Modern is in a weird spot right now.
There isn’t an absurdly clear best deck, though there are overarching best cards for sure. Splinter Twin, Snapcaster Mage, Lightning Bolt, Thoughtseize.
The list goes on. Sideboarding isn’t as backbreaking as it used to be, but it’s still a pretty big deal. There’s the “Burn check,” where you’re either
going to have these seemingly insane hate cards against Burn, or just accept that the matchup is bad. That’s not the worst spot to be in since many of the
cards good against Burn attack for a ton of damage instead of gaining life. There’s also making sure that your sideboard is as broad as possible unless
it’s a stone-cold killer. An example: If you’re playing Burn, Smash to Smithereens gets you the most damage, while covering a large amount of hate.
However, the cost of playing Destructive Revelry is very low, and you gain the ability to cover Leyline of Sanctity and the entire G/W Hexproof matchup.
There are a bunch of decks that want to do similar things. Thought Scour decks want to Tasigur as quickly as possible, but where do you want to branch out?
Tarmogoyf? Or Kolaghan’s Command and Electrolyze? Do you want to jam Collected Company out of Abzan, or Siege Rhino? Never mind the Jeskai decks that can
either Geist of Saint Traft, Sphinx’s Revelation, or splash. That said, there are an equal number of decks that are hyper-linear or vacuum decks, and it is
extremely powerful at one specific thing. Burn, Affinity, G/W Hexproof, Living End, G/R Tron, Amulet Bloom, and Infect are all under this category, and
they can very easily run away with a tournament if your opponents decide not to beat you that day. How often do you debate those last few sideboard spots
and opt to just give up a specific matchup? Better yet, how many times have you gone into a tournament and just played against a deck that your sideboard
was completely kold to without knowing it? It can be easy to get sidetracked in card selection, and it’s important to stay the course.
Let’s have a look at the decks that have performed well recently and the newer cards that help keep the ship afloat.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Spike Feeder
- 2 Eternal Witness
- 3 Wall of Roots
- 3 Tarmogoyf
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 1 Murderous Redcap
- 2 Viscera Seer
- 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 1 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
- 1 Archangel of Thune
- 4 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
Lands (22)
Spells (10)
Why it’s good:
An Abzan deck that utilizes the best proxies of Birthing Pod possible while also being a powerful enough aggressive shell that doesn’t sacrifice very much
stability or consistency. Collected Company and Chord of Calling allow this engine to sustain itself while also adding quite a bit of explosiveness to the
engine that it didn’t really have in such capacity. That said, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is the unsung hero here. She allows you to retain the sturdiness
that Siege Rhino would otherwise give you while also providing a combo with your persist creatures. On top of all that, hitting it with another creature
with a Collected Company, while seemingly minute, will add up very quickly, both on offense and defense. A flashed in Anafenza and Kitchen Finks on an
attack, for example, is an excellent way to put a cushion on your life total. A similar thing can be said for a Murderous Redcap if it’s already on the
battlefield (since you can’t get it off of a Collected Company), bolstering the Redcap, free-trading, and bolstering again. Of course, this is one of the
many tricks this deck can pull off, but that’s the appeal.
How to make it better:
I’m very interested in Knight of the Reliquary, but it probably interferes too much with what’s already going on with the deck. Restoration Angel could
also be worth looking at. It doesn’t combo with Collected Company, but you have enough of that effect where you’d just want some nice value creatures on
the side, and Resto does just that.
How to beat it:
Out-powering it or disrupting its strong points, which are the mana accelerants and the Collected Company and Chord of Calling themselves. Anafenza isn’t
all that exciting by itself, and any strong-armed creature like Siege Rhino or Olivia Voldaren can go a long way. Lingering Souls can also give you some
serious time on the board against it.
From Collected Company, to…Gurmag Angler?
Creatures (14)
Lands (14)
Spells (32)
Why it’s good:
Delver is still one of the better one-drops, and when coupled with Thought Scour, Tasigur, the Golden Fang becomes a powerhouse. Kolaghan’s Command is also
an incredibly good tool, adding even more functionality to Snapcaster Mage, incidentally hitting Affinity and Spellskite, disrupting things that get under
you and furthering your longevity in super grindy matches. It makes Blightning looks like child’s play, really. Aside from that, your removal suite is
among the best in the format, and your supporting cast can take the lead if the job calls for it.
Another interesting thing about this deck is how deceptively quick and resilient it is. You can get some serious mileage out of a game by just
getting a Snapcaster Mage game going with a ton of counterspells, burn, or recursion. This isn’t nearly as flimsy of a deck as previous iterations of
Delver, and it wouldn’t surprise me if part of this deck’s success is because of players approaching it incorrectly.
