Sometimes a card gets banned and the whole archetype falls apart.
Birthing Pod was supposed to be that way, right?
After all, if you don’t have Birthing Pod to pull the whole thing together, how are you expecting to draw the right creature at the right time?
The new heir to the Birthing Pod dynasty relies on these two creature “tutors” to assemble its killer combos. Congregation at Dawn can set up an entire
combo chain on its own. Collected Company often accidentally assembles combos since it digs so deep, but it also plays right into the “back-up” plan of
grinding people out as a sort of Abzan meets G/W Hate Bears deck.
“Wait,” you might be saying. “What does this have to do with Birthing Pod?”
Take a look at this list:
Creatures (30)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Eternal Witness
- 1 Orzhov Pontiff
- 1 Harmonic Sliver
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 3 Flickerwisp
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 1 Qasali Pridemage
- 1 Viscera Seer
- 1 Spellskite
- 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 1 Restoration Angel
- 2 Sin Collector
- 3 Voice of Resurgence
- 1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
Lands (23)
Spells (7)
Max Brown took this early rendition of Company Abzan to a great finish in the Modern event in Syracuse this weekend.
While Standard Abzan is all aggro these days, most modern Abzan decks are a bit more midrange. This list, however, is combo, through and through.
I knew we could count on a new brew to add Ana two to the Melira crew. She’s the new loop troop that counters the finks counters with counters that let you
link endless Seer triggers, gaining life until your opponent thinks to scoop.
Each time Kitchen Finks comes back, it will be 2/1, and when you bolster, the +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters will cancel each other out and both be removed. This
lets you sacrifice it as many times as you want, which means as much life as you want.
This deck may look like a Congregation at Dawn deck given the sheer volume of tutor targets, but it really relies on Collected Company as a sort of
Bloodbraid Elf. Instead of a 3/2 haste and a spell that costs three or less, you just get two spells that cost three or less at instant speed.
Obligatory Collected Company Math For Above List
● 90.3% chance of hitting two or more creatures
● 98.8% chance of hitting one or more creatures
● 72.4% chance of hitting two or more non-mana creatures
● 94.4% chance of hitting one or more non-mana creatures
As you can see, Collected Company is pretty reliably drawing two cards and then actually casting both of them for free, which is usually a savings of at
least four mana, sometimes six.
Most of the creatures in this list are familiar to experienced Birthing Pod players, but at least one may come as a surprise, at least outside of a Legacy
white creature deck.
Flickerwisp is all about the “backup plan.” It’s a 3/1 flier for three that does lots of sweet tactical moves. Whether you’re getting an extra discard
spell out of Sin Collector, an extra sweep out of Orzhov Pontiff, an extra Regrowth out of Eternal Witness, or just resetting your Kitchen Finks, it’s not
hard to get an “extra card” out of Flickerwisp. Besides, sometimes you just wanna get in there, and sometimes that means blinking their creature
out.
Of course, that’s only the beginning.
Collected Company is an instant, so we can respond to a removal spell with it. If we hit a Flickerwisp, we can just blink out whatever was targeting. We
even have Viscera Seer to give us info about the top of our library to give us an idea of what we’re hitting. Besides, as good as that above math is,
nothing beats just straight up knowing we’re hitting.
Of course, if you Congregation at Dawn into Viscera Seer + Anafenza + Finks, you can untap, drop the Seer, and then just Company into the rest of the
combo. This is particularly important for racing other combo decks, although in practice, we’re often going to just go get Eternal Witness.
I remember when Congregation at Dawn was first seeing play.
The technology used to be just finding three dumb elephants and overpowering people that couldn’t hope to fight through so much raw power! Of course, this
makes me wonder…
All I ever want to draw is Siege Rhino. What if we just drew Siege Rhinos for the next three turns? That’s hard for fair decks to race. Opponent playing an
unfair deck? Go get Sin Collector + Sin Collector + Eternal Witness, or if you are faster, jump straight to the combo.
This weekend’s event had an interesting mix at the top. While lots of Abzan is so surprise, nor is a good showing from Affinity (including the eventual
winner), the quantity of Hate Bears is cause to raise an eyebrow. Here’s an example:
Creatures (29)
- 2 Serra Avenger
- 4 Flickerwisp
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Leonin Arbiter
- 1 Spellskite
- 3 Scavenging Ooze
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 2 Loxodon Smiter
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
When did Modern become a format all about Flickerwisp!?!
