Big talk in the city is the Modern Grand Prix Star City Games is running in March. Modern attendance is up on Tuesdays and its time to start testing decks. Myself and the rest of the Hipsters traveling team (which for the sake of this article includes Li Xu and Matt Jones) have been chipping away at the format for the last year, basically every week. Modern is a relatively diverse format that can be boiled down to 4 different kinds of deck. The four horsemen of the metagame: Aggro, Midrange, Control and Combo. I’m gonna show you the decks from Modern that I think you are the most likely to see at a large event. I’m starting with Aggro and Midrange decks and next week I’ll bring forth Combo and Control.
Aggro
Red Deck Wins
| LANDS (19) 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Arid Mesa 3 Mountain 2 Blood Crypt 2 Sacred Foundry Creatures (13) 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Goblin Guide 4 Keldon Marauders 1 Grim Lavamancer INSTANTS and SORCERIES (28) 4 Boros Charm 4 Bump in the Night 4 Lava Spike 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Rift Bolt 4 Searing Blaze 4 Skullcrack SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Grim Lavamancer 2 Volcanic Fallout 4 Guerrilla Tactics 1 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Flames of the Blood Hand 4 Smash to Smithereens |
What’s it do?
Red Deck Wins endeavors to smash your face with cheap creatures while burning your face with 3 damage burn magic. The deck has the option of running some of the format’s best burn magic thanks to fetch lands and shocks. Splashing white for Boros Charm and Black for Bump in the Night.
How do I stop it?
Life gain helps. Discard is really good and stopping its creatures are all great. This is a deck that really doesn’t hold up if you’re trading cards 1 for 1. The magic number to stay above is 6. As those Bump in the Nights can come back in the later turns and steal victory from you.
Why should I play it?
Coat wise it’s one of the cheaper decks in modern. It’s a great entry point, and its the litmus test for every format. If you are playing a deck that has trouble vs burn it best be really good vs a lot of other decks.
UR Faeries
| LANDS (19) 5 Island 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Steam Vents 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Arid Mesa 1 Sulfur Falls 1 Faerie Conclave 1 Mountain CREATURES (15) 4 Spellstutter Sprite 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Vendilion Clique INSTANTS and SORCERIES (26) 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Serum Visions 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Mana Leak 3 Remand 2 Spell Pierce 2 Spell Snare 2 Vapor Snag 2 Pillar of Flame SIDEBOARD (15) 1 Spell Pierce 1 Vapor Snag 2 Pillar of Flame 3 Threads of Disloyalty 3 Grim Lavamancer 2 Shatterstorm 3 Sulfur Elemental |
What’s it do?
Turn 1 Delver. Hope it flips and protect it with Spellstutter Sprites and counters. Follow it up with burn and card advantage. Mutavaults help power Sprite’s counter ability as does Vendilion Clique. It’s your classic Tempo Deck.
How do I stop it?
It’s a threat light deck, with high power low toughness creatures. Well timed removal and Tectonic Edge for Mutavault generally slows it down. Play your own 4 toughness or higher creature and the game is generally yours if you aren’t already dead.
Why should I play it.
You like casting Delver and sending it at your opponent. You remember Delver in its glory during late summer 2012 standard. You expect a heavy spell combo meta. It’s a solid deck when your winning but very hard to come from behind with. Abrupt Decay is one of the deck’s biggest problems.
Affinity
| LANDS (16) 4 Blinkmoth Nexus 4 Darksteel Citadel 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Glimmervoid 1 Mountain CREATURES (26) 4 Vault Skirge 4 Ornithopter 4 Signal Pest 4 Steel Overseer 4 Arcbound Ravager 4 Etched Champion 2 Memnite INSTANTS and SORCERIES (6) 3 Galvanic Blast 2 Spell Pierce 1 Thoughtseize OTHER SPELLS (12) 4 Cranial Plating 4 Mox Opal 4 Springleaf Drum SIDEBOARD (15) 1 Spell Pierce 3 Thoughtseize 3 Whipflare 3 Ancient Grudge 1 Dismember 1 Illness in the Ranks 1 Master of Etherium 2 Unified Will |
What does it do?
