Video Daily Digest: When Modern Is The Pits

Delve spells in Modern have generally been sorted into “banned” and “unplayable,” but today’s deck turns Empty the Pits, an infamous bust of Tarkir preview season, into a legitimate finisher for SCG Cincinnati!

By Ross Merriam

October 18, 2017

Fade in on a ruggedly handsome man reading intently from his computer monitor. He starts talking out loud to himself, but totally not in a creepy, mentally disturbed kind of way.

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Looks like another midrange deck. Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, all boilerplate.

That’s a lot of copies of Dreadbore over Terminate. I wonder why planeswalkers are so concerning for this list?

I guess Gifted Aetherborn doesn’t apply pressure like Tarmogoyf, but Goblin Rabblemaster can bring the heat. You know, ever since Jadine Klomparens wrote about her experiences with the card in Jund, I’ve looked out for more potential homes for the card, and this is certainly one. I’m happy to see it here.

Still nothing too out of the ordinary. Maindeck Blood Moon is reasonable because the manabase is so black heavy. Dark Confidant is Dark Confidant. Kolaghan’s Command deserves a slot or two and gets it. I wonder why there aren’t any copies of Tasigur, the Golden Fang or Gurmag Angler? Raven’s Crime is a bit suspect…

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is that what I think it is? Empty the Pits? The prohibitively expensive Zombie-maker? I guess that explains the lack of delve creatures. This list is looking to go wide with the graveyard. This also explains the black-heavy manabase.

What can you realistically cast this for? I guess “delve 6” happens a lot in Modern, so casting for three is pretty easy. Three Zombies from one card sounds pretty good, and any more than that is excellent, especially in an attrition strategy. But four mana is a steep cost.

I bet that card takes a lot of people by surprise, too. Trade off resources for three turns, pass on Turn 4 like you’re out of gas, and then boom! We’re coming for your brains. I can get behind that. This deck certainly hinges on how effective Empty the Pits is as a threat, and I for one am going to find out.

Fade out as the ruggedly handsome man logs on to his Magic Online account.

Mardu Empty the Pits

NickAshcroft (5-0)

Online Event on 10-09-2017

Modern