Today I’m taking a look at some of the more… interesting aggro decks in Modern. These are the ones that might pop up from time to time but aren’t likely to hit the spotlight anytime soon.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Knight of the Reliquary
- 4 Baneslayer Angel
- 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
- 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 4 Nest Invader
- 4 Primeval Titan
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Zvi rebought on the Mythic strategy for Pro Tour Amsterdam, but it never caught on. Some people, like Batutinha here, might pick it up every once in a while, but it’s never going to be the deck to beat. The main thing keeping it from reaching the big time is that it isn’t doing anything more powerful than any of the real combo decks, and what it’s doing isn’t very good against anyone else.
Hitting your opponent with an Emrakul is pretty awesome, but it’s much harder to do in this deck than say, Owen Turtenwald Fist of the Suns deck. Your backup plan is okay but also not great. On top of that, your combo is slower than everyone else’s combos, and you don’t have any disruption.
This deck has a few things going on, but they’re all worse. I would look into splashing Though the Breach, but that doesn’t solve any of the problems.
Rating: 4/10
Creatures (22)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 2 Avalanche Riders
- 2 Simian Spirit Guide
- 2 Tarmogoyf
- 3 Countryside Crusher
- 2 Fulminator Mage
- 2 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 1 Acidic Slime
Lands (23)
Spells (15)
Sideboard
This gentleman presumably showed up to Pro Tour Philadelphia armed with a deck he thought destroyed Cloudpost. In order for land destruction to work, you need something that locks your opponent out (Armageddon, Wildfire), a fast clock (Jackal Pup, Veteran Brawlers), LD spells you get to play for free in your manabase (Wasteland, Rishadan Port), or need to the format to have decks that can’t function without three mana.
Modern isn’t that format.
Is this a better LD deck than Living End? Is it a better LD deck than Smallpox or Death Cloud? Do you even accomplish more with Stone Rains than you do a single Blood Moon? Can you win if your opponent plays first? Do you have a good sideboard plan for someone who doesn’t care about your LD?
These are all questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to kill someone’s lands.
If I wanted to play LD, I’d probably play Magnivore. At least then, you’d have blue cards.
Rating: 3/10
Creatures (36)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 1 Elvish Champion
- 1 Imperious Perfect
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 4 Bramblewood Paragon
- 4 Heritage Druid
- 4 Nettle Sentinel
- 4 Elvish Archdruid
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 4 Joraga Warcaller
- 2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Lands (18)
Spells (6)
Sideboard
This type of deck popped up last Extended season in response to Valakut, Wargate, and Faeries. Combo Elves was an archetype, but there are distinct advantages to this version.
For starters, it’s just as fast. Okay, being roughly the same speed might not be an advantage, but you shouldn’t knock it because it’s slower, because it isn’t. Second, you aren’t drawing slim hate cards like Rule of Law and Ethersworn Canonist.
Finally, your cards are a lot better on their own. There aren’t clunkers like Summoner’s Pact or Cloudstone Curio in here, making each of your topdecks that much better and your mulligans less painful. Also, you get to sideboard in hate cards like Blood Moon without disrupting your combo.
This is like a more powerful Merfolk deck, but with no protection.
Rating: 6/10
Creatures (30)
- 4 Flamekin Harbinger
- 4 Bosk Banneret
- 4 Rage Forger
- 4 Wolf-Skull Shaman
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 1 Crimson Mage
- 1 Skinshifter
Lands (24)
Spells (6)
This is just one of those decks that’s full of cute interactions but isn’t actually better than anything else out there. It can be fast, so losing to it shouldn’t feel any different than losing to one-drop Zoo or Affinity, but it still stings.
Bosk Banneret, really?
I wouldn’t play this over Elves in a million years.
Rating: 3/10
Creatures (35)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 2 Extractor Demon
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 4 Hedron Crab
- 4 Lotus Cobra
- 3 Enclave Cryptologist
- 4 Vengevine
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 4 Phantasmal Image
- 2 Skaab Ruinator
Lands (24)
Spells (2)
Sideboard
I like this list for what it is, but I’m biased. One of my first early successes on the Open Series was with Dredgevine. Sadly, Modern is a little too powerful for Dredgevine to be a viable strategy. On top of that, Storm is one of the big earners in the format, so graveyard hate is all over.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a more powerful, faster Dredge deck that actually used the dredge mechanic. That type of deck could be powerful but would need a way to dodge the hate or wait for it to disappear.
If given the opportunity, I would love to play Gnaw to the Bone in Constructed and never lose to Burn or Zoo, but it doesn’t seem likely to happen in this format.