This list takes a page straight out of the Modern Death and Taxes playbook. Thalia and Leonin Arbiter disrupt people’s mana, while Scavenging Ooze, Qasali
Pridemage, and Spellskite each have their own areas to attack. Meanwhile, Flickerwisp, Serra Avenger, and Restoration Angel all bring the flying beats.
Serra Avenger, in particular, is a fun one with Aether Vial, as veterans of Legacy will recognize. Serra Avenger’s drawback only interacts with actually
casting it. A turn 1 Vial lets you cheat the system and get the Avenger into play on turn 3 if you so desire. You can even drop it in the middle of the
combat!
Of course, Vialing down Flickerwisp is where the real money is at. This lets you counter removal spells for zero mana and without even going down cards. It
also gives us another way to interact with opponents that try to do anything.
Someone trying to Splinter Twin? Flickerwisp it.
Someone trying to make their Glistener Elf Become Immense? Flickerwisp it.
Someone trying to Scapeshift? Flickerwisp even works here too!
Now, this isn’t to suggest G/W Hate Bears needs to be built around Flickerwisp. In fact, the highest finishing Hate Bears list went a lot more Hushwing
Gryff/Aven Mindcensor with its three cost white fliers.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Aven Mindcensor
- 1 Gaddock Teeg
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Qasali Pridemage
- 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
- 4 Leonin Arbiter
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 1 Phyrexian Revoker
- 3 Scavenging Ooze
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 2 Loxodon Smiter
- 1 Voice of Resurgence
- 2 Hushwing Gryff
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
This build is longer on the “hate,” while being less set up to interact with opponents playing a fair game. What all these decks have in common is the
ability to play through Thalia and Leonin Arbiter, which is just going to beat some decks. Beyond that, we’re just trying to play some creatures and turn
’em sideways.
We mentioned Affinity taking down the Premier IQ in the hands of James Harrod. Here’s his list, for reference. It’s so easy to get complacent of Affinity,
but we really should be running our Grudges, Creeping Corrosions, whatever. It’s just too much percentage for so cheap.
Creatures (26)
- 4 Arcbound Ravager
- 4 Ornithopter
- 3 Master of Etherium
- 2 Steel Overseer
- 3 Memnite
- 2 Etched Champion
- 4 Signal Pest
- 4 Vault Skirge
Lands (17)
Spells (17)
This list is fairly standard operating procedure, but it makes a fine addition to a gauntlet. Notice the use of Ensoul Artifact, letting us build a 5/5
indestructible (Darksteel Citadel); a 5/5 flying, lifelink (Vault Skirge); or a 5/5 flying, infect (Inkmoth Nexus). This isn’t a new trick, but it is a
powerful dimension that hits from a slightly different angle than much of the rest of the Affinity strategy. Remember, +1/+1 counters work the way you want
with Ensoul!
Okay, maybe there is a little spice on the rack, after all!
Circle of Protection: Red is a response to the popularity (and success) of Burn in Modern. My thoughts? Good! People shouldn’t be letting these Lava Spike
punks get away with showing up to Modern tournaments with Burn. It’s disrespectful to the game!
If you want to play Burn, the least you could do is put a little funk on it. For instance, what about U/R Delver…
…without Delve!
Creatures (16)
Lands (18)
Spells (26)
It’s funny, when I look at this deck, I just keep imagining playing U/R Delver, but always getting so unlucky that I never seem to draw Treasure Cruise!
I’m not sure we can really get away with not having access to those extra cards, but here’s to trying. Edgar tries to make up the decrease in power with
more permission and maindeck Blood Moons.
Gangster.
Of course, gangster is boarding in Dragon’s Claws against Burn and keeping a straight face…
Speaking of sideboard cards, can we get either of these little numbers in here?
I played Harvest Pyre at the last World Championships, and while it can also hit Splinter Twin targets, I assure you, I would have preferred to have access
to Roast. Being able to hit Tarmogoyf and Siege Rhino is a big deal. Besides, Rending Volley can potentially help against Twin. Yeah, we could just use
Combust, but having a one-cost option is a valuable addition to our arsenal, particularly in such a tempo-based strategy.
Of course, Combust hits Siege Rhino, too…
Okay, I gotta duck out early today. I’m currently way the hell out in the middle of the Belgium countryside, and this format isn’t going to break itself.
I’m camped out with the rest of The Pantheon in a former monastery, basically just brewing and building non-stop. Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir is this
weekend, and let me just tell you right now. I can not wait to see how this new format shakes out! This is gonna be a fun one…
Wish me luck!