With GP Lincoln coming up this weekend, a lot of people’s focus is going to shift away from Standard and towards the relatively new post-bannings Modern format. I’m here today to write about what I believe is the standout deck in the format: U/W Caw-Blade. Some of you may remember the first weekend of online Modern PTQs. I made the Top 8 of both PTQs with this list:
Creatures (15)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (26)
Spells (17)
Things have moved on since then, however, and now the list that is pretty much the stock version of the archetype is by _ShipItHolla, who used it to win the online PTQ held the day before the MOCS:
Creatures (12)
Lands (26)
Spells (22)
My current list is largely based on the list used by Hetrick (_ShipItHolla), but it contains some important changes. I’ll write about these and explain some of the more important matchups. I’ll also briefly go over some of the different ways to build Caw-Blade (and why I don’t think these are as good). Here’s where I’m at currently:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (27)
Spells (20)
- 3 Mana Leak
- 2 Vedalken Shackles
- 1 Steelshaper's Gift
- 4 Spell Snare
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 4 Path to Exile
- 1 Mortarpod
- 1 Batterskull
Sideboard
The important changes are:
- 27 lands, three Tectonic Edge: This change has been necessitated by the swift rise of Tron, both U/W and U/R. The loss of Mutavault is mitigated by playing an extra Moorland Haunt and an extra Celestial Colonnade.
- No Blade: Much like in Standard after Stoneforge Mystic was banned, I’ve increasingly found that Sword of Feast and Famine is good for locking up games you were already winning, but doesn’t help you out in games that you weren’t. This may turn out to be wrong, but for now I like going Blade-less.
- Mana Leak over Remand: As Gerry Thompson said in his article last week, the deck is now much more on the control end of the aggro-control spectrum, so just Remanding back an opponent’s spells isn’t as powerful as it was when you could follow up with an Elspeth. Having Tectonic Edge to limit your opponent’s mana also helps make Mana Leak less of a dead draw later on.
- A real sideboard plan for the mirror: I’ll go over this later.
Some people are looking to build around Sword of War and Peace as their mirror trump instead of Vedalken Shackles. I understand the reasoning behind this approach, but this plan is a bit like the Mirran Crusader builds of Caw-Blade in the old Standard format (post-Mystic): Â it’s nice when it works out and you kill the opponent before they can stabilise, but usually you could win those games anyway with regular pressure and some Kitchen Finks and a R/W Sword aren’t going to pull you out of any games where your opponent resolves a Shackles on turn 3 or doesn’t care what your life total is (e.g. Twin).
I’m also against adding Delver of Secrets to the deck. Unlike the U/R/W Scepter deck, U/W can’t burn the opponent out which makes the early pressure you get from a Delver a lot less useful than it would be in the Scepter deck. Cutting down to 21-23 lands makes mulligans happen more often, and the Jund matchup then becomes very tough.
This deck is very difficult to play well. The sideboarding can change for individual matchups based on the minor nuances of your opponent’s list, and the deck contains lots of cards that force you to make decisions that matter (Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, Cryptic Command, etc.). So, if you do decide to play the deck in Lincoln, make sure you get some practice in beforehand! Also, don’t take the sideboarding guides too literally. I have included them for the tier 1 decks because I know that most people like them, but remember that they are guides and not absolute rules.
Tier 1
Melira Pod
This is probably the number one deck on MODO right now, although it might be a slightly less strong a choice for Lincoln now that Grafdigger’s Cage is around. As most people are naturally lazy, though, I doubt that Dark Ascension will have too much impact on people’s deck choice or decklist; Pod will be played and it will likely remain a strong deck. The matchup is basically even. In game one you want to be the aggressor with Squadron Hawk and Vendilion Clique, and you can usually afford to pile on the pressure, as they mostly don’t play maindeck Orzhov Pontiff. Once they gain access to Pontiff for games two and three putting pressure on them is trickier, but you can now play more of a control game with Jace Beleren and removal. Obviously, keeping Birthing Pod off the table is important, but, especially in game 1, a resolved Pod isn’t necessarily game over as it can be raced with creatures and Path to Exile. Although Vedalken Shackles is strong against them, it’s also a big target as most people’s first instinct when playing versus Caw-Blade is to (incorrectly) cram in their artifact hate for games two and three, which is why I board them out.
