Last month, I wrote an article about what I believe is the most underrated deck in Modern: Amulet Titan. At SCG Cincinnati, I put my money where my mouth is and made the Top 4 with Amulet Titan alongside my teammates Matthew Dilks (Lands) and Tariq Patel (Grixis Energy). This past weekend at Grand Prix Hartford, I finished a rather uninspiring 10-5, but Amulet Titan made the finals in the hands of Michael Mapson.
Here’s the list I played at GP Hartford, one that happens to be only two cards different from Mapson’s:
Creatures (14)
Lands (28)
Spells (18)
Going into the GP, I expected that the most-played decks would be B/R Hollow One and Humans. The powerful aggressive strategies have been increasing in popularity and pushing many uninteractive archetypes out of the format. Due to how Amulet Titan is built, there aren’t many flex slots that you can change. That said, changing a single tutor target can have huge implications on the result of the tournament.
I decided to play a maindeck Reclamation Sage this weekend, as opposed to a Courser of Kruphix in my previous event. I wanted the opportunity to have a high-impact bullet in Game 1 when I needed it, as I felt that would give me a higher overall win rate compared to a medium utility creature. Being able to tag a Blood Moon in Game 1 gives you a much higher chance to beat the powerful hate card. The fact that many of the most-played archetypes had something worth Naturalizing meant that, even if I were to naturally draw it, it would be unlikely to be completely dead:
I was hesitant to move to Firespout in the sideboard, but ultimately glad I did. It is invaluable against Humans and not significantly worse against most strategies where you need to sweep their battlefield. I added another red source in Grove of the Burnwillows to be comfortable with casting the sweepers on time. Unfortunately, this change came at the concession of Ghost Quarter in the maindeck.
Spell Pierce over Swan Song was originally a choice for the team setting in Cincinnati, but I’ve enjoyed it going forward. Spell Pierce is much better against the control decks, where giving them a 2/2 isn’t always free. Against combo decks like Storm, it’s still somewhat effective, as you’re usually applying enough pressure that they will not have the luxury of playing through the soft counter aspect. Relevantly, Swan Song doesn’t have text against the Grand Prix-winning Krark-Clan Ironworks deck, so this change will likely continue to be correct.
The move away from Tireless Tracker and towards more Obstinate Baloths seems correct for the time being. Tireless Tracker shined when the midrange deck of choice was Grixis Death’s Shadow. The Death’s Shadow decks have much less removal than the traditional Jund deck, and since they deal so much damage to themselves, Tireless Tracker is a real threat that they need to be afraid of. Against current B/G/x decks, I find they are more likely to try to kill you quickly and you don’t have the time to durdle with Clues.
Sideboarding Principles
There are certain general patterns I use when it comes to sideboarding:
- I’ve found it’s okay to sideboard out lands if they don’t do anything. I’m not usually interested in playing a copy of Wastes in any non-Eldrazi deck, and in some matchups, the utility lands can feel like that. That being said, try not to go below 26 lands, as you do still need to cast Primeval Titan to win the game, after all.
- I like to keep in Cavern of Souls whenever I have Sakura-Tribe Scout in my deck because it’s still a Turn 1 green source to cast the powerful Snake Shaman Scout. In matchups where Sakura-Tribe Scout is going to consistently die, it’s okay to sideboard it out. Usually those matchups are interactive and it’s okay to rely on Explore and Azusa, Lost but Seeking to do the heavy lifting. Conversely, in matchups where they have little to no interaction for your creatures, you can shave or completely cut Explore because the card can be slow and unnecessary.
- Make sure not to over-sideboard in matchups where ramping to Primeval Titan is still your primary gameplan. You need a certain density of ramp, mana, and payoff for Amulet Titan to function. Every Dismember or Spell Pierce you draw in matchups where you just need to cast Primeval Titan could hinder your chances of winning.
- In a similar vein, whenever you would sideboard in a green creature that costs six or more mana, you need to think about whether there will be situations where that creature is better to Summoner’s Pact for than Primeval Titan. If the answer is no, don’t sideboard it in.
