Power Rankings week of 03/14/2016

Welcome back to my weekly power rankings article this week we will be experiencing a touch of Modern. As always power rankings are generated from real tournament results. Awarding 6 points for a first place finish, 5 for second, 4 for top 4, 3 for top 8. 2 for top 16, and 1 for top 32.

 

5-Affinity 14

Affinity is a deck that has been around since the beginning of Modern and it has been a true staple of the format, a very powerful and linear aggressive deck that will often times destroy you if you are under prepared. Using Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating the deck is able to attack hard and quickly and kill you with whichever creature was unblocked. Have we fallen so far that this deck feels honest? 

Affinity by Austin Holcomb
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
1 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
1 Spellskite
2 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Mountain
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Glimmervoid
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Dispatch
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Mox Opal
SB: 1 Chalice of the Void
SB: 2 Ensnaring Bridge
SB: 1 Torpor Orb
SB: 1 Spellskite
SB: 2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
SB: 3 Ancient Grudge
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Whipflare

4-Abzan Company 18

A graveyard aggro-combo deck that is built on the legacy of Melira Pod this is a deck that is able to gain “infinite” life  and deal “infinite” damage by turn 3, or is able to grind you out by using Gavony Township and a full crew of creatures that can get large very quickly and use the inherent mana advantage gained by playing Birds of Paradise and Noble Heirarch.

Abzan Company by Ralph Betesh
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Spellskite
2 Viscera Seer
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Wall of Roots
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
2 Forest
2 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
SB: 2 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Intrepid Hero
SB: 1 Kataki, War’s Wage
SB: 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
SB: 3 Path to Exile
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 1 Qasali Pridemage
SB: 1 Reveillark
SB: 1 Scavenging Ooze
SB: 1 Sin Collector
SB: 2 Thoughtseize

3-Living End 21

It is kind of a surprise to find this deck ever appearing in this column. This deck has been called “the worst deck anyone actually plays”, “a metagame deck if your meta is 90% or more Jund but unplayable otherwise” “Just like a crazy bad deck.” And only 2 of those came from me. Living End is a land destruction deck pretending to be a combo deck pretending to be a viable deck in Modern. (Okay that was my last cheap shot) This deck is well positioned against most builds of Eldrazi as well as most deck that are completely reliant of creatures to win. Also removal shows pretty poorly against this deck, so at a time where it’s natural predator Remand is at an all time low and the Eldrazi decks have moved away from Chalice of the Void this deck could be well positioned for the next 10 to 15 minutes.

Living End by Lee Shi Tian
4 Architects of Will
4 Deadshot Minotaur
2 Faerie Macabre
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Monstrous Carabid
2 Shriekmaw
3 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Street Wraith
3 Beast Within
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
4 Violent Outburst
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 2 Faerie Macabre
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 3 Ricochet Trap
SB: 2 Shriekmaw
SB: 2 Slaughter Games

2-RG Eldrazi 26

Gooing into green to make Ancient Stirrings the best cantrip ever printed as well as World Breaker to gain a mirror advantage is a strategy that appeals to some Eldrazi players making this deck a very popular choice. I have very little else to say about this deck, other than it appears to be worse than U/W both on paper and practice, however it may be better positioned against the combo decks that have emerged to prey on Eldrazi.

G/R eldrazi by Eric English
4 Endless One
4 Matter Reshaper
2 Oblivion Sower
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 World Breaker
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Dismember
4 Kozilek’s Return
4 Talisman of Impulse
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Eye of Ugin
3 Forest
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Karplusan Forest
1 Mountain
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Chalice of the Void
SB: 4 Lightning Bolt
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Seal of Primordium
SB: 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

 

1-W/U Eldrazi 61

This week I have deferred this space to the deck’s inventor Matt “the witch kling” Kling
Even before the Top 8 decks of Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch were posted I had a pretty good idea that Modern Eldrazi was something special. I love the look of the CFB Eldrazi deck so I built it online immediately. The deck was pretty good but after losing a couple to the U/R variant I quickly dismissed the Colorless version as a viable option going forward. I loaded up the U/R version for myself and I was genuinely impressed by how good some of the blue cards were. Drowner of Hope was basically unbeatable in every match. The list from East West Bowl still left something to be desired however. The red cards in the deck felt so inconsistent. Some games Eldrazi Obligator was a huge blowout but most times he was so underwhelming. A quick gatherer search for the subtype Eldrazi turned out Eldrazi Displacer and just like that U/W Eldrazi was spawned. My initial thinking was that Displacer blinking Thought-Knot Seer or Drowner of Hope was going to be the lynch pin to the U/W strategy. This is certainly a powerful interaction, but it didn’t come up as often as I expected. Displacer however was amazing! It completely destroyed your opponents ability to navigate combat, which in a world of creature exclusive mirror was exactly what I was looking for. Finally U/W just gave me all the most powerful sideboard cards that I could want access to, which on the decks first conception included copies of Path to Exile, and Disenchant as well as a few others. My original incarnation of the deck was rough to say the least, but it definitely put up results. After changing to U/W Eldrazi I won my first 20 matches in a row and at that point started praising the merits of Eldrazi Displacer to anyone who would listen. Eldrazi is certainly about to be banned and it will be the end of an era, but having found the version that broke the format (or the mirror atleast) it will always have a special meaning to me.

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