I’m a man of simple tastes.
If you play a Tezzeret in your deck and you put up an impressive record with that deck, I am going to notice. On the surface, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is the exact kind of card I don’t like: a little bit of value, the potential to get aggressive, and an ultimate that every deck has to respect.
It’s a hallmark of versatility, but regardless, you’ll have to pay attention to what it’s doing. Even if you apply some pressure, it ends the game a hurry if left unanswered.
There are plenty of artifacts in Modern and artifact-centered decks have a long pedigree in the format, beginning with Affinity. Soon on the power of Ancient Stirrings in heavy-colorless decks was realized and the card has been a Modern staple ever since. And Ensnaring Bridge is also a well-known card in Modern due to the Lantern Control archetype.
Today’s deck is built around Ensnaring Bridge, but rather than surround it with other pieces in a prison archetype, it tries to leverage Ensnaring Bridge directly by using it to defend various planeswalkers.
Let’s be honest; Ghoulcaller’s Bell isn’t much of a threat for a Modern control deck, even one that fulfills Shaheen Soorani’s deepest dreams by never trying to actually win the game. Many of the pieces in Lantern Control can similarly be ignored, but Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas; Tezzeret the Seeker; and even Liliana of the Veil don’t need any help to win the game, given enough time. Tezzeret the Seeker even tutors for Ensnaring Bridge, should you be unlucky and not draw a copy yourself.
And I think we can all agree that activating a planeswalker over and over again until it wins the game by itself is an enjoyable way to play a game of Magic. Well, unless you’re on the receiving end of an Ensnaring Bridge, in which case you’re out of luck. Put a Disenchant in your deck.
And Disenchant is a lot less impressive against Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas than Codex Shredder. Planeswalkers are good. Who knew?
Creatures (1)
Planeswalkers (11)
Lands (23)
Spells (25)
