Last week I glossed over Aggro and Midrange decks in Modern. I covered each deck as I saw it in its place in the format. Modern is an eternal format, so if you’ve been getting overwhelmed by the constant metagame shifts and upkeep of new cards to buy in Standard, Modern can be a welcome respite from the constant cycle of cards. Chances are if you have played Standard for a bit you have some parts of these decks. Today it’s onto Control and Combo decks. What do they do? How do you stop them? Why should you play them?
The Rock/Junk
| Lands (24) 4 Marsh Flats 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Tectonic Edge 3 Treetop Village 3 Swamp 3 Overgrown Tomb 1 Forest 1 Twilight Mire 1 Misty Rainforest Creatures (15) 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Dark Confidant 3 Scavenging Ooze Instants and Sorceries (16) 3 Abrupt Decay 3 Dismember 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 3 Thoughtseize 2 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Disfigure Other Spells (5) 4 Liliana of the Veil 1 Batterskull | Sideboard (15) 1 Disfigure 2 Golgari Charm 4 Fulminator Mage 2 Kitchen Finks 2 Deathmark 1 Sword of Light and Shadow 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 2 Infest |
What does it do?
The traditional Rock deck is black and green, but some versions splash white for cards like Lingering Souls, Path to Exile and Loxodon Smiter. There’s an argument that these deck belong in the midrange category, but personally speaking I find Rock decks tend to stabilize then win the game through their creatures, whereas Jund tends to be slightly more aggressive. Ignoring that both deck are very close in play style. Goyf and Bob make up the meat and potatoes of the deck. Rock brings out more creature kill main. Dismember, Disfigure, Abrupt Decay, all serve to play the game game for card until Batterskull or Tarmogoyf can bring it home.
How do I stop it?
Like Jund there’s not a great way to attack this deck. It’s got a small reliance on its graveyard with Deathrite Shaman and Tarmogoyf, so Rest in Peace works. To a point. Wrath effects are solid if you can cast them for a few creatures. Beware of Thrun, the Last Troll though, as he regenerates through Supreme Verdict. (Old school Wrath of God, which is Modern-legal, prevents renegeration.) The best way to fight this deck is to stop its creature removal from being effective, either by playing very few or countering the ones it does play.
Why should I play it?
If your meta is full of other control decks and non burn aggro decks this deck can really shine. It’s creatures are efficient and larger than normal and with a healthy smattering of discard you can sculpt your opponent’s hand and play around what they have. It’s not a cheap deck though, nine fetchlands and a full set of Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidants, make this a deck you won’t see many beginners playing.
R/G Tron
| Lands (21) 4 Urza’s Tower 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Grove of the Burnwillows 2 Ghost Quarter 2 Forest 1 Eye of Ugin Creatures (4) 3 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre Instants and Sorceries (13) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Pyroclasm 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 All Is Dust Other Spells (22) 4 Karn Liberated 4 Expedition Map 4 Chromatic Star 4 Chromatic Sphere 3 Relic of Progenitus 3 Oblivion Stone | Sideboard (15) 1 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Combust 1 Dismember 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 2 Torpor Orb 1 Spellskite 3 Stone Rain 3 Nature’s Claim |
Mono Blue Tron
| Lands (24) 11 Island 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower 1 Academy Ruins Creatures (10) 3 Treasure Mage 2 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Solemn Simulacrum 2 Peace Strider 1 Sundering Titan Instants and Sorceries (16) 4 Condescend 4 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Repeal 4 Remand Other Spells (10) 4 Expedition Map 3 Dimir Signet 2 Talisman of Dominance 1 Mindslaver | Sideboard (15) 1 Peace Strider 2 Relic of Progenitus 2 Into the Roil 2 Dispel 3 Dismember 3 Augur of Bolas 2 Spreading Seas |
What does it do?
Tron comes in two flavors. R/G and Mono Blue. The R/G version and the Mono Blue version are pretty similar until the end game. They use various cantrip artifacts, draw spells and library search cards to endeavor to assemble all three Urza Lands (called Tron like Voltron not the Disney movie with Jeff “the Dude” Bridges) and cast either Wurmcoil Engine or Karn Liberated on turn 3. Once that happens they use Eye of Ugin to eventually play an Eldrazi and hopefully you have no answer for that. It can be a grinder of a deck, and sometimes you can just end games quickly without much resistance. Late game the Mono Blue deck can lock you down with Academy Ruins and Mindslaver, which it pretty much the least fun way to lose.
How do I stop it?
Kill the lands and you should be able to get by just fine. Path to Exile works wonders on Wurmcoil Engine, and Maelstrom Pulse or Hero’s Downfall deals with Karn. Good luck with a resolved Emrakul. Playing against this deck you really just need a sideboard plan. Red Tron uses Pryoclasm maindeck and Blue Tron has access to counterspells and bounce effects. Play accordingly.
