Following the banning of Krark-Clan Ironworks and the release of Ravnica Allegiance, Modern is settling into a new groove. As with any changes, the metagame takes time to adapt. In the aftermath, previously forgotten decks can come back full circle becoming viable again—for example right now, Grixis Death’s Shadow and Burn. Is there anything else primed for success in the new Modern metagame?
Chalice of the Void is a situational card becomes powerful when many relevant spells in a format have the same mana cost—usually one or zero. Chalice of the Void with one counter can neutralize huge chunks of decks full of one-mana spells. I believe we are hitting the spot in Modern, and Chalice of the Void can counteract several of the powerful strategies at the top of the metagame. With Ancient Stirrings and Faithless Looting leading the charge, to say nothing of Death’s Shadow and Lightning Bolt?
Back when Grixis Death’s Shadow was considered to be the best deck in Modern, Eldrazi Tron to ascended to keep Grixis Death’s Shadow in check with Chalice of the Void as a key card in the matchup. But today Chalice does more than that. We’re seeing a rise in Living End due to the printing of Electrodominance, and Chalice for zero prevents these suspend spells from being cast, even through Electrodominance or As Foretold. And though Burn has gained the “expensive” one-mana spells Skewer the Critics and Light Up the Stage, Chalice still an excellent deterrent to that deck’s myriad actual one-mana spells. Manamorphose is showing up again too, and it tends to go in decks that fear a Chalice.
We witnessed this at SCG Baltimore, which displayed some robust midrange strategies attempting to slow down the format. If you prefer a creature-focused midrange strategy, Eldrazi Tron may be for you.
Eldrazi Tron, by Brett Gardner
Eldrazi Tron had plenty of success during the rise of Death’s Shadow a couple of years ago, and could repeat that success now. Arclight Phoenix strategies follow a similar approach to Grixis Death’s Shadow, so that bodes well. Although a little slower compared to the other Eldrazi decks available, Eldrazi Tron disrupts the opponent and closes the game with Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher.
Despite its disruption Eldrazi Tron can take a few turns to set up, which the opponent can take advantage of. I’d consider adding Eldrazi Mimic to the list as it offers a more aggressive approach consistent with the pace of Modern currently. If you think Eldrazi Tron is slow and a little clunky and tries to do too much at once, you can branch out into Colorless Eldrazi, which promotes a smoother more aggressive gameplan compared to Eldrazi Tron.
Colorless Eldrazi, by Austin Gattuso
| Creatures (25) 4 Eldrazi Mimic 4 Matter Reshaper 4 Eternal Scourge 4 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Thought-Knot Seer 4 Reality Smasher 1 Endbringer Spells (12) 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Serum Powder 4 Dismember | Lands (23) 4 Eldrazi Temple 3 Gemstone Caverns 4 Ghost Quarter 3 Cavern of Souls 2 Mutavault 2 Scavenger Grounds 3 Blinkmoth Nexus 2 Wastes Sideboard (15) 4 Spatial Contortion 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Damping Sphere 2 Endbringer 2 Torpor Orb 1 The Immortal Sun |
The biggest draw to playing Colorless Eldrazi is deploying Chalice of the Void (on one) on turn one with the assistance of Simian Spirit Guide. This can become a regular strategy too, with Serum Powder enabling you to craft a better opening hand to offer you the best chance of success. Since you’re not running the Tron shell in this build, you can pack more disruption like Damping Sphere, another excellent tool to thwart these dense spell decks of the format that also answers big-mana strategies.
The performance of decks such as Eldrazi Tron and Colorless Eldrazi are determined by the strength of Chalice of the Void in Modern. I feel there is potential to see this as a viable strategy in the future if the trend of cheap spells continues.
Here’s another direction to go with Chalice:
Four-Color Whir, by Franklin Fulks
Although Four-Color Whir wasn’t featured at the top tables at SCG Baltimore, it’s another deck to look out for. Despite Krark-Clan Ironworks falling to the ban hammer last month, not all artifact based-strategies are sharing the same fate. Early last year Lantern Control dominated Modern and won a Pro Tour. Regardless, we are now seeing inspirations of Lantern Control in the form of Four-Color Whir which adopts a prison strategy featuring Chalice of the Void.
Four-Color Whir forces your opponent to play to your rhythm by denying them resources—a unique strategy in this fast Modern metagame. You can force your opponent to play fair and can take wins with the Thopter Foundry plus Sword of the Meek combination. In a similar vein to Lantern Control, Four-Color Whir is played best when you know the format and can identify quickly the decks you are up against. Admittedly this deck isn’t for everyone and requires patience to play well, but I expect Four-Color Whir to take the pedestal that Ironworks Combo once established.
Lastly, we saw already established decks trying out Chalice of the Void in response to the current metagame. Take this Amulet Titan list as an example.
Amulet Titan, by Turner Madick
In theory, the addition of Chalice of the Void to the build is an excellent one. It’s easily tutorable with Tolaria West and Trinket Mage, meaning you typically play your one-mana spells ahead of casting Chalice of the Void with little downside. Amulet Titan is very good at prolonging the game, and Chalice of the Void aids the strategy very well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a variant of Amulet Titan which incorporates Chalice of the Void to combat a field of cheap spells.
Modern is starting to adopt some of the traits that are common in the Legacy format. We’re beginning to see cheap, powerful cantrips dominating Modern which can promote degenerate archetypes. Effects such as Chalice of the Void are unique and powerful in Legacy for the same reasons. With this, I expect to see more Chalices in Modern to combat these strategies going forward, especially if the predictions of Burn and Death’s Shadow are correct. That suggests a surge in colorless decks that can use Chalice of the Void best, including creatures that can stand up to Thing in the Ice and Gurmag Angler. This is something to keep in mind and perhaps prepare for in the upcoming months in your local metagame if you play dense spell archetypes.
Emma is a writer and Modern enthusiast based in Suffolk, England. She has been involved in Magic since Khans of Tarkir’s release back in 2014, but won’t shy away from Cube and MTG Arena. Follow her on Twitter @emmmzyne to join in on the conversation!