It would be an understatement to say I’m no stranger to a mana creature, especially when that creature is an Elf. So when two mana creatures (and I’m using that term loosely here) can combine to accelerate even faster, I take notice. I’ve long been a fan of the Arbor Elf + Utopia Sprawl combination, but I haven’t seen a list that optimizes the pair to compete in Modern.
Green Devotion strategies have yet to prove their viability on a consistent basis and G/R Land Destruction plays Mwonvuli Acid-Moss. I hate Tron as much as the next person, but come on. That’s taking it too far.
What I want is a list that has powerful four mana threats and plenty of ways to mitigate flood, since any shell with eight or more mana accelerants is going to be flush with mana sources. This list does that.
Madcap Experiment into Platinum Emperion KOs a lot of decks in game 1, or at the very least puts them on very slim outs with no ability to meaningfully pressure you. It’s likely the most powerful effect you can get for four mana. And when your opponent goes out of their way to sideboard against it, you can take it out of your deck and leave them with dead cards.
The other great four-drop here is Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Making its way over from Standard, Chandra acts as a solid removal spell, but more often a card draw engine or a way to ramp into Platinum Emperions you were unfortunate enough to draw naturally. Again, it’s another generically powerful threat that is great when you cast it on turn 2.
The rest of the deck helps mitigate flood. Tireless Tracker and Courser of Kruphix are premier card advantage generators despite being non-blue cards and a light touch of Faithless Looting lets you pitch some excess lands drawn after cracking open a pile of clue tokens. And the best part is that you don’t need to accelerate perfectly in order to use them. If your opponent aggressively attacks your mana creatures, you have solid follow-up plays on just three land drops, making it all the harder to disrupt your plan.
Mana creature decks are inherently inconsistent since they tend to lack card velocity and need to come out strong, but this one goes a long way toward fixing that issue and the power of generating four mana on turn 2 is well worth the risk.
Creatures (16)
- 2 Simian Spirit Guide
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 1 Inferno Titan
- 3 Platinum Emperion
- 3 Courser of Kruphix
- 3 Tireless Tracker
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (12)
Spells (29)
Sideboard