A good hand will have one or 2 cards left in it after turn one. The board will be full of little artifacts ready to attack your opponent in the next turn. Cranial Plating is the centerpiece for the deck allowing for explosive attacks and thanks to the deck’s use of Glimmervoid, Mox Opal and Springleaf Drum blocks are tenuous at best thanks to the artifact’s abilities to equip at instant speed. Steel Overseer and Arcbound Ravager allow the deck to play a slightly longer game.
How do I stop it?
Shatterstorm is a good start. Seriously though cheap creature kill is solid. Artifact removal does a lot of work. The deck really needs Cranial Plating to be awesome, if you take that away its just another creature deck. Wrath effects go a long way as well.
Why should I play it?
Sometimes you get free wins, which is great. If you like playing burn but hate not being able to puke out your whole hand in one turn this is the deck for you. If your local meta doesn’t have this deck running around you can normally mise a few wins from lack of hate.
Hate Bears
| LANDS (22) 4 Horizon Canopy 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Ghost Quarter 4 Temple Garden 3 Plains 2 Gavony Township 1 Forest CREATURES (29) 4 Leonin Arbiter 4 Blade Splicer 4 Flickerwisp 4 Scavenging Ooze 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Restoration Angel 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 2 Aven Mindcensor INSTANTS and SORCERIES (4) 4 Path to Exile OTHER SPELLS (5) 4 Aether Vial 1 Sword of War and Peace SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Aven Mindcensor 2 Sunlance 2 Stony Silence 1 Ghostly Prison 1 Akroma, Angel of Fury 3 Burrenton Forge-Tender 2 Creeping Corrosion 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Kataki, War’s Wage |
What does it do?
You play a creature heavy deck that is tough on control and combo decks, punishes players for fetching lands and removes opposing creatures that pose a problem for your hoard of weenies. Most of the creatures provide a secondary ability that are akin to enchantments, but they can attack. It’s a fast deck that can act as a tempo deck and punish slower decks for stumbling.
How do I stop it?
Cheap creature removal, midrange ground creatures and hand disruption can foil this deck well. Thalia can be a problem for some decks as well as Gaddock Teeg (some decks run him) if he’s out wrathing is hard. Firespout and Pyroclasm are all stars here. It’s important to play around Aven Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter. This is a deck where you must make every mana spent count.
Why should I play it?
Everyone plays fetch lands in Modern. Taxing your opponent for just trying to get mana can be a troll’s dream. It’s creatures are layered and by virtue of their secondary abilities are resistant to being killed. If your meta has a lot of UWR Control and combo decks its got a gigantic edge.
Merfolk
| LANDS (22) 18 Island 4 Mutavault CREATURES (26) 4 Lord of Atlantis 4 Master of the Pearl Trident 4 Master of Waves 4 Silvergill Adept 3 Cursecatcher 2 Coralhelm Commander 2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Thassa, God of the Sea INSTANTS and SORCERIES (4) 3 Vapor Snag 1 Spell Pierce OTHER SPELLS (8) 4 Spreading Seas 4 Æther Vial SIDEBOARD (15) 1 Spell Pierce 2 Unified Will 1 Swan Song 3 Steel Sabotage 1 Merrow Reejerey 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Dismember 1 Relic of Progenitus 2 Tidebinder Mage |
What does it do?
You play a host of creatures that all make each other better. If you opponent makes the mistake of playing islands he’s at a huge disadvantage. In the late game Master of Waves can steal the game with an Aether Vial activation. A turn one Aether Vial threatens to overwhelm opponents with a swarm of dudes that allow you to save mana for countering opponents spells.
How do I stop it?
