The Weekly Gauntlet: Modern Week
Modern is quickly becoming one of the best formats. With last weeks GP results I think we have a clear look at what you can expect to see at your next modern event.
Merfolk
Creature (27)
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
1 Tidebinder Mage
1 Phantasmal Image
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Master of Waves
Instant (4)
1 Vapor Snag
3 Dismember
Artifact (5)
4 Æther Vial
1 Relic of Progenitus
Enchantment (4)
4 Spreading Seas
Land (20)
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Wanderwine Hub
12 Island
Sideboard (15)
1 Tidebinder Mage
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Spell Pierce
2 Gut Shot
4 Hurkyl’s Recall
Merfolk won GP LA pulling it to the forefront in the modern Metagame. How many weeks you might need to prepare for this deck is beyond me, but I would say this week you might be seeing it pop up a little more.
Jund
Planeswalker (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil
Creature (13)
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Dark Confidant
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Kitchen Finks
Sorcery (8)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
Instant (11)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Terminate
2 Kolaghan’s Command
Land (24)
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Raging Ravine
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
1 Twilight Mire
2 Swamp
1 Forest
Sideboard (15)
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Kitchen Finks
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Jund Charm
1 Damnation
1 Painful Truths
1 Outpost Siege
1 Duress
Jund has gotten some new toys in the last few years and it has brought it back to the top of the Modern metagame. Testing against the Kalitas versions of the deck will bring you as close as you can expect from the field and you might not be able to get your matchup that much above 50% without being a little degenerate, but at least having played against this deck will give you ideas of your role in the matchup.
Affinity
Creature (24)
4 Vault Skirge
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Ornithopter
1 Memnite
2 Etched Champion
1 Master of Etherium
Sorcery (4)
4 Thoughtcast
Instant (4)
4 Galvanic Blast
Artifact (16)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Springleaf Drum
Land (12)
3 Glimmervoid
1 Island
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Inkmoth Nexus
Sideboard (15)
2 Etched Champion
2 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Wear // Tear
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Whipflare
4 Spellskite
I say it a lot on my podcast but I will say it again. Prepare for this deck. Do you part to keep affinity down and be ready for it. If you don’t believe me play a bunch of games against the deck without hate and see how you will typically fare. This deck is powerful, consistent and fast. Everything you need to win games in modern.
Bant Eldrazi
Creature (28)
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
4 Drowner of Hope
2 Spellskite
1 Eldrazi Mimic
1 Birds of Paradise
Sorcery (4)
4 Ancient Stirrings
Instant (4)
4 Path to Exile
Land (24)
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Yavimaya Coast
3 Brushland
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
Sideboard (15)
1 Eldrazi Mimic
3 Engineered Explosives
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Stony Silence
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Negate
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Dismember
1 World Breaker
Bant Eldrazi is new on the scene and looks like it might be here to stay. From what I can see it hasn’t made a huge splash on MTGO yet so it could not belong on this list. But I say there is nothing wrong with being prepared. This deck brings turn two Thought-Knot Seer back to the modern Metagame after the bannings, and I think that is at least worth testing against and with.
Abzan Company
Creature (29)
1 Spellskite
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Viscera Seer
2 Wall of Roots
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Instant (8)
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
Land (23)
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
Sideboard (15)
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Path to Exile
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Reclamation Sage
4 Tidehollow Sculler
Shortly after the Eldrazi Bannings Abzan Company made its case for the new best deck in modern. Shortly after that 0 copies made day two of an SCG open. That being said it made a comeback at the GPs and it is still a deck to be prepared for.
Scapeshift
Creature (5)
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
Sorcery (15)
4 Bring to Light
3 Scapeshift
1 Hunting Wilds
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Farseek
Instant (14)
4 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
2 Izzet Charm
2 Worldly Counsel
4 Remand
Land (26)
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Sideboard (15)
1 Ancestral Vision
2 Dispel
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Shatterstorm
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Negate
1 Wrath of God
3 Obstinate Baloth
Valakut decks are the new hotness in modern right now. It could be the many ways to build the deck, or it could be sheer power. No matter what it is you need to be prepared for Scapeshift right now in many forms. Bring to Light is the form that did well at the GPs and I would start there.
There are many decks in modern and if you have time to test against them all that is great. If now this is where I would start followed by Z00, Burn, Infect, and Jeskai.
Modern is a great format at this point and I am really enjoying it. I hope you all get the chance to play it and enjoy it as much as I am right now.
Spencer “The Heeze” Howland
Twitter: @Spencer13H
Patreon: patreon.com/ccmtg