Modern may be tucked away for most people, but it’s still in the minds of Magic Online grinders everywhere. It probably should be on the minds of even more people: if you qualify for Pro Tour Return to Ravnica in Seattle, there’s a good chance you can get a base understanding of the format for that event by starting on Modern now.
Avacyn Restored has a lot to live up to compared to the last large set, but not every four months will we find Snapcaster Mage, Delver of Secrets, Unburial Rites, Past in Flames, and more staring us down out of each pack. So how do things stack up?
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
You want to make a monster. What does Avacyn have to offer in this category?
8/8. Flying. Vigilance. Your stuff is indestructible.
Compare this card to current flying options.
As an 8/8, Avacyn doesn’t clock faster than the current default option of Iona.
Maybe the vigilance matters in a racing scenario? If that’s the case, why not just go for lifelink on Griselbrand or Sphinx of the Steel Wind?
Indestructible is very underpowered in Modern. The removal of choice for an 8/8 is going to be Path to Exile or Cryptic Command, neither of which Avacyn is much good against. Iona has a definite leg up here.
The primary selling point on Avacyn is going to be the "other permanents you control" part. You have an army of dudes, you flip this off a Windbrisk Heights as a supplemental copy of Emrakul, and your team doesn’t die to a sweeper.
Except the team in question from the usual Windbrisk Heights deck either isn’t very lethal or doesn’t want additional Emrakuls, if any. If a G/W Hideaway deck has a lethal threat in play (Knight of the Reliquary or Primeval Titan), it should be basically at the point of Emrakuling anyway and would likely seal the deal just as much with a more castable Plow Under than an 8/8. If tokens are flipping a Heights, odds are an Elesh Norn would be more lethal and more castable.
Sorry, but this set’s namesake isn’t going to cut it in Modern.
Cathedral Sanctifier
I was originally very dismissive of this card due to Martyr of Sands simply existing, but then I remembered Ranger of Eos. I would not be surprised to see single copies of this guy in dedicated Martyr lists. I can imagine plenty of scenarios where I want to save the one mana or keep the body in play while still powering up Serra Ascendant.
That said, this is not how you beat Burn. More life via Rest for the Weary is better, and Lone Missionary trades for a Goblin Guide. Don’t board this guy when so much better exists.
Cloudshift
There isn’t a Momentary Blink deck currently, and I can’t imagine this is the card that pushes one over the top. It does have some cute interactions with Sower of Temptation as you can Flicker the stolen creature out and it comes back as a new object under your control not linked to the Sower, but this and the one mana less to cast matters much less than the value extracted from flashback on the original Blink.
The difference is most noticeable with cards like Venser, Shaper Savant and Riftwing Cloudskate, where the extra cast doesn’t matter on the mana as regardless it (should) turn into a free attack step. If a deck does arise that wants this effect, this card will probably come in if you want more than four copies of Momentary Blink.
The argument over not being in blue is also fairly irrelevant, as the splash is a freeroll with fetch-dual mana bases.
(Aside: Blink-style decks might be able to move into vogue currently given the rise of Tron. You can play a usual blue tempo role with Venser, Shaper Savant as a way to hold the Tron decks off their mana.)
Restoration Angel
This card, on the other hand, will go places. Most of what has been said about this card for other formats applies here as well. Flash is a hell of an ability on a threat, and 3/4 is a solid body, especially in a format featuring Lightning Bolt. This card can act as a Plumeveil and then some.
Even at minimal value, I can see this card making the rounds in aggro-control decks. Kitchen Finks and Vendilion Clique both are standard options that let Angel do more than just Rebuke an attacker. I really want to catch someone with this card by resetting a persisted Finks and blocking.
Silverblade Paladin
Early in the season, there were Death and Taxes style decks with Aether Vial floating around using Mangara of Corondor, Aven Mindcensor, and Leonin Arbiter as disruption. You ideally would have Aether Vial on three for Flickerwisp and Mangara, and I can imagine this guy would fit into more combat oriented lists of similar decks. He pairs especially well with Serra Avenger and Elspeth, Knight-Errant. You can also stretch to green similar to Legacy Maverick for Knight of the Reliquary and get Sejiri Steppe as another way to push through a double striker.
That said, I really don’t like these kinds of decks and never have in any format. For those of you who do, consider this a challenge.
Favorable Winds
The Delver decks in Standard might want something like this, but Modern is a different story. The decks in Standard are far more aggressive than the Modern lists. Just look at Antonino De Rosa’s from GP Turin. There are no Vapor Snags or Geist of Saint Trafts to be found. Instead you have hard answers like Spell Snare and defensive threats like Tarmogoyf. There’s even Vedalken Shackles!