Why should I play it?
It’s a cheap deck to put together mostly. The lands are cheap compared to a deck with 9 fetchlands. Karn and Emrakul are costly but that’s really it. It’s a fun deck to play and its threats are all MUST answer. 6/6 Deathtouch Lifelink gets out of hand very fast. As does starting the game with one in play.
UWR Control
| Lands (26) 4 Celestial Colonnade 3 Arid Mesa 3 Island 3 Scalding Tarn 3 Tectonic Edge 2 Steam Vents 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Sulfur Falls 1 Glacial Fortress 1 Mountain 1 Plains 1 Sacred Foundry Creatures (3) 3 Snapcaster Mage Instants and Sorceries (29) 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Electrolyze 4 Cryptic Command 3 Mana Leak 3 Spell Snare 2 Supreme Verdict 2 Sphinx’s Revelation 2 Path to Exile 2 Lightning Helix 2 Think Twice 1 Anger of the Gods Other Spells (2) 1 Gideon Jura 1 Ajani Vengeant | Sideboard (15) 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Anger of the Gods 2 Celestial Purge 1 Crucible of Worlds 1 Dispel 1 Shadow of Doubt 1 Sowing Salt 1 Spellskite 1 Stony Silence 1 Wear / Tear 1 Pillar of Flame 1 Engineered Explosives 2 Counterflux |
What does it do?
UWR control is about as close to a classic control deck as you can play in Modern. It counters, wraths and draws cards. The way it closes out games is through its manlands and planeswalkers. The early game is spent playing lands and stopping the opponent from resolving things that a wrath won’t deal with on turn 4 or 5. After it stabilizes there’s normally a giant Sphinx’s Revelation and then a planeswalker that can be protected until it either kills you or destroys all your land. Lightning Bolt, Electrolyze and Lightning Helix help stop early threats and can finish out games in a pinch.
How do I stop it?
This deck has a lot of conditional counterspells. I found when playing the deck that discard spells that let my opponent see my hand let them play around my Spell Pierces and Spell Snares. Killing the deck’s Celestial Colonnades narrows victory as the deck has few win conditons.
Why should I play it?
If you like control, this is your deck. It plays the most like a traditional control deck. For the most part it’s got an answer for every other deck and it’s a favorite of the pros. It’s not cheap but there aren’t any $130 cards in this deck either so it’s a good deck to build toward.
Unburial Gifts
| Lands (26) 3 Creeping Tar Pit 3 Verdant Catacombs 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Marsh Flats 1 Breeding Pool 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Forest 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Godless Shrine 1 Temple Garden 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1 Vault of the Archangel 1 Watery Grave 1 Woodland Cemetery 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Island 1 Isolated Chapel 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Plains 1 Swamp Creatures (9) 4 Deathrite Shaman 2 Snapcaster Mage 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 1 Grave Titan 1 Thragtusk Instants and Sorceries (23) 4 Remand 4 Lingering Souls 4 Gifts Ungiven 2 Unburial Rites 2 Abrupt Decay 1 Raven’s Crime 1 Smother 1 Disfigure 1 Path to Exile 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Life from the Loam 1 Go for the Throat Other Spells (2) 2 Liliana of the Veil | Sideboard (15) 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Torpor Orb 2 Timely Reinforcements 1 Terastodon 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Celestial Purge 1 Disenchant 1 Fracturing Gust 1 Gaze of Granite 1 Gideon Jura 1 Leyline of Sanctity 1 Putrefy 1 Stony Silence 1 Surgical Extraction |
What does it do?
Unburial Gifts is a really intricate and fun deck. It uses its graveyard to create a torrent of card advantage and eventually win after taking over the game via Elesh Norn, Grave Titan or Sun Titan. In between the deck has access to several Gifts Ungiven “packages” that can deal with specific situations or create some unwinnable choices for your opponent.
How do I stop it?
One of the best ways is to turn off their graveyard. Threats can still be hard cast but Gifts Ungiven does not yield the insane amount of card advantage without the graveyard. Versions that run Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary also suffer from Rest in Peace and Relic of Progenitus effects.
Why should I play it?
There’s very little this deck can’t answer. Few situations are too far gone to use Gifts to get around. Its sideboard offers a vast array of one-ofs that with Gifts become five-ofs. Many decks have no good way of dealing with Elesh Norn and are just dead to it.
