern. In my eyes, modern is like a poor man’s Legacy, except for the fact that even more of my favourite old cards, and decks, are actually playable. The reduced number of ridiculously good old decks, and cards, as well as the extensive ban list, make it that so many different cards are viable.

Thanks to Pro Tour Philadelphia, there are a ton of different new and exciting decklists floating around. Today I’m going to go over a few of my personal favourite lists from Philly, as well as my own personal brew for this format.

Decks from PT Philadelphia

[deck title=Travis Woo’s GR 12 Post]
[Creatures]

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Wall of Roots

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Oracle of Mul Daya

4 Primeval Titan

1 Terastodon

1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]

4 Gruul Signet

3 Beast Within

4 Through the Breach

4 Green Sun’s Zenith

[/Spells]
[Lands]

4 Cloudpost

4 Glimmerpost

4 Vesuva

1 Eye of Ugin

1 Dryad Arbor

4 Grove of the Burnwillows

1 Stomping Ground

2 Misty Rainforest

3 Forest

1 Mountain
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

3 Chalice of the Void

2 Dismember

3 Punishing Fire

1 Qasali Pridemage

2 Seal of Primordium

3 Firespout

1 Brooding Saurian
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

This is a deck that really caught my eye when I first went through the coverage for PT Philly. Leading up to the PT, I saw a few 12 Post lists floating around, but I really feel that this list looks the best tuned. With the UG lists, there seemed to be a lot more durdling, whereas this gets straight to the business.

Having four Emrakul makes it simple to capitalize on your huge volume of mana, but they are still useful as a 4-of because you always want to have them with [card]Through the Breach[/card].

The [card]Green Sun’s Zenith[/card] plan, although fairly standard, seems really great in these post decks because they are so versatile. They can be used on so many different spots on the curve; in the early game to accelerate, and are excellent threats in the late-game as well.

I really love the [card]Punishing Fire[/card] sideboard because of how much of a beating it is against aggro decks, while still also being strong against the Infect Combo decks.

[deck title=Project Melira by Lukas Jaklovsky]
[Creatures]

4 Birds of Paradise

1 Noble Hierarch

3 Viscera Seer

3 Melira, Sylvok Outcast

4 Wall of Roots

1 Tidehollow Sculler

1 Gaddock Teeg

4 Kitchen Finks

1 Eternal Witness

1 Fulminator Mage

1 Murderous Redcap

1 Obstinate Baloth

1 Ranger of Eos

1 Acidic Slime

1 Reveillark

1 Sun Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]

2 Thoughtseize

4 Birthing Pod

3 Chord of Calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]

2 Godless Shrine

2 Overgrown Tomb

1 Razorverge Thicket

1 Sunpetal Grove

1 Temple Garden

1 Twilight Mire

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Verdant Catacombs

4 Snow-Covered Forest

2 Snow-Covered Swamp
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Path to Exile

2 Thoughtseize

1 Ethersworn Canonist

1 Spellskite

1 Harmonic Sliver

1 Orzhov Pontiff

1 Entomber Exarch

1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

1 Nekrataal

1 Shriekmaw

1 Tar Fiend
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

What I love about this deck is that it’s a combo deck with a plan b, but also a tool box. One deck I was really fond of about 2 seasons ago was GR Aggro Scapeshift because of its ability to win games by beating down if your combo didn’t work out. I like the look of Project Melira for the same reasons. Another benefit of playing a aggro/combo deck is that your opponent usually has to take precautions to avoid letting you combo, which will usually give you more time to beat down.

For those of you who don’t know how this combo works, the plan is to get [card]Melira, Sylvok Outcast[/card], [card]Viscera Seer[/card], and either [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] or [card]Murderous Redcap[/card], on the board, and you will then be able to sac [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] or [card]Murderous Redcap[/card] to the Seer infinitely because Melira won’t allow them to get -1/-1 counters when they are returned to the battlefield. With the ability to sac these creatures infinitely, the loop allows you to gain infinite life with [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], and scry your deck infinitely with the [card]Seer[/card], which will then allow you to scry straight to [card]Murderous Redcap[/card] if you don’t already have it.