You want cards that give you options to play all roles, not just push in more damage. I can maybe see this being slightly better than Honor of the Pure if you have Vendilion Clique over Kitchen Finks alongside Lingering Souls and Squadron Hawks, but are you looking for a global pump effect in that deck over the value from a Sword?
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Given the natural curve of two one-drop mana guys or a Lotus Cobra into five mana on turn 3, I can see this in a Mythic style deck as one of your non-creature threats alongside Elspeth. It isn’t quite Jace, but you can’t deny it’s powerful. The other five mana threat is competing against is Plow Under, so how relevant board advantage is versus how much you need to set back Tron will likely define how much play Tamiyo sees in that archetype. Of course, you first have to figure out why you are actual Mythic instead of Through the Breach-Hideaway in order to get to this decision point.
I can also see Tamiyo with Squadron Hawks and Lingering Souls. I’m unsure if this card is better than Steelshaper’s Gift for Batterskull, but it is certainly a five-drop to consider. It isn’t as good as you would first expect against Tron as it doesn’t really shut off their engine, but every little bit helps. I don’t think the non-Tron blue decks are nearly as bad against Tron as they have been in past formats due to Tectonic Edge, and this might be another piece of the puzzle that helps push them in the right direction.
Temporal Mastery
Let’s leave this as a blanket statement for all miracle cards in this format.
Serum Visions is somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 as good as Ponder at setting up miracles. Despite seeing the same number of cards, the first one is not something you can manipulate. If these cards don’t make the cut in Standard, they won’t make it in Modern. There just isn’t a Brainstorm to make them more than just live in deck, dead in hand.
Driver of the Dead
Melira was unfortunately one of the decks I was unable to get serious experience with this last season. As such, I don’t understand some of the Birthing Pod chains as well as I should, but I can imagine this card being part of an alternate line with Murderous Redcap and Juniper Order Ranger (the first spinoff of the original Project X combo).
It could also just be good value to recur a Melira or Viscera Seer. It isn’t strictly necessary and isn’t close to as good as Reveillark in the abstract, so I wouldn’t automatically include it, but the option is definitely worth testing.
Griselbrand
Well, here’s the big guns.
This is a guy to Unburial Rites off Gifts Ungiven. It probably isn’t quite as good at doing something as Iona or Elesh Norn are given that they actually hard lock multiple decks, but he’s a solid third option.
What really makes this guy interesting are the other ways to cheat him into play. The one that caught my eye was Goryo’s Vengeance. The original plan with that card was to make an Emrakul, but you always wanted a backup option for the Emrakul side of things. Jin-Gitaxias wasn’t quite enough at just drawing seven cards or Mind Twisting them, especially as it died to Path to Exile.
(For those who haven’t seen the interaction before, Emrakul puts a trigger on the stack to shuffle itself in when it hits the graveyard as opposed to prior cards that have a replacement effect. With an instant like Goryo’s Vengeance, you can respond to the trigger for a 15/15.)
Griselbrand, however, does everything.
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (17)
Spells (27)
You likely want another discard outlet or two, but I don’t think this is too far off from being a real thing.
Your discard outlets are all currently very good value, with Faithless Looting assembling the combo, Liliana letting you grind out fair games, and Thoughtseize just being Thoughtseize. Yes, you can target yourself to put an Emrakul into your graveyard.
Your backup plan is a fair bit more expensive, but it also makes it so you don’t need to have the third piece of the combo in order for it to work.
My one big concern is the actual splash for cantrips. The current blue options aren’t that impressive, but there just isn’t enough card selection in black or red to make this work. I’m not quite ready to commit to Plunge into Darkness or Spoils of the Vault here.
Also remember that you can use the cleanup step with Griselbrand. If you are on the draw, any hand with it, a Vengeance, and two lands lets you discard the Demon on turn 3 and put it into play on their end step, ready to attack with all your mana up on your turn. It’s possible Night’s Whisper or Sign in Blood is viable just to set this up.
Dangerous Wager
While I don’t think this is better than Faithless Looting or Desperate Ravings in Storm lists, we are getting very close to enough enablers for a light Dredge deck. Remember, Narcomoeba and Bridge from Below are still legal, as are Golgari Thug and Stinkweed Imp. I’m not sure if there is enough to sustain this more traditional Dredge style over the more grindy ones that put up moderate results this past Modern season, but the shell is forming.
Reforge the Soul
The seven mana required to cast this then a Ritual after is a lot. The lack of one-mana Rituals in Modern since Rite of Flame was banned has led to a lot of awkward necessary mana counts, and this is one of them. The Ritual and kill condition density of Modern Storm decks is also low, with only eight +1 mana Rituals and one +2 mana Ritual. I’m not sure a Wheel is how to get there if you are Grapeshotting someone, and I’m not sure there is enough mana for this to help reliably Empty the Warrens on turn 2 for a turn 4 kill.
