With my last entry, I was ready to head to Omaha for the Modern Grand Prix. I had big dreams and bigger expectations, but what can one really expect when
neither his mind nor heart is really in something? It is no secret that I am disgusted with the current Modern format. Since the reintroduction of delve
into our lives, Modern has become unwieldy, a wild animal. It is not the format I recognized from a year ago, and it was not one I was happy to play.
But I gave it a shot. I trusted that others who had a better understanding of the format’s development would guide me. The weapon in my hands, the Birthing
Pod deck built by BBD, seemed much more like a Siege Rhino deck than what I remember Birthing Pod to be. To be quite honest, I had my reservations, but his
confidence and record with the deck pushed me over the ledge. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my wings, and I crashed to the ground below.
Modern is a format I normally enjoy playing. There is a lot of back and forth, and there are plenty of different archetypes to champion. If you find a deck
and become proficient with it, much like Legacy, you will go far. That is until Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, and even Jeskai Ascendancy ruin all of
our fun.
To be perfectly clear, I get it. I know that testing for Eternal-type formats is the least of their worries when developing new cards for Magic. After all,
that is what the banned list is for. And with Modern, they’ve shown an affinity for knocking down cards or decks when they get out of hand. They don’t
always ban the right cards, but I tend to trust their judgment when it comes to these decisions, as I’m sure they’re never made lightly.
But I’m willing to bet the house on Treasure Cruise getting the axe.
Treasure Cruise is one of the biggest punishers I’ve ever seen for interacting with your opponent. Removal spells, discard spells, and even trading off
resources in combat are all ways to fuel your opponent’s Treasure Cruise. On top of that, Treasure Cruise is usually the only card in these decks that
utilizes the graveyard, making something like Relic of Progenitus or Rest in Peace a losing proposition.
When Treasure Cruise is one of the most powerful cards in a given format, it tends to make things a little awkward for the rest of us. Either we play with
Treasure Cruise, or do something to completely ignore it. This means shutting down the rest of the deck in a prison style via Chalice of the Void, or
playing some sort of degenerate combo. Neither of these things make for a fun or healthy format.
While Treasure Cruise is the most egregious of the cards that I think needs to be banned, simply because it is far more powerful than Ancestral Vision (a
card currently on that list), I don’t think that is the only card that needs to get the hammer.
This card is easily identifiable as a card that needs to be banned alongside Treasure Cruise. Without Cruise in the format, Dig Through Time would be an
easy replacement. In some strategies, it is arguably better than Cruise, but there would be virtually no reason for a blue deck to go without Dig Through
Time in their deck. And since it has delve, it is just another card that punishes the opponent for trying to interact with you.
Dig Through Time costs more mana than Cruise, but ultimately they are both very similar cards. The only reason why Dig sees less play than Cruise is
because Cruise is just a little bit better. Without Cruise in the format, Dig would be just as highly played and is only being overshadowed by Cruise in
the current Modern format. I would never want one of these cards in the format without the other, but honestly I’d rather have neither.
I don’t think that Jeskai Ascendancy is an unbeatable card, or even an unbeatable deck. In fact, I don’t think Jeskai Ascendancy is even good without
Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time in the format. What I do know is that when cards like Cerulean Wisps start to see play, something is very wrong. But
the biggest point for banning Jeskai Ascendancy is the time issue.
Much like the Eggs deck that won Pro Tour Return to Ravnica a few years ago in the hands of Stanislav Cifka, Jeskai Ascendancy takes far too long to
actually win a game. Cards that create repetitive gameplay or sequencing are easy bans for Modern, and one of the reasons why Sensei’s Divining Top is
currently sitting in exile. Plus, Jeskai Ascendancy will only get better as time goes on, making it a potential danger in the future even if it isn’t
exactly a deal breaker just yet.
I don’t know if Jeskai Ascendancy will get banned, but I think there is a reasonable chance that it does, if only because of how unfun it is to play
against, let alone how boring it can be to sit and watch the deck spin its wheels for fifteen minutes or so.
Personally, I think this card has been a huge offender for far too long. Much like the delve mechanic, Birthing Pod is a card/deck that punishes people for
trying to interact with it. Cards like Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks push Birthing Pod over the top, as you’re not really losing anything by
sacrificing most creatures in the deck.
Essentially, Birthing Pod is a Dark Ritual and Diabolic Tutor every single turn past the first, giving you access to bigger and bigger effects for a single
mana. If you’ve ever played against Birthing Pod before, you know just how demoralizing it can be to play against an active Birthing Pod. You will rarely
beat an active Birthing Pod outside of a combo kill, meaning that Birthing Pod also pushes the format towards being more degenerate than interactive.