How to make it better:
Depends on how aggressive you want to be. Gurmag Angler gets much better when your sole focus is to power out the 5/5 as quickly as possible, but
Snapcaster Mage gets slightly worse. I can see a tighter suite of countermagic as well. I get that you’re utilizing all of your zones, but we still want to
maximize tempo with hard-hitting cards. Less of a mish-mash, and more of a focus.
Having green instead of red trades the versatility of Electrolyze and Kolaghan’s Command for more horsepower in Tarmogoyf and Abrupt Decay, though I’m
unsure if losing Lightning Bolt is too great of a loss. You also gain actual Burn hate in Obstinate Baloth, Thragtusk, and Feed the Clan.
How to beat it:
Ignore them and kill them as quickly as possible, or kill every single thing they play while also having a sturdy clock. Decks like Burn and Amulet Bloom
feel pretty strong here, as does a heavy attrition deck like Jund packing Olivia Voldaren. Hitting their graveyard can put a decent damper on it, but you
need more than just dedicated graveyard hate. Anger of the Gods or any wrath is also pretty solid against their low end, but again, stay on top of them so
they don’t come back with some ridiculously efficient threat or equalizer.
And now, we get to the “Oh c’mon! Really!?” deck, arguably the most egregiously powerful of the format.
Creatures (6)
Lands (27)
Spells (27)
Creatures (7)
Lands (26)
Spells (27)
Why it’s good:
It’s blisteringly and deceptively fast, full of incredible interactions, hard to interact with, and has Primeval Titan. You’re very clear about two of the
ways you can win the game: doing something busted as early as turn 2, and jamming Hive Mind plus a Summoner’s Pact. The third way, however, is still
something many players aren’t prepared for. Transforming into mono-value midrange can absolutely crush those who aren’t ready for it, and the range of
tools available to it is only getting wider as more players get better with the deck.
How to make it better:
Dragonlord Dromoka out of the sideboard seems to be the biggest improvement possible right now, as it can completely shut down any reactive plan your
opponent thought they had. She’s also an insane buffer against Burn, meaning you don’t have to lean as heavily on Leyline of Sanctity or Radiant Fountain.
Gemstone Caverns adds some explosiveness, though I’m unsure how much more of that you need, and not having it in your opener on the draw makes it look bad.
Courser of Kruphix also feels strong against the Burn decks, but other than that, I’d probably jam as much artifact and enchantment hate as I possibly
could, preferably more Seal of Primordium to get under Remand.
How to beat it:
Blood Moon is a huge beating, and Splinter Twin puts a real number on this deck as well. You can combat the enchantment hate by gaining early tempo, and
sometimes they just don’t have it. Deflecting Palm out of Burn can really put a beating on the Primeval Titan plan as well. Lastly, while there are plenty
of games where it’ll win on turn 2 or 3, there are just as many games where it just does nothing, so I wouldn’t fault one for just slamming a strong clock
and hoping for the best.
Lastly, we have one of my favorite new-ish decks, Esper Tokens.
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (22)
Spells (27)
Why it’s good:
It appears to be an evolution of B/W Tokens, trading Bitterblossom for Monastery Mentor, and trading the rather strict Spectral Procession for a blue
splash, which adds some much needed tempo, a much better snowball angle for Monastery Mentor, and the wombo-combo of Thought Scour and Tasigur, the Golden
Fang. Creeping Tar Pit is also a nice inclusion when you need to snipe life totals or planeswalkers while on defense with the Mentor, and the countermagic
is always a welcome addition.
How to make it better:
Shadow of Doubt and Cryptic Command, while ambitious and pretty strict on the mana, are particularly effective at stymying your opponent’s progression and
generating a snowball effect from the get go, even if you don’t have a Mentor. Perhaps some sideboarded Sphinx’s Revelation and Jace, Architect of Thought
to get some more game against grindy decks, and Celestial Colonnade for a heavy hitter and more spread with Creeping Tar Pit.
How to beat it:
Cheap sweepers like Anger of the Gods or Supreme Verdict itself combined with going wide on your end. As weird as it sounds, B/W Tokens feels like a
nightmare for Esper Tokens, as Zealous Persecution and Bitterblossom create nightmares for Monastery Mentor, as well as Intangible Virtue. Trample effects
are also pretty good, but anything that attritions more than this deck should do the trick, so Abzan variants, Jund, and Grixis are pretty strong against
it.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these decks start to pick up in popularity, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Premier IQs at the next few Opens.
The Season Two Invitational will be the first Invitational featuring Modern, and I fully expect to see a ton of variety and innovation for these decks and
many of the top decks as well.