Melira Pod
| Lands (23) 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Verdant Catacombs 3 Gavony Township 3 Razorverge Thicket 3 Forest 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Temple Garden 1 Godless Shrine 1 Woodland Cemetery 1 Swamp Creatures (28) 4 Kitchen Finks 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Deathrite Shaman 2 Viscera Seer 2 Voice of Resurgence 2 Murderous Redcap 1 Ranger of Eos 1 Orzhov Pontiff 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Wall of Roots 1 Archangel of Thune 1 Spike Feeder 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 1 Reveillark 1 Eternal Witness 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Spellskite Instants and Sorceries (5) 3 Chord of Calling 2 Abrupt Decay Other Spells (4) 4 Birthing Pod | Sideboard (15) 1 Voice of Resurgence 1 Sin Collector 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1 Aven Mindcensor 2 Dismember 3 Lingering Souls 1 Harmonic Sliver 4 Thoughtseize 1 Shriekmaw |
What does it do?
Melira pod is the creature deck that disguises itself as a combo deck. The idea is simple. Get Melira, a sac outlet and Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap into play and go infinite. It can also play Spike Feeder and Archangel of Thune to gain infinite life and have infinitely huge creatures. It operates as a midrange Birthing Pod deck with utility creatures until it is time to go off. Using either Birthing Pod or Chord of Calling, it can go from nothing to winning in a matter of seconds.
How do I stop it?
Being able to kill Melira or Spike Feeder before the combo goes off is key. Once Archangel hits the board removing the Spike Feeder is too late. The other thing is that this deck can just play the creatures attack you and win like a normal midrange deck so you can’t just focus on the combo.
Why should I play it?
It combines the versatility of a utility Birthing Pod deck with the speed of a combo deck. If you understand the deck you can win out of nowhere sometimes. Chord of Calling is one of the most forgotten-about spells in this format. As an instant it often finds the missing piece of the combo after an opponent has tapped out at the end or your turn to Sphinx’s Revelation or cast Gifts Ungiven. It’s one of the format’s trickiest decks and its won a few Grand Prix. Decks like this are hard to combat due to their dual strategies.
Kiki Pod
| Lands (23) 4 Arid Mesa 4 Grove of the Burnwillows 3 Misty Rainforest 2 Gavony Township 2 Fire-Lit Thicket 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Mountain 1 Sacred Foundry 1 Temple Garden 1 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 1 Breeding Pool 1 Forest Creatures (28) 4 Restoration Angel 4 Wall of Roots 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Noble Hierarch 2 Scavenging Ooze 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 1 Eternal Witness 1 Deceiver Exarch 1 Zealous Conscripts 1 Spellskite 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Murderous Redcap 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1 Kitchen Finks 1 Glen Elendra Archmage Instants and Sorceries (3) 3 Chord of Calling Other Spells (6) 4 Birthing Pod 2 Domri Rade | Sideboard (15) 1 Avalanche Riders 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Obstinate Baloth 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 3 Path to Exile 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons 2 Sowing Salt 3 Negate |
What does it do?
If Melira is a creature deck posing as a combo deck. Then Kiki is the opposite. It’s a Combo Deck posing as a creature deck. This time the combo is Restoration Angel/Deceiver Exarch/Zealous Conscripts and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Create infinite creatures and attack with them. Again this deck uses Birthing Pod to get its engine online.
How do I stop it?
Killing Kiki Jiki is often not good enough (barring Split Second cards). The goal here is disruption. Stoping their creatures from trading up via Birthing Pod is a good step. Stopping Birthing Pod with cards like Pithing Needle while you conduct your plan is good. Torpor Orb helps too. Again you have to be careful because this is a creature deck and those buggers can attack all by themselves if you let them.
Why should I play it?
If you like what Melira Pod is doing but you want you deck to be more combo based, that is a good reason. It’s a moderately priced deck with fetches and Kiki being the most expensive cards. This deck also gives you access to plenty of cards used in other decks like Melira Pod and Splinter Twin.
U/R Storm
| Lands (18) 4 Steam Vents 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Island 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Shivan Reef 1 Mountain Creatures (4) 4 Goblin Electromancer Instants and Sorceries (34) 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Desperate Ritual 4 Manamorphose 4 Pyretic Ritual 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 3 Faithless Looting 3 Grapeshot 3 Past in Flames 1 Empty the Warrens Other Spells (4) 4 Pyromancer Ascension | Sideboard (15) 2 Empty the Warrens 2 Torpor Orb 2 Blood Moon 3 Defense Grid 3 Lightning Bolt 3 Shatterstorm |
What does it do?
Storm decks cast a boat-load of cantrips, mana and draw spells until they have cast a number of spells (Storm count) that they can kill you with either Grapeshot or Empty the Warrens.
How do I stop it?