Rating: 4/10
Creatures (8)
Lands (20)
Spells (32)
- 3 Flames of the Blood Hand
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 3 Volcanic Hammer
- 4 Incinerate
- 4 Lava Spike
- 4 Rift Bolt
- 4 Shard Volley
- 2 Searing Blaze
- 4 Bump in the Night
Sideboard
There’s gonna be a burn guy in every tournament, I can guarantee that. If you’re not prepared, you’re going to get lit up. Chances are, Burn Guy is gonna run into someone who is prepared eventually, and his tournament will be over.
That said, he’ll probably take a few people out with him. Some burn players like to believe they have a good Zoo matchup, but that’s only against careless Zoo players. Fetch, crack, etc. I’m sure you’ve heard the story.
Anyway, if the Zoo deck is careful and has access to some basics, it should be pretty easy. Wild Nacatl Kird Ape tends to race better than Lava Spike.
Burn is still pretty powerful, even if it is just a bad Zoo deck, so don’t be surprised if it puts up numbers, at least initially. By staying Mono-Red, you’re effectively giving up on your combo matchup, and that doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Rating: 5/10
Creatures (16)
Lands (23)
Spells (21)
Sideboard
I consider Boros to be a “good” Burn deck, and this list really shows why. Splashes for Silence and Meddling Mage improve the combo matchup slightly. Cards like Steppe Lynx give you another awesome one-drop, which you need. Having a constant source of damage is much better than relying on all burn spells, and Goblin Guide doesn’t always get there.
I wouldn’t be opposed to Boros, but it does have a problem dealing with Tarmogoyf. Some of those Paths probably have to be moved into the maindeck.
Rating: 6/10
Creatures (29)
- 4 Mangara of Corondor
- 3 Serra Avenger
- 2 Stonecloaker
- 3 Aven Mindcensor
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Flickerwisp
- 3 Ethersworn Canonist
- 3 Student of Warfare
- 3 Leonin Arbiter
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
A straight Legacy port that might actually be effective in this format. There’s a lot of searching going on with fetchlands, and Storm hates seeing Ethersworn Canonist in the maindeck.
I’m not too sold on the Flickerwisp/Mangara interaction, as that seems like something that the pilot just wanted to incorporate because it was playable in Legacy. Most of the decks in Modern either don’t care about that combo or can break it up easily.
The sideboard probably needs a tune-up.
Rating: 5/10
Creatures (20)
- 4 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
- 4 Epochrasite
- 4 Lodestone Golem
- 2 Wurmcoil Engine
- 4 Grand Architect
- 2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Lands (23)
Spells (17)
This list came from Gavin Verhey Overextended tournament series. While Modern and Overextended are far from the same format, they share largely the same card pool, so looking at that format for ideas seems like a fine idea.
Mishra isn’t exactly an aggro deck, but it’s certainly not control, and classifying it as combo would be wrong too, so here we are. Untapping with Mishra is probably difficult, and it’s definitely more work than I’d want. However, once you do, the rewards you reap are huge.
Epochrasite comes into play as a 4/4; you get to double up on Lodestone Golems vs. Storm, or Batterskulls against aggro.
I would look at lowering the curve a bit. Maybe Ethersworn Canonist could be played in conjunction with Lodestone Golem to make Storm a cakewalk. Dismember could become something less painful, and obviously the Ancestral Visions have to go. They probably weren’t that good to begin with, at least in this deck. Four ways to suspend them on turn one? Yuck.
Rating: 4/10
Spells (29)
This is probably what the Death and Taxes deck wants to be. You still get combo hate maindeck, but instead of disrupting their searching, you are just killing them. Token decks are notoriously good against sweepers and creature matchups but need some help against combo.
I like most of the maindeck, but again, the sideboard could be a little better. Is Leyline of Sanctity really stopping that combo deck, or are you just that scared of burn decks? Disenchant seems like a bad Oblivion Ring, and Ghostly Prison probably isn’t necessary.
Rating: 6/10
Creatures (2)
Lands (23)
Spells (35)
- 4 Raise the Alarm
- 4 Polymorph
- 2 Promise of Bunrei
- 3 Leyline of the Meek
- 4 Spectral Procession
- 2 Beckon Apparition
- 4 Path to Exile
- 4 Flayer Husk
- 4 Intangible Virtue
- 4 Midnight Haunting
Sideboard
This is another version of Tokens that awkwardly enough came first. You’d think that as time went on, they’d add something clever like Polymorph to a deck that this, but that wasn’t the case.
Anyway, that type of plan is going to help against Zoo, Jund, or any other midrange deck that can’t beat an Emrakul. It’s not fast enough against combo, and control decks will likely keep mana open in order to interact with you, so I wouldn’t bank on it there.
The other option is putting an Emrakul under Windbrisk Heights, which is very satisfying. Despite that, I don’t like the Polymorph plan. It doesn’t solve any problems and just creates more, so what’s the point?
One other thing that was bugging me was that if the pilot could afford four Hallowed Fountains, why weren’t there any Seachrome Coasts, fetchlands, or Mystic Gates? Surely those would be better than 11 Plains. I guess Path to Exile is a reason for that Island, but Mystic Gate sure would be helpful.