Kill the lords! Two damage removal is good early but can quickly become useless. Lightning Bolt continues to be this deck’s archenemy. Wrath effects blow the game open. Pithing Needles stops Aether Vial, which is really strong against other counter heavy decks, but it can be really strong against damage based removal as well. Vialing in lords in response to damage can act as a counter spell.
Why should I play it?
Its one of the cheaper decks in the format. Not having to fetch for your mana can be a huge asset, not to mention can win you races against other aggro decks. (Remember what I was saying about how every deck uses fetches… Well not this one.) If your local meta has a lot of combo decks or blue decks this is an easy choice. This was the first modern deck I built and its a great way to explore the format.
Mid Range
Soul Sisters
| LANDS (18) 16 Plains 2 Windbrisk Heights CREATURES (26) 4 Soul Warden 4 Martyr of Sands 4 Ajani’s Pridemate 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Soul’s Attendant 4 Serra Ascendant 2 Ranger of Eos INSTANTS and SORCERIES (12) 4 Spectral Procession 4 Path to Exile 4 Brave the Elements OTHER SPELLS (4) 4 Honor of the Pure SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant 2 Mirran Crusader 2 Mana Tithe 3 Leyline of Sanctity 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Disenchant 2 Aven Mindcensor |
What does it do?
Often you hear that life gain is terrible. Well in Modern it’s a deck worth playing. Soul Sisters plays a series of creatures that gain you life and then finishes off opponents with giant Serra Ascendants. You have an amazing amount of staying power thanks to your lifegain. Ajani’s Pridemate comes in with Honor of the Pure and Spectral Procession to overwhelm opponents that rely on spot or board wiping removal.
How do I stop it?
There’s always Havoc Festival. But seriously, killing Martyr of Sands before they activate it helps. It’s important to keep this deck off of 30 Life. Some versions run Divinity of Pride and Lingering Souls, splashing black. Failing that Serra Ascendant is a must kill.
Why should I play it?
Again this is one of the cheaper decks in the format and it can be very resistant to Combo decks like Kiki-pod and Storm. The former thanks to Soul’s Attendant and Soul Warden and the latter by virtue of having too much life to kill with Grapeshot.
Jund
| LANDS (24) 4 Marsh Flats 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 4 Raging Ravine 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Swamp 1 Stomping Ground 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Lavaclaw Reaches 1 Forest 1 Blood Crypt CREATURES (18) 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Scavenging Ooze 4 Dark Confidant 2 Grim Lavamancer INSTANTS and SORCERIES (14) 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Abrupt Decay 3 Thoughtseize 3 Inquisition of Kozilek OTHER SPELLS (4) 4 Liliana of the Veil SIDEBOARD (15) 1 Thoughtseize 1 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Avalanche Riders 1 Dismember 4 Fulminator Mage 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Jund Charm 2 Terminate 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Olivia Voldaren |
What does it do?
Jund is the good stuff deck. The entire deck is chock full of powerful one-ofs that work well together without actually having to be together to be effective. It’s highly disruptive while churning out card advantage via Dark Confidant and man lands. It’s discard suite shifts based on the meta but you can expect to have to worry about a turn one Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Abrupt Decay and Terminate deal with opposing creatures along with Lightning Bolt which can close out the game if need be. (In case you’ve never lost a game at 3 life.)
How do I stop it?
That’s a tough question. Overwhelming card advantage is one good way. Most of Jund is a series of excellent one for one spells. Spell Snare is very good against Jund as its a deck of two drops. The main thing you need to worry about is Tarmogoyf. This is Modern’s litmus test. If you’re good against Jund you can expect to be pretty solid against the field.
Why should I play it?
This is Modern’s litmus test for a reason. The deck is a little on the expensive side but its one of the best for a reason. It’s even had some of its major player’s banned and it still remains a top contender.
So that’s it for Aggro and Midrange decks. Next week Ill cover Combo and Control. Hopefully this gives newer modern players a chance to check out what the format is like and reminds older players what options are out there. Until next week!
Zac Clark, Durdle Magus