Storm needs to get to a critical amount of mana to begin to “go off”. Stopping them from reaching that number is the key to beating Storm. That number varies depending on whether or not they have Goblin Electromancer in play. It’s either 4 with or 6 without. The reason being that a Storm deck that goes off will play Past in Flames once it’s ready to kill you. Once they cast PiF then they need to get started again with a ritual spell or Manamorphose. Before a Storm deck goes off Manamorphose is one of the best spells to counter as it stops them from changing red mana to blue mana and casting more cantrips. Once Storm count is over 10 two Grapeshots will end the game. Counterflux can stop all the storm triggers but with extra mana the storm deck can keep working on its kill. Ethersworn Canonist stops storm in its track as does Rule of Law. Discard also gives Storm fits.
Why should I play it?
If you have a lot of creature decks in your local meta, this can sweep them fast. Tron is weak to combo decks. Many people don’t know how to beat Storm deck so a new modern community generally takes a while to adapt to various combo decks. Lastly, it’s the pet deck of Jon Finkel. I hear tell that guy is kind of good at Magic.
Twin
| Lands (23) 5 Island 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Mountain 3 Steam Vents 3 Misty Rainforest 2 Sulfur Falls 1 Stomping Ground 1 Desolate Lighthouse Creatures (16) 4 Deceiver Exarch 4 Pestermite 3 Snapcaster Mage 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 2 Spellskite 1 Grim Lavamancer Instants and Sorceries (17) 4 Serum Visions 3 Remand 2 Dispel 2 Flame Slash 2 Izzet Charm 2 Lightning Bolt 2 Peek Other Spells (4) 4 Splinter Twin | Sideboard (15) 1 Grim Lavamancer 2 Blood Moon 2 Combust 2 Electrolyze 1 Negate 2 Relic of Progenitus 1 Spell Snare 1 Sword of War and Peace 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Anger of the Gods |
What does it do?
Twin is a two-card Combo deck that pops up from time to time. The combo is Kiki-Jiki/Splinter Twin and Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch, which when combined make a million guys and attack for the win. It’s a simple deck and the rest of the cards in the deck help to find the combo or to protect it. This deck can win without much board presence thanks to its two flash creatures that act as its win conditions.
How do I stop it?
Saving creature kill for Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch is a good start. Being able to kill Splinter Twin in response to the first token. Sudden Shock and Sudden Death are good. Basically this deck is weak to disruption in the form of creature kill. That’s where Spellskite and various counterspells come in. As fragile as it looks its likely to sneak you if you tap out.
Why should I play it?
Overall it’s not very expensive compared to most decks in the format. It goes off regularly on turn 4 and is very good against other creature based decks.
Scapeshift
| Lands (25) 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Ground 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Island 2 Mountain 2 Flooded Grove 2 Breeding Pool 2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 2 Forest Creatures (6) 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 2 Snapcaster Mage Instants and Sorceries (29) 4 Search for Tomorrow 4 Cryptic Command 4 Remand 4 Scapeshift 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Peer Through Depths 3 Izzet Charm 3 Farseek | Sideboard (15) 1 Counterflux 2 Nature’s Claim 1 Quicken 3 Obstinate Baloth 2 Shatterstorm 3 Threads of Disloyalty 2 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Swan Song |
What does it do?
This deck uses the power of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to deal a giant blow to your opponent after casting Scapeshift with six lands out. It deals 24 damage to your opponent as the lands come into play. Sakura-Tribe Elder, Kodama’s Reach, and Search for Tomorrow add to your land count, and Primeval Titan offers another win condition in some decks.
How do I stop it?
Killing their lands is one way to slow them down. Stopping them from casting Scapeshift with six or more land out (which leaves them with plenty of mana for countermagic) is an option. The deck runs Lightning Bolt for hard to deal with creatures like Ethersworn Canonist or Meddling Mage. Hand disruption is good if followed by pressure.
Why should I play it?
It’s a hard deck to play against as most decks aren’t main decking ways to remove lands from decks. Scapeshift is good in formats where there’s a lot of control decks that don’t pressure your life total. It’s good against countermagic and aggro decks get gummed up with Izzet Charms, Bolts and Tribe-Elders.
That’s Modern in a nutshell. Your average Modern tourney is gonna have a few of these deck for certain. The best advice I can lend you in Modern is to learn your deck. Then learn your opponent’s deck. Most of the knowledge I’ve gleaned in this format is based on building these decks and grinding them against the other decks in weekly events. You’ve got two solid months until Richmond. That’s eight weeks to build a deck and learn it inside and out by then. Don’t forget to trade decks with your friends! Any format can get stale and playing something different can help a lot.
Did I forget a deck you think is mainstream? Hit me up on Twitter @Durdlemagus or leave a comment and tell me about it.