Sideboarding:
-4 Spell Snare -1 Batterskull -1 Steelshaper’s Gift -2 Vedalken Shackles
+2 Gut Shot +1 Jace Beleren +1 Linvala, +2 Wrath +2 Disenchant
Mirror
The mirror has three important things:
1) Shackles advantage (which is even stronger if Mortarpod is also online)
2) Hawk advantage (and then Moorland Haunt advantage)
3) Card advantage
They are important in that order, so if one player has the advantage in number one, it will be very hard for the other player if they have the advantage only in number two or number three, and so forth. These create a somewhat strange matchup, where one player is often struggling to find a way to even up the other player’s advantage in number one or number two without dying before it happens. As long as you recognise that these three areas are the things that matter in the matchup, you will be in a good position to win. As the decks will often cancel each other out on points one and two, my sideboard plan aims to gain a big edge on the third: card advantage.
Sideboarding:
-4 Path to Exile -3 Mana Leak -1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Jace Beleren +2 Gut Shot +2 Dispel +2 Disenchant +1 Tectonic Edge
The plan now is to go card-for-card with the opponent and win with the card-drawing power of Jace Beleren. With four Tectonic Edge and 28 land, the utility lands of the opponent can be neutralised and the deck can play a better draw-go game, forcing your opponent to make the first move. Path to Exile is no longer needed as the only targets that don’t die to Gut Shot are lands. Path is also awkward with regards to both the ability to limit the opponent’s mana with the Tectonic Edges and the plan of out-carding them with Jace.
Affinity
Affinity will probably be the most played deck in Lincoln. It’s strong, customizable, and cheap. The matchup is pretty good for Caw, but is made awkward by the variety of ways in which it is possible to build Affinity now. This means you have to stay alert and figure out what they are most likely playing in their list. A mono-red manabase (with more than one Mountain) means Shrapnel Blast. Blue lands mean Master of Etherium and Thoughtcast. White lands mean Tempered Steel and/or Dispatch. Black with blue will mean Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and possibly Dark Confidant. They almost all run Galvanic Blast, even if they have no Mountains, so try to stay above four life if possible. The key cards to watch out for whatever version they are playing are Cranial Plating and Etched Champion, as these are the cards that will lead to the majority of your losses.
Sideboarding:
-2 Vendilion Clique -1 Cryptic Command -1 Jace Beleren -3 Mana Leak
+2 Gut Shot +2 Wrath of God +2 Disenchant +1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Against the versions with Shrapnel Blast, bring some Kitchen Finks in over the remaining Vendilion Clique, and watch out for Blood Moon after sideboard (fetch basics).
Jund
The Jund matchup is (as usual) pretty even. It’s often correct to race, as U/W is very good at closing out races, and Jund is a lot stronger than the average aggro deck at going long.
Sideboarding:
-3 Mana Leak -1 Jace Beleren -2 Vedalken Shackles
+2 Gut Shot +4 Kitchen Finks
Twin
Twin is awkward, as you have to be constantly playing around their combo kill. The matchup is basically even (surprise!), with good play being more important in this matchup than any other. If you screw up at any point, they’ll probably kill you. Just as it is against Pod, Vedalken Shackles is very good game one, but can be a liability after sideboard as they almost always bring some artifact hate for any potential Damping Matrices (and will certainly bring artifact hate if they see Shackles game one). You can try to cat-and-mouse them, though, and bring the Shackles back for game three if game two goes long and they see no artifacts (and they are a thinking player). This move will work better if they didn’t see the Shackles in game one. Unlike how the matchup played out in Standard, it’s often correct now to just wait Twin out and look for the two-for-one when they attempt to go off, rather than looking for any window to kill a Deceiver Exarch or Pestermite, as Twin is now heavier on combo pieces and lighter on disruption than it was in Standard. The games after sideboard tend to go very long, so stay patient, whittle them down with little guys, and don’t open yourself up to being combo killed. Lastly, watch out for Blood Moon after sideboard. Some people are still packing it, so fetch basics.