I really love the [card]Reveillark[/card] in this deck because it can get back most of your combo from your graveyard in case they manage to deal with it. However, I would really like to get a [card]Body Double[/card] in there if possible. [card]Body Double[/card] with a [card]Reveillark[/card] in the graveyard, and a Seer in play, will allow you to infinitely return [card]Body Double[/card] as a [card]Reveillark[/card] as long as there is another creature that [card]Reveillark[/card] could return from your graveyard. Using the [card]Body Double[/card]/[card]Reveillark[/card] + [card]Viscera Seer[/card] combo, along with scrying infinitely, you can kill all their lands with [card]Acidic Slime[/card], get infinite green mana with [card]Wall of Roots[/card], return any card from your graveyard to your hand with [card]Eternal Witness[/card], or just kill them with [card]Murderous Redcap[/card]. [card]Body Double[/card] can also be useful for getting back a piece of the combo that an opponent has already killed.

[Deck title=UR Storm by Jon Finkel]

[Spells]

4 Gitaxian Probe

4 Ponder

4 Preordain

4 Sleight of Hand

4 Rite of Flame

4 Desperate Ritual

1 Pyretic Ritual

4 Manamorphose

4 Grapeshot

3 Pyromancer Ascension

4 Pyromancer’s Swath

4 Seething Song

2 Empty the Warrens
[/Spells]
[Lands]

4 Island

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Shivan Reef

2 Steam Vents
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

1 Dispel

2 Echoing Truth

1 Empty the Warrens

4 Kiln Fiend

3 Lightning Bolt

2 Pact of Negation

2 Shattering Spree
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

This list seems extremely tight to me, and I wouldn’t expect any less from the Jon Finkel. Finkel managed to go 8-1 with this deck, and then had an intentional draw in the last round to lock him in to top 16. The addition of [card]Pyromancer’s Ascension[/card] seems like a perfect fit for the storm combo deck. I love the lower land count to allow for more cantrips like [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] and [card]Slight of Hand[/card].

[card]Kiln Fiend[/card] out of the board seems like a complete beating considering your opponent will most likely not have any creature kill post-board.

Although I generally don’t like decks like this that are entirely non-interactive, with a tight enough list, like this one, I could be convinced to play this type of deck.

My Brew

[deck title=Cascade Land Destruction by Francis Toussaint]
[Creatures]

4 Fulminator Mage

4 Avalanche Riders

4 Bloodbraid Elf

3 Mulldrifter

3 Reveillark
[/Creatures]
[Spells]

4 Boomerang

2 Eye to Nowhere

4 Stone Rain

4 Molten Rain

2 Primal Command
[/Spells]
[Lands]

4 Reflecting Pool

4 Vivid Creek

4 Vivid Crag

2 Vivid Grove

4 Cascade Bluffs

2 Flooded Grove

1 Island

4 Grove of the Burnwillows
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]

4 Punishing Fire

4 Kitchen Finks

2 Slagstorm

2 Rule of Law

1 Spellskite

2 Seal of Primordium
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

This is a deck that I really loved when a variation of it was Standard legal, but unfortunately I didn’t get to play it all that much during the window it was. It was never viable in Extended, but now, due to Modern, I think this may be the deck’s time to shine.

The plan with this deck is to mess with your opponent’s mana as early as turn 2 with [card]Boomerang[/card] and [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card], and then continue to keep them off lands for the rest of the game. On the play [card]Boomerang[/card] and [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card] are really good since if the opponent is on the draw they will have to discard a card unless they’ve mulliganed or have a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] or other turn 1 play.

