Caw-Blade.
It’s one of the most iconic decks of all time. It dominated Standard for
months before Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic were banned, at
which point the deck remained playable in a format that also included
Splinter Twin and Birthing Pod, albeit in a different, more aggressive
form.
We often refer to Stoneforge Mystic decks in Legacy as Stoneblade decks,
because they lack the Caw half of the equation, represented by Squadron
Hawk. Today’s Modern list is getting back to the original with the full
flock of birds.
The card is unassuming, since paying two mana for a 1/1 flier isn’t a good
rate on its own. But the extra cards gained are quite valuable. It helps
you overload spot removal, especially when combined with a piece of
equipment. And it plays particularly well with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The
first Squadron Hawk finds three others, at which point you can Brainstorm
with Jace, put back two more copies and put them immediately back in your
hand by casting the last one. I know Brainstorm doesn’t exactly need a lot
of help, but an easy Ancestral Recall is still worth noting.
Getting back to equipment, since Batterskull overtook it, many may not
remember that the deck started with Sword of Feast and Famine. The untap
lands clause is incredibly powerful, especially when you’re trying to tap
out for planeswalkers or other threats while you also have various powerful
instants. Building your battlefield while also leaving up Cryptic Command
or Settle the Wreckage makes it nearly impossible for your opponent to
regain parity, and if they try to play a long game, the discard a card
clause puts them at a significant resource disadvantage.
Oh, and if you ever get the chance to activate a creature-land and equip it
with Sword of Feast and Famine, you’ll feel a chill up and down your spine.
That’s your body’s natural reaction to the harsh climate of Magical
Christmas Land.
It’s a fundamentally sound archetype that has primarily suffered in Modern
at the hands of fast combo decks, but those decks are at an all-time low in
the format, and between Spreading Seas and Field of Ruin you have good
disruption against Tron, so long as you prioritize establishing a clock.
It can be hard to find the right balance of disruption and threats for a
midrange deck, but as Humans has demonstrated, playing creatures that
double as disruption is a great way to fill both quotas. That’s what’s
going on here, but in a bigger shell so if you need to go long, you can.
That kind of versatility was always the hallmark of Caw-Blade, and if it
can be achieved with a similar power level, it will do to Modern what it
did to Standard years ago.
Creatures (14)
- 1 Venser, Shaper Savant
- 2 Vendilion Clique
- 2 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 3 Restoration Angel
- 2 Spell Queller
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (19)