Sideboarding:
-1 Spell Snare -1 Steelshaper’s Gift -1 Mortarpod -1 Batterskull -1 Cryptic Command -2 Vedalken Shackles
+2 Disenchant +1 Gut Shot +2 Dispel +1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence +1 Jace Beleren
Versus the Grim Lavamancer builds, bring the extra Gut Shot and keep the Mortarpod, and take out some more Spell Snare.
Tier 1.5
Tron
This matchup used to be horrendous, but Tectonic Edge does a pretty good job at turning it around, especially when paired with Jace and Dispels after side, to the point that I’d now say the matchup is slightly favourable. There isn’t too much to say about how it plays out, other than try to use the early turns to apply pressure: use your Snapcasters as bears and try to push the tempo (just like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9DBHCo64Q&ob=av3n).
Delver Decks (U/B, U/W/R, and RUG)
These decks basically all try to take advantage of the power of Delver of Secrets and Snapcaster Mage, which is why I’ve grouped them together even though they’re all quite different. I think that U/B is the scariest of the bunch, as disruption + Dark Confidant is a powerful combination. RUG is a worse Shackles deck than Caw and Faeries and a worse Delver deck than U/B and U/W/R, isn’t that great going long, and doesn’t apply a great deal of pressure. Just play around burn and watch out for Vedalken Shackles and you should win fairly easily. U/W/R is powerful but is a decent matchup for Caw as both Squadron Hawk and Spell Snare are really strong against them, and they have trouble beating Kitchen Finks after side. Watch out for Isochron Scepter as it’s basically the only way they beat you.
Faeries
I wrote on Twitter last week (@marcooj88 —follow me!) that Faeries is a strictly worse Caw-Blade deck now that Caw plays Shackles. I was exaggerating slightly, as Faeries has a better matchup versus the combo decks of the format and is different enough to Caw that it’s probably not simply a strictly worse version of the deck. However, the decks are pretty similar, except that going long Faeries doesn’t have the power of Snapcaster Mage or Squadron Hawk / Moorland Haunt. Just like in the mirror, Shackles advantage is key.
Boros
This is a tough matchup, as the deck is very fast and isn’t as weak to Path to Exile as Zoo used to be (before everyone stopped playing it). The matchup is essentially control versus aggro, so play and sideboard accordingly.
Storm
Another basically even matchup, and again this one is fairly straightforward. Watch out for a possible transformational sideboard into the Twin kill, although I’ve been very happy every time my opponent has done this as it makes their deck a lot clunkier. If they aren’t transforming, they will have Defense Grid or some counters (Dispel or Spell Pierce) to bring in. Bring in Disenchant regardless of their plan, as it hits Ascension, Twin, and Grid, and bring some Wraths as insurance against Empty the Warrens. Hitting land drops is important, so go up to 28. There should be more than enough cards to take out.
Tier 2
I won’t bother listing all of the many decks that are viable in this awesome Modern format, as this article would become even more tl;dr than it already is. The tier 2 decks are mostly easier to beat than the decks I have already discussed, as they are simply weaker than the top tier decks; this shows when you are playing against them so long as you’re aware of what they’re doing. Only MartyrProc presents totally different problems from the decks I’ve already listed, so I will give some advice for that:
MartyrProc
This matchup is a slog, so watch the clock and try to play fast. The entire plan against this deck is to mill them with Jace Beleren whilst keeping them off their annoying lands with Tectonic Edge, so play accordingly. Their life total is basically irrelevant, as is yours so long as it doesn’t hit zero. Game one is tough with only one Jace, but games two and three should be easier.
Please feel free to message me on Twitter (@marcooj88) if you want more specific matchup advice or if you have any other questions about the deck. Good luck to anyone who chooses to play the deck in Lincoln!