In the last few years, Birthing Pod has won the majority of Modern Grand Prix. It also won Grand Prix Omaha while blue decks had some of the most
overpowered cards they’ve ever had in the format. If you’ve noticed, Treasure Cruise has basically pushed Jace, the Mind Sculptor out of Legacy. The fact
that Birthing Pod won a Grand Prix while Ancestral Recall was legal as a four-of is just ridiculous.
I don’t expect them to ban Birthing Pod, as the deck adds value to a lot of different cards in Modern, and the Birthing Pod players love playing it. I
don’t even mind playing against Birthing Pod so long as I am playing some sort of combo deck. But the fact of the matter is that Birthing Pod is a watered
down version of Survival of the Fittest, and is probably too good to keep in the format.
Potential Unbans
People have also discussed the possibility of unbanning some cards instead of banning any of the aforementioned cards. Personally, I don’t get it. I don’t
want the format to be more degenerate than it already is. Treasure Cruise is a gigantic pain in my ass, and I don’t need Deathrite Shaman or Bloodbraid Elf
thrown back into the mix making it worse.
While I would love for a few cards to be unbanned, mostly just to shake up the format quite a bit before the Pro Tour, they don’t have a history of
unbanning cards while also banning them. And since I can’t imagine that Treasure Cruise and company will stay legal past Monday, I don’t think there is all
that much to talk about. Some cards are just too powerful or frightening to unban. I mean, just think about Golgari Grave-Troll for a second. If they do
decide to unban it, and it ends up being a flop, then what’s the difference? But if it ends up being dominant, then they’ve made a huge mistake. Cards like
Grave-Troll are a lose-lose situation if they are unbanned, so it makes perfect sense to leave it alone.
I’ve gone over many iterations in my head of potential unbannings, but none of them really make a lot of sense. We haven’t seen what Modern looks like with
Khans of Tarkir and without Treasure Cruise. I think it’s important to give that particular format a try before adding any potentially new weapons to the
arsenal. If anything, they can try unbanning certain cards on the banned list at a later date to give the format a bit of a boost if it should become
stale.
Standard with Fate Reforged
Fate Reforged is almost here, and with it comes some interesting new weapons that will surely shake Standard to its core. While there aren’t a ton of
potential candidates for building new archetypes, there are plenty of new toys for existing archetypes. Some of those weapons might even be perfect for a
deck you haven’t even considered them in just yet.
For starters…
Yes, this card will be insane alongside Jeskai Ascendancy. But what other shells could it potentially fit in? Having the ability to create miniature
versions of itself, Monastery Mentor just needs a deck with protection spells to keep it alive long enough to have a significant impact. Drawing cards is
also a plus. Do you know what deck does that very well already? Heroic comes to mind.
Heroic decks were already pretty solid before the release of Fate Reforged, winning a recent Standard Open in the hands of Joe Lossett. I’ve been playing
the deck on and off for a few months, and it tends to have some unbeatable draws (to go along with the ones that can’t win). The worst card in the deck
just has to be Seeker of the Way. After all, it doesn’t exactly keep the boost given by the auras in the deck, making it a pretty weak version of
a heroic creature. I’ve tried substituting other mediocre heroic creatures in its place, but none of them really hit hard enough to justify the slot.
While both of these cards do have the +1/+1 counter ability of heroic, neither is a significant threat on its own. If I’m playing creatures in an
aggressive deck, I don’t want to be forced to put an aura on them to make attacking worthwhile. While I understand that putting auras on creatures is what
the deck is trying to do, I would much rather be putting those auras on a creature with a higher starting power.
While Monastery Mentor will make your curve a little higher, it adds a completely different dimension to the deck. Remember when people started playing
Young Pyromancer alongside Goblin Rabblemaster in the previous Standard format? Young Pyromancer often acted like a Lightning Rod for the opponent’s
removal, and mostly at sorcery speed to keep you from making any tokens. Well, almost every creature in a Heroic deck acts the same way, as the opponent
doesn’t want to allow you to untap with Gods Willing and counter their removal spell!
So if that’s the case, and your opponents are going to be burning their removal spell on your creatures as quickly as possible, it only makes sense that
Monastery Mentor will usually get to untap without needing a protection spell!
To make things better, Heroic also got a huge upgrade with Valorous Stance as the secondary protection spell behind Gods Willing over Feat of Resistance.
Heroic needed a way to clear Siege Rhino and other large idiots out of the way so that your board of small creatures could do some real damage. On top of
that, the easiest way for Heroic to lose any game is for the opponent to put pressure on you while hitting you with disruption. While their disruption can
come in multiple forms, such as discard, counterspells, or removal, basically any big threat can close the door on you. Heroic relies on synergy to take
over games, and none of the creatures in the deck can stand up to a Siege Rhino on their own. If you want to keep attacking, you aren’t going to be able to
block.
While Valorous Stance won’t protect your creatures from Abzan Charm or Utter End, it will save them from End Hostilities, Crux of Fate, and most other
removal spells. There are downsides to playing Valorous Stance over Feat of Resistance, but that’s usually the case with any sort of protection spell. But
having your protection spell double as a removal spell in a tight situation can be invaluable.
