Modern

Quick Look at Modern

Hello everybody and welcome to another ed…

Wait, no that’s not the correct intro, hold on here. Right, let’s start this again, my name is Andrew Huska, a grinder from Red Deer Alberta and this is my first of many articles in which I will be breaking down Constructed (mostly Modern) and all the spicy topics in the typical magic week. It’s fitting that I start with Modern as my best result this year was in this format, piloting Jund to a 2nd place finish at Grand Prix Minneapolis.

Today we are here to talk about the great format of Modern and what this last week has brought us for spicy new tech, and how the format continues to shift. Worlds showed us that [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] and [card]Dig Through Time[/card] are the real deal and I would be surprised if both make it to the Pro Tour.

First up this week is [card]Scapeshift[/card], it’s been the third most popular deck on MTGO (as per MTGGoldfish numbers), and had three pilots at Worlds.

[deck title=Scapeshift by Raphael Levy]
[Lands]
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Forest
2 Mountain
3 Island
1 Flooded Grove
3 Breeding Pool
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Pyroclasm
3 Dig Through Time
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Repeal
1 Izzet Charm
2 Electrolyze
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Batterskull
1 Spellskite
1 Counterflux
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Negate
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Back to Nature
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Krosan Grip
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

What I like about this main deck is there is no fluff. Dig allows you to play a couple spicy one-ofs, with Repeal being a good catch-all. Looking into the sideboard, I really love [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] and love the sideboard swap of going aggro over the more traditional plan of Titans. The lack of Baloths is concerning, though that could just be based on the small field, I would have minimum 3 in any other tournament going forward. I can see this being a gauntlet list going forward (with Baloths of course) as it looks to have a solid game plan against the format. [card]Scapeshift[/card] has been one of the biggest gainers with how the format has shaken up the last week and you need to be prepared for it in the coming events.

While U/R/x Delver strategies have slipped a touch in popularity this last week, Chapin went 4-0 at Worlds and being the second most popular deck percentage wise means that this deck still isn’t going anywhere. This is the list that went toe to toe with the best in the world:

[deck title=UR Delver – Patrick Chapin]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
1 Arid Mesa
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Island
1 Mountain
60 Cards
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Forked Bolt
4 Treasure Cruise
3 Thought Scour
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Vapor Snag
2 Spell Snare
1 Remand
1 Mana Leak
1 Izzet Charm
1 Electrolyze
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
1 Negate
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Electrickery
1 Magma Spray
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Blood Moon
2 Smash to Smithereens
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This is a very good stock list, and where I would be starting if looking into playing the deck. The combination of Delver, burn spells, coutermagic, and Recall is super powerful as we have seen in not only Modern but also Legacy. With all-stars like Young Jeezy and Swiftspear to round out the creature base, it’s not a surprise we are still talking about Delver decks. Here is the thing with these Delver decks, they are fast, resilient, and have a ton of redundancy and power. Personally I think this was a great choice for Worlds and wouldn’t fault anyone for playing this deck leading up to DC.

When Sam Pardee and company started saying [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] was making them not play Pod… The sky was falling. However over the last two weeks it’s been the opposite. Not only is Pod the most popular deck on MTGO now (RIGHT???) but it was also played by 3 people at the World Championship. With such a good grinding plan it’s not surprising this is the deck to beat this week.

[deck title=Birthing Pod – Jacob Wilson]
[Lands]
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Marsh Flats
1 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Stomping Ground
2 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Gavony Township
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Wall of Roots
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Spike Feeder
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Sin Collector
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Restoration Angel
2 Siege Rhino
1 Shriekmaw
1 Thragtusk
1 Archangel of Thune
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Birthing Pod
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Sin Collector
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Choke
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Realm Razor
1 Murderous Cut
1 Path to Exile
2 Slaughter Games
4 Thoughtseize
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This is a pretty standard list, with nothing THAT crazy popping out aside from the removal of Chord for a couple more bullets in the main (and [card]Siege Rhino[/card]). Pod is this fair deck that goes crazy when it untaps with Pod and values the opposition out. Personally I think Pod will continue to climb in popularity in the coming weeks as it really is that powerful and with more people trying to play ‘fair’, it’s a great upcoming choice. Don’t let the Worlds results fool you, Pod hasn’t left the spotlight.

So this guy I know has a reputation of playing cards of the blue and white variety with an occasional splash. He is also incredible at magic and missed on breakers to have a shot at being the World Champ. Yes I’m talking about The Champ himself mister Shaun McLaren.