Rating: 4/10
Creatures (8)
Lands (21)
Spells (31)
I tried to find some lists but didn’t see any I liked, so I just made this one on the spot. Clearly it’s a little rough and needs to be cleaned up, especially considering that I have no experience with these archetypes.
That said, it does seem very scary. Turn-two and turn-three kills aren’t out of the question, and there’s no Blazing Shoal necessary!
Some other options include:
Remand
Delay
Unstable Mutation
Apostle’s Blessing
Unstable Mutation is kind of hilarious but is probably worse than any of the other pump spells. Delay and Remand would be fine if you wanted to slow the deck down a bit.
It has potential.
Rating: 5/10
Creatures (16)
Lands (19)
Spells (25)
Much like the Infect deck, I just made this one. You don’t have to run the Death’s Shadows and could instead play Wee Dragonauts and focus on Assault Strobe. You would most likely stick to straight U/R if that were the case.
This one is going to be fast, one way or the other. Either they’re dead on turn three, or you’re reaching for your sideboard after getting a terrible draw.
It’s probably just a bad Infect deck, and although the U/R one is similar, it’s probably worse.
Rating: 4/10
Creatures (26)
- 4 Ornithopter
- 3 Goblin Bushwhacker
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 4 Memnite
- 3 Goblin Wardriver
- 4 Signal Pest
- 4 Vault Skirge
Lands (18)
Spells (16)
Sideboard
I pulled this list from a Magic-League eight-man, but its pilot went 0-1. That isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement for this build, but it has promise. Much like Infect and Kiln Fiend, there are things you can do in this format that people haven’t done yet. Just because Affinity is a known quantity and it’s easier to update that deck than create a new archetype doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t build something new.
I firmly believe that a version of this deck, either with Quest of the Pure Flame or Haze of Rage is a good deck. That said, there are so many different playable cards in this type of deck (some that most would never consider, like Clockwork Beetle) that I don’t know where to begin.
Petr Brozek, we need you!
These hyper-aggro decks don’t conform to the same rules as Zoo. You can tell that much when they are actually affected by combo hate. They might be more glass cannon than anything else, but Modern is a hostile format. You need something powerful to get you through the tournament. Something like Mystical Teachings isn’t going to draw the right answer against every single opponent that is trying to kill them on turn three.
When the hate has shifted hard one way, the time will be right to select a crazy deck like the last couple, which doesn’t care about whatever the flavor of hate is, and they’ll crush the tournament.
Rating: 5/10
Creatures (29)
- 2 Mirror Entity
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 3 Kabira Evangel
- 4 Kazandu Blademaster
- 4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
- 4 Akoum Battlesinger
- 4 Hada Freeblade
- 4 Phantasmal Image
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
This one is probably much worse than the Warrior Elves list above, but it’s something to consider.
Other options include Phyrexian Metamorph instead of Phantasmal Image, or keeping those and playing Ancient Ziggurat. You’d have to drop the Violent Outbursts, but your mana would be much better.
Allies just aren’t doing anything better than the other tribal decks, so finding a reason to bother is difficult.
Rating: 3/10
Creatures (21)
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 2 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Steppe Lynx
- 4 Student of Warfare
- 4 Grand Abolisher
- 3 Geist of Saint Traft
Lands (23)
Spells (16)
The other option would be to play something similar to Paul Rietzl Pro Tour Amsterdam winning deck, but this one is far more colorful. Playing that much removal is strange considering how light on removal Rietzl was, but that could just be a signal that the formats are that much different.
Then again, the full amount of Brave the Elements doesn’t seem very good with only 21 creatures.
Some sort of white-based creature deck is going to be good. The tools are there. The main problem is finding what kind of shell they fit best in, and that could change week to week. Even something like Quest for the Holy Relic isn’t impossible.
Rating: 6/10
Creatures (32)
- 2 Mogg War Marshal
- 4 Simian Spirit Guide
- 4 Earwig Squad
- 4 Boartusk Liege
- 4 Tattermunge Maniac
- 4 Goblin Chieftain
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 4 Warren Instigator
- 2 Ember Hauler
Lands (22)
Spells (6)
The above is basically a carbon copy of the Dutch’s Goblin deck from Pro Tour Amsterdam. Punishing Fire is gone, but Bolt and Dismember are suitable replacements.
The main draw to this deck is Earwig Squad. Most combo decks, such as Storm and Ad Nauseam, are going to find it difficult to beat and don’t play anything like Remand to stop it.
Aether Vial might be an option, but this isn’t Legacy. Having to choose between Goblin Guide and Aether Vial on turn one doesn’t make any sense.
Rating: 5/10
That’s it for the aggressive decks. Up next — Combo!
GerryT