But before we get too ahead of ourselves, here’s my initial build of W/U Heroic with Fate Reforged!
Creatures (16)
Lands (22)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
Since I don’t expect Mono Red (or many aggressive decks, really) to make a comeback, I’m shying away from Ordeal of Heliod and Seeker of the Way. Neither
card was particularly impressive in this shell, though it was always nice to be able to search up Ordeal of Heliod with Heliod’s Pilgrim while in a tough
racing situation.
Unfortunately, Monastery Mentor is a bit expensive to cast, and fits right on the curve with Heliod’s Pilgrim. I don’t think it wise to play both in the
beginning, though it is possible that something like a 3/2 split in favor of Mentor is feasible. Right now, I want to try out Monastery Mentor as a full
four-of, as well as Valorous Stance. This way, I will be able to tell in just a few matches whether those cards are good enough to make the cut in the
deck. For now, I’m confident they will be good, but just how good remains to be seen.
Cutting cards like Heliod’s Pilgrim and Feat of Resistance ultimately come at a price. In order to make Monastery Mentor work, we need to put an emphasis
on drawing cards in order to keep making tokens. That means more copies of Stratus Walk. Since Stratus Walk also gives evasion, I couldn’t imagine playing
this style of deck with less than three, but again, I want to try out four just to make sure my hypothesis is correct. If I start to feel like I’m flooding
on them, I’ll start to cut back a bit. Since Joe Lossett wasn’t playing any in his Heroic deck at Columbus, I am hesitant to make such a bold claim, but
this is an entirely new beast with an entirely new weapon.
But Heroic isn’t the only deck that could use Valorous Stance. In fact, I think there are a lot of potential candidates for the card, so long as you
actually have something worth protecting. I think that Monastery Mentor is the perfect card to pair with it, and it could go into some interesting shells,
to say the least. Here is my oldie (but goodie) from Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir with some updates from Fate Reforged.
Creatures (15)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (22)
Spells (21)
Sideboard
This deck is doing something quite different than the Heroic deck, though many of the moving parts look the same. Monastery Mentor will still be a big
threat for the opponent to deal with, but instead of just having a 1/2 or 2/2 in the earlygame, we can attack with a 5/5 as early as Turn 2! While those
draws aren’t always the norm, we do have ways of maintaining consistency with Heliod’s Pilgrim. It might be too mana-intensive alongside Monastery Mentor,
much like I thought in the Heroic deck, but having access to Springleaf Drum gives you more virtual mana sources.
This deck certainly has flaws, but I think that Ensoul Artifact is largely unexplored territory. I think there are a lot of cards and interactions that
could go into the deck that we just haven’t seen yet because people are too afraid of putting it together. With Renowned Weaponsmith and Chief Engineer in
the same format, we could have some big, swingy artifact deck on our hands. The problem is that we have a huge lack of awesome artifacts to abuse with it
(which is likely on purpose). But I, for one, am looking forward to seeing Vial of Dragonfire in the next set.
I really like Frost Walker (big shocker) as a threat against control decks. Whatever it is targeted with will likely kill it anyway, so the drawback isn’t
really much of a drawback. The downside is the low toughness, meaning it will probably get swept under the rug with your other creatures if your opponent
plays a Drown in Sorrow. The trick is playing Frost Walker, and then holding back your other small creatures until they kill it. And if they don’t kill it,
they’re in for one hell of a beating. I expect a lot of Courser decks after rotation, which makes Frost Walker a little bit worse (and sitting on sideboard
duty), as I don’t think it is particularly good against those matchups. Trading with the likes of Elvish Mystic, or getting bricked by a Siege Rhino or a
Sidisi zombie is pretty rough.
This deck is clunky, and likely a worse version of W/U Heroic, but it has its advantages. I played this deck a lot before Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir and had
reasonable success. It could be that I was just playing against untuned decks and players trying out new cards, but it just felt powerful. I think that the
interaction between Monastery Mentor and Ajani Steadfast will be one to keep an eye out for, as any creature that can make an army all by itself (or get
really big) combos quite nicely with the planeswalker.
Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, I’m excited about the immediate future of Magic. There are a lot of awesome tournaments to go to,
including the newly structured Open Series. I will likely be in Washington, D.C. for the Standard Open in a few weeks, and you should be there too. I
imagine that it will be an absolute blast, and will likely be a gigantic tournament thanks to the release of the new set.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Wizards of the Coast comes up with for Modern this coming Monday, as it will certainly shape the upcoming Pro Tour. I
think that a lot of people will be happy if they ban the cards I listed above, but I am confident they will do what they think is right for the continued
health of this blossoming format. Whether they unban some powerful cards or ban the powerful ones we already have, I’m just ready for a change of pace.