That said, this card will see play for the same reason Wheel of Fate (briefly) saw Legacy play. Sometimes you just want a way to fuel back up if your combo gets bricked or discard shreds your hand. Just draw a new seven and try again. Wheel of Fate exists in this format, but this card is more reliable and still live mid-combo.
If you want to go down the route of hard comboing with this card, just be aware of how it differs from Past in Flames. Single hard counter disruption like Dispel is far worse as they will just draw more copies post-Wheel. You want things like Gigadrowse or Early Frost that attack their ability to cast any counterspells. Obviously Silence would be ideal, but that may or may not be an option depending on how much you care about the mana cost.
Pillar of Flame
I remember the days of red decks boarding in Magma Spray in Standard to combat Kitchen Finks, and this card is about a million times better at that because it can go to the dome as well. I wouldn’t ever board it in the pure burn decks, but in something like Boros where you are opening a path for attackers it is an extremely reasonable alternative to Path to Exile depending on what you want to clear out of the way.
Thunderous Wrath
Special mention to this card due to the package of Faithless Looting–Noxious Revival–Snapcaster Mage letting you almost build a Brainstorm at the cost of approximately all of your cards.
Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded
I still have no idea how to evaluate this card. My guess is it will be less playable in Modern due to Jace Beleren being a card and the Sudden Impact being less relevant in the faster format, but how much less relevant that is I have no clue.
Vexing Devil
Everyone keeps saying, "Modern is the format for Vexing Devil," but what does that mean?
The Burn deck for this fellow is finely tuned for it, contrary to popular belief that Burn lists are just mashing all the Lightning Bolts together and being smart enough to forget the "creature or" text on most of your cards.
He plays well with Keldon Marauders and Hellspark Elemental. If your opponent’s removal is already live, you may as well try to stretch it. The first of these cards you decide to run isn’t great, but once you commit to all of them the drawback on each is lessened. I might even go as far to include Spark Elemental if you are still looking for more Lava Spikes beyond it, Lightning Bolt, and Shard Volley.
I would also start any Vexing Devil list with four Searing Blaze. The other way people will try to turn off your four-damage nug spell is by chumping with Hawks and Spirit tokens. Punish them for doing so. Searing Blaze also plays a similar role with Keldon Marauders and (slightly) with Hellspark Elemental. How convenient.
Craterhoof Behemoth
Regal Force already killed them dead, or should have, for one less mana. I also don’t expect you to have many untapped creatures when he hits play, bar some Nettle Sentinels in varying stages of summoning sickness. At least a Mirror Entity is useful pre-combo.
Descendants’ Path
The combination of stacking the guy on top and having the matching type is just too much. People have tossed this around with Emrakul, but if I’m paying three for a permanent I would rather just pay WUBRG with Fist of the Suns for my 15/15.
If you want to cast this for value, realize that in even in a dedicated deck you are only plus half to two-thirds of a card a turn off this, maybe a little more because you effectively loot away non-spells to the bottom of your library. In almost all of the places I would want that kind of attrition, Fecundity would be better.
Soul of the Harvest
If you think this will help Elves at all, just remember Primordial Sage already existed. If you want to go crazy with green dorks, the two lists I’ve seen perform well are either the Lord lists with no real combo and Staff of Domination–Elvish Archdruid based lists aiming to go actual infinite off those two cards.
Wolfir Avenger
A very good card in other formats, but I’m not sure it’s worth two extra mana for unlimited blocks compared to the life gain trigger and free rebuy on Kitchen Finks. A lot of the common aggressive creatures are larger than Avenger anyways, so keep that in mind (Figure of Destiny, landfall guys, Tarmogoyf).
Cavern of Souls
Let me just remind you Ancient Ziggurat is a card. That’s about all I’ve got. This card is much overhyped. It does let you play more expensive non-creature spells than Ziggurat did, like planeswalkers, but that’s about it. If you want to play dudes, beat Delver by crashing harder. If you want a Boseiju, determine whether you want to resolve a creature or would rather just cast one of the awesome spells Modern has to offer and use, you know, actual Boseiju.
It is, however, unfortunate that Deceiver Exarch, Kiki-Jiki, and Pestermite have no creature type overlap. Splinter Twin really could use some incidental protection.
All in all, it looks like Avacyn Restored has a lot of role players for the format. Probably no Delver of Secrets, but that’s ok. Not every set needs to have the best card since sliced Skullclamps. Griselbrand, Restoration Angel, and Dangerous Wager are the ones I would keep the closest eye on, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t missed the next Punishing Fire engine.
At the very least, 7/7 Legendary Demons. Isn’t that enough for you?