[deck title=UWR Control – Shaun McLaren]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Steam Vents
2 Arid Mesa
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
3 Wall of Omens
2 Restoration Angel
2 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Electrolyze
2 Cryptic Command
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
2 Remand
4 Dig Through Time
3 Mana Leak
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Lightning Helix
2 Spell Snare
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Stony Silence
2 Wrath of God
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Wear // Tear
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Now I’m not a big fan of a U/W/x control deck at the present moment (too reactive for my taste) but if I have learned anything in the last 6 years, it’s that this man knows his control decks. If you are a fan of this archetype, this is where you should be starting and I don’t know really how much would or should be changed. The Digs help a lot with having this deck be a contender by finding bullets, making you better at closing out games and having your sideboard pull more weight then before.

Guess what everyone, Channelfireball broke it again. Seriously they broke Ascension in a way that no one else had tried and it’s very good. Now disclaimer here, it’s not as popular online as it should be (the clicking is hell) and it’s fairly complex to play off the hop but once you get the practice in, it’s much smoother to pilot, the list for reference:

[deck title=Ascendancy Combo – Tom Martell]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
1 Arid Mesa
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Seachrome Coast
4 Faerie Conclave
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Fatestitcher
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Treasure Cruise
4 Thought Scour
4 Izzet Charm
4 Dig Through Time
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Remand
4 Jeskai Ascendancy
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
3 Wear // Tear
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Unburial Rites
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Swan Song
1 Pact of Negation
1 Deprive
2 Timely Reinforcements
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This list is very tight and well thought out. Moving the combo to a control shell, with [card]Fatestitcher[/card] being the go to guy, and leaving the mana dorks on the bench makes this not only harder to interact with but also lets you protect it a hell of a lot better. Having not only 4 Digs but 3 [card]Thought Scour[/card]s and 4 [card]Izzet Charm[/card]s adds a ton of consistency as well and lets you combo whenever your opponent slips up, plus sideboarding keeps opponents in check with the Gifts/Unburial plan. Moving forward I would expect this to start seeing more paper play once people get more reps in, as for MTGO, it’s a solid 3-4% of the metagame so its presence will be sporadic at best.

Lastly this week we are going to discuss a deck close to my heart in Storm. [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] has added a lot to the format and archetypes have been reborn in some cases.

[deck title=Storm – William Jensen]
[Lands]
2 Shivan Reef
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Mountain
3 Island
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Electromancer
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
3 Treasure Cruise
2 Grapeshot
3 Past in Flames
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Manamorphose
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Thought Scour
4 Pyromancer Ascension
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Empty the Warrens
3 Wear // Tear
2 Dispel
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Shatterstorm
1 Meddling Mage
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

By adding [card]Ancestral Recall[/card] to Storm and utilizing [card]Thought Scour[/card], Storm is more consistent then ever. Nevermind adding [card]Pyromancer Ascension[/card] to let you get free wins and with multiple copies of [card]Yawgmoth’s Will[/card], it’s a wonder it hasn’t shown up sooner. While this deck is incredibly hard to pilot optimally, if you test and work on it and learn the ins and outs, Storm is one of the most powerful decks in the format and I would not be surprised to see it start putting up more results in the coming month leading up to the Pro Tour. The lack of MTGO results as of now is concerning a bit but I think in paper is where this will shine.

Looking at the format this week, I myself will be playing the updated #TeamGeist list (courtesy of Scotty Mac, Larry Swasey, Jason Clark and myself) which is:

[deck title=Team Geist]
[Lands]
2 Arid Mesa
3 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Mountain
2 Island
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Restoration Angel
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Remand
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Helix
2 Dig Through Time
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Wrath of God
3 Aven Mindcensor
1 Batterskull
2 Counterflux
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Wear // Tear
2 Magma Spray
1 Celestial Purge
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This deck is still putting up results in multiple touraments and is as powerful as ever, and a great choice moving forward provided the format doesn’t shift too much. The sideboard is pretty solid right now with multiple cards for both [card]Scapeshift[/card] and Delver. The Pod matchup is still easy as before. Note that Keranos has been cut in favour of [card]Dig Through Time[/card]. Remember to always jam and you will do just fine!

Thanks everyone for reading, if you have any questions, or feedback you can hit me up on Twitter (@curly9117) or in the comments here. 🙂

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