It’s no secret that I have a deep love for [card]Reveillark[/card], and it really shines in this deck. For the most part you are going to be destroy lands one at a time with spells like [card]Stone Rain[/card], [card]Fulminator Mage[/card], and [card]Avalanche Riders[/card], but the plan is to over load your opponent in the late game with [card]Reveillark[/card] returning [card]Fulminator Mage[/card], [card]Avalanche Riders[/card] and [card]Mulldrifter[/card] to close out the games. [card]Reveillark[/card] is also great for giving you game against aggro decks because it gives you a stream of blockers. [card]Reveillark[/card] helps give you value out of your [card]Boomerang[/card] and [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card] in the late game by using them bounce [card]Reveillark[/card] to your hand to trigger it’s ability.

The Matchups

Aggro

Aggro matchups can generally be pretty tough maindeck, but post-board, your matchup becomes much better, taking out a bunch of useless land destruction spells for anti-aggro cards to become an anti-aggro deck. Against these decks, your post-board plan is to survive and grind them out until you have [card]Reveillark[/card] to halt their aggro.

IN: +4 [card]Punishing Fire[/card], +4 [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], +2 [card]Slagstorm[/card]

OUT: –4 [card]Stone Rain[/card], –4 [card]Molten Rain[/card], –2 [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card]

Combo

Your combo matchups vary depending on which combo deck your playing against.

Infect Combo:

By infect combo decks, I mean the ones playing [card]Blighted Agent[/card], [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card], and other such infect creatures in conjunction with [card]Blazing Shoal[/card] and [card]Reaper King[/card]/[card]Dragonstorm[/card] to kill opponents in 1 hit.  Against the infect combo decks, you should be able to deal with their [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card], but the infect creatures can be a major problem in game one. Post-board, the matchup becomes more manageable once you have access to [card]Punishing Fire[/card], [card]Seal of Primorduim[/card], and [/card]Spellskite[/card] to help protect you from their combo.

IN: +4 [card]Punishing Fire[/card], +2 [card]Seal of Primordium[/card], +1 [card]Spellskite[/card]

OUT: –2 [card]Primal Command[/card], –4 [card]Stone Rain[/card], –1 [card]Avalanche Riders[/card]

Storm Combo/Pyromancer’s Ascension:

I’m not sure how this matchup would go, but my initial thought is not well. These decks seem to have super low land counts which is good for us, but they don’t need too much mana to combo off, which can be problematic.

IN: +2 [card]Rule of Law[/card], +2 [card]Seal of Primordium[/card]

OUT: –1 [card]Reveillark[/card], –3 [card]Stone Rain[/card]

Splinter Twin:

This matchup seems pretty good since they need to get to at least 4 mana to win, and your game plan is to keep them off of mana. Basically, if they make it to 4 mana you’ve pretty much failed already.

IN: +2 [card]Seal of Primordium[/card], +1 [card]Spellskite[/card]

OUT: –1 [card]Reveillark[/card], –2 [card]Stone Rain[/card]

Project Melira:

This is another one of those matchups that’s rough game one, but much, much, better post-board. Post-board [card]Slagstorm[/card] and [card]Punishing Fire[/card] are really great against the Project Melira deck. [card]Seal of Primordium[/card] helps you prevent them from taking over the game with [card]Birthing Pod[/card]. [card]Boomerang[/card] and [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card] become much less effective if the opponent has [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] or [card]Noble Hierarch[/card].

IN: +4 [card]Punishing Fire[/card], +2 [card]Slagstorm[/card], +2 [card]Seal of Primordium[/card]

OUT: –4 [card]Boomerang[/card], –2 [card]Eye to Nowhere[/card], –2 [card]Stone Rain[/card]

12 Post decks

This archetype is a complete cake-walk, can’t lose matchup.

IN: None

OUT: None

FIN

So these are the decks that I’m most interested in using as a starting point going into this format. Feel free to add the Modern deck(s) you’re most interested in down below in the comments. Also, give my cascade land destruction deck a whirl if you get a chance. It most likely won’t be fun for your opponent, but hopefully you’ll be having some fun. Thanks for reading, and go play some Modern!

Francis Toussaint

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