I’ll use the rest of today’s article to explore some of the more common matchups in the Modern metagame. Modern is incredibly diverse and I won’t be able to hit every single one, but you can get an idea of the philosophies I use in approaching a matchup and sideboarding against it, depending on what role I choose to take.
Humans
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Humans is the current aggro deck of choice in Modern and it happens to be a tricky matchup. Game 1 typically comes down to the number of Meddling Mages they draw, as three can completely lock you out of the game but any less can be trumped by either Walking Ballista or Engineered Explosives. Keep in mind that a Phantasmal Image doesn’t apply here, since you can target it with Slayers’ Stronghold or Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion. Humans doesn’t have many other tools against you, so a fast Primeval Titan should go uninterrupted otherwise.
I made a concession in my list to swing the matchup in our favor by playing with Firespout. Firespout as the sweeper of choice over the two-damage options allows you to take out Mantis Rider and deal with Meddling Mage after a Thalia’s Lieutenant has resolved. It’s a subtle difference, but it comes up quite frequently and can be the difference between winning and losing. Obstinate Baloth does an acceptable job at stemming the bleeding and Hornet Queen is fantastic at catching you up from otherwise unbeatable game states.
B/R Hollow One, on the Play
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B/R Hollow One, on the Draw:
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Game 1 comes down to how quick of a start both decks have, since neither deck can interact with the other very much. I typically take a more controlling route in this matchup, prioritizing lands like Khalni Garden and Radiant Fountain to buy myself as much time as I can. A Primeval Titan should be able to stabilize most game states by finding or rebuying utility lands, so your goal is just to get to that point.
After sideboarding you need to be wary of Blood Moon, so finding a basic Forest is a priority. The extra interaction really slows down their aggressive draws, so I’m less worried about losing to a quick kill. Obstinate Baloth is particularly effective, since it gets back the life lost from a Hollow One hit while trading with it the next turn. If you ever get one or more of them onto the battlefield off a Burning Inquiry, you’re usually far ahead.
Jund, on the Play
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Jund, on the Draw
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A classic Modern trope is a midrange deck versus a big mana deck, and this certainly is no different. Jund’s main avenue of attack involves discard into a two-mana threat, ideally followed up by a Liliana of the Veil. Like any other matchup where you have inevitability, you should focus on ensuring survival as a priority. Once a Primeval Titan sticks, the game gets very difficult for the opponent if you make sure to fetch a Tolaria West for the backup threat whenever necessary.
The goal in sideboarding here is to reduce the possibility of a hole being ripped into your hand by maximizing the number of effective cards in our deck. By sideboarding in removal and Relic of Progenitus, you’re more likely to beat a large Tarmogoyf or an early Dark Confidant. Obstinate Baloth punishes Liliana of the Veil and catches you up against Bloodbraid Elf.
Sideboarding out Amulet of Vigor shocks most people when I tell them about it, but it’s very much a combo card, something I’m not interested in for this matchup. By itself, Amulet of Vigor only ramps you by one mana with a bounceland, which isn’t much of a boost, and since you’re likely not going to haste your Primeval Titan into open mana, you aren’t taking full advantage of the extra mana created by the Giant’s enters-the-battlefield trigger. Sakura-Tribe Scout is also vulnerable, so I prefer to rely on Explore and Azusa as more reliable forms of acceleration.
Jeskai Control
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Unlike in the B/G/x matchups, in Game 1 the onus is on you to close the game out, since Cryptic Command, Snapcaster Mage, and various removal spells can completely strip you of your win conditions. Cavern of Souls is your most effective card, so you should attempt to find it whenever possible. Without it or a fast start, it can be difficult to ever play to the battlefield. Sandbagging copies of Amulet of VIgor can trick your opponent into thinking that your hand isn’t as explosive as they expect, which can punish some sorcery-speed spells like Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
After sideboarding things get better for you, since Spell Pierce can do a good job at forcing through the first threat even without a Cavern of Souls. If your opponent is on a more creature-oriented build, consider bringing in cards like Dismember and Obstinate Baloth to help combat that. Try to pinch their mana as much as you can and reduce the effectiveness of cards like Logic Knot and Snapcaster Mage by playing and picking up Bojuka Bog. Remember that Vesuva can copy Celestial Colonnade if you need another threat…or Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin if you’re lucky.
U/R Gifts Storm
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Storm is one of the worst matchups for Amulet Titan, but luckily one that isn’t super-popular. Game 1, there isn’t much in the way of interaction outside of Bojuka Bog off a Sakura-Tribe Scout or Pact of Negation, so you just must try to goldfish faster than the opponent. It’s important to pay attention to whether they play a fetchland or Shivan Reef, as it usually correlates with whether they have Blood Moon in their sideboard.
After sideboarding, you get some reasonably good tools: more ways to kill their creatures, some graveyard hate, and soft permission that goes a long way towards not dying. It’s okay to cut down on win conditions because you only ever need the first to win the game, and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed is the one most likely to do so. Cavern of Souls goes a long way in this matchup as well, as they usually only have one or two outs to a resolved threat.
Affinity
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Affinity is like the Humans matchup, but with a slightly faster goldfish and less interaction. Kozilek’s Return is much better than Firespout here, since it tags creature-lands and Etched Champion, but you have to pick your poison and Humans is a much bigger player in the current metagame. You want to save your Dismember for as long as possible, if you have that luxury, because the Affinity player will often try to go for a big Arcbound Ravager or Cranial Plating hit the turn before you kill them.
G/W Hexproof
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The G/W Hexproof menace has been increasing in popularity, but luckily for us, the slippery beast can have some difficulties beating a well-timed Engineered Explosives. That being said, we only have access to one actual copy of the card, even though we have Tolaria West to find it, so make sure you use that copy wisely.
It may not make much sense to sideboard in Dismember against a hexproof deck, but Kor Spiritdancer is their most powerful threat against you, since it kills so quickly, and most copies of G/W Hexproof have Gaddock Teeg in their sideboard, which can prove to be an annoying permanent. Use your Spell Pierces to tag totem armors whenever possible so that your mass removal effects can take out their creatures effectively.
Burn, on the Play
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Burn, on the Draw
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Burn is a surprisingly good matchup, as having access to a few repeatable sources of lifegain is often enough to give us the time we need to get to Primeval Titan. Because of this, I find it hard to mulligan any reasonable hand with Radiant Fountain. Their best draws involve multiple creatures, so the sweepers can go a long way against what would otherwise be a good draw.
After sideboarding, make sure to play around Deflecting Palm. I don’t think the card is very effective against us, but people tend to sideboard it in, so it’s worth respecting. Often it can be correct not to attack for a turn or two until you can replay the Radiant Fountain you tutored off Primeval Titan enough times to have a good life buffer.
Mono-Green Tron
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Barring a Turn 3 Karn Liberated, there isn’t much to worry about in this matchup. Our kill is usually faster, and either Ghost Quarter or Tolaria West for Pact of Negation off a Primeval Titan trigger is usually enough to close out a game. Make sure to protect your Slayers’ Stronghold from their Ghost Quarter or Karn -3 ability because the game becomes much harder to win without being able to haste your Primeval Titan.
***
Modern continues to trend in a direction that makes me hopeful for Amulet Titan, and its second-place finish at GP Hartford this weekend demonstrates that. Although I would have been ecstatic if it took down the tournament, seeing someone else achieve success with the deck helps to reassure me that the archetype isn’t just a pet deck of mine.
Although Amulet Titan is complicated to play, I hope that my article will alleviate some of the confusion that can occur when picking up the deck. The deck’s toolbox nature gives it many avenues to attack a changing metagame, and I hope that people will continue to pick up Amulet Titan and help evolve it from its current configuration.