Modern will be featured this weekend at Mythic Champonship IV Barcelona and SCG Columbus. Here’s what we’d play. With Jess Estephan competing in the Mythic Championship this weekend, we will release her decklist and sideboard during the weekend!
Chad Harney
Hogaak Vine
| Creatures (33) 4 Gravecrawler 3 Carrion Feeder 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 3 Insolent Neonate 4 Bloodghast 4 Satyr Wayfinder 3 Golgari Thug 4 Vengevine 4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis Spells (9) 4 Faithless Looting 3 Lightning Axe 1 Darkblast 1 Claim // Fame | Lands (18) 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 2 Gemstone Mine 2 Bloodstained Mire 2 Verdant Catacombs 2 Polluted Delta 2 Marsh Flats 2 Overgrown Tomb 2 Blood Crypt 1 Swamp Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of the Void 4 Thoughtseize 1 Fatal Push 1 Nature’s Claim 1 Plague Engineer 1 Force of Vigor 2 Assassin’s Trophy 1 Shenanigans |
The Gaak is dead, long live the Gaak. Bridge may be gone, but you haven’t seen the last of GaakVine just yet. Now forgoing the Altar of Dementia combo, the Gaakvine deck has added more graveyard enablers. We even get to play some removal in the maindeck.
This deck is slightly slower than Dredge. However, the upside to this deck is its resiliency to softer hate like Tormod’s Crypt, Surgical Extraction, and Nihil Spellbomb. I also expect Eldrazi Tron to be a popular choice this weekend; and while not a great matchup, I believe it to be better than Dredge.
Matt Dilks
I tried so hard to make Amulet work and just couldn’t. Eldrazi Tron ended up feeling a little underpowered, and I was getting the honeymoon effects of the deck winning so much. Hogaak is still a card and people play unfair Modern, meaning Chalice isn’t always good or fast enough.
I’m left with one safe option: Izzet Phoenix. To be honest, I might still play Amulet because it’s fun and Columbus is a the best tour stop to scrub out at. Basically, this is the choice that can never really be bad and I’m more than comfortable playing it. I just wish there were anything else.
Izzet Phoenix
| Creatures (8) 4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Thing in the Ice Spells (34) 2 Aria of Flame 2 Finale of Promise 4 Faithless Looting 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Thought Scour 4 Manamorphose 3 Surgical Extraction 4 Lightning Bolt 1 Flame Slash 1 Magmatic Sinkhole 1 Lava Dart | Lands (18) 1 Fiery Islet 2 Polluted Delta 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Island 1 Mountain 4 Spirebluff Canal 3 Steam Vents Sideboard (15) 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer 3 Blood Moon 1 Anger of the Gods 1 Aria of Flame 2 Force of Negation 2 Tormod's Crypt 2 Abrade 2 Spell Pierce |
Harlan Firer
Grixis Urza
I’ve slowly started to come to the conclusion that Grixis Urza may be the best deck in Modern. At the very least, it’s the best deck people aren’t trying to beat, which is exactly where I want to be.
I’m expecting the graveyard decks to come out to play so I’m packing the full four Leyline of the Void on top of the usual maindeck hate. You’ll be able to find a sideboard guide for the list I register over at the Team Nova Patreon if you’re so inclined. If you’re in Columbus, don’t hesitate to come say hey!
Ally Warfield
Jund
| Creatures (11) 4 Tarmogoyf 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Bloodbraid Elf 1 Tireless Tracker Planeswalkers (8) 4 Wrenn and Six 4 Liliana of the Veil Spells (17) 3 Fatal Push 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 2 Lightning Bolt 3 Assassin's Trophy 1 Kolaghan's Command 2 Nihil Spellbomb | Lands (23) 1 Barren Moor 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 2 Bloodstained Mire 1 Forest 1 Ghost Quarter 2 Nurturing Peatland 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Raging Ravine 1 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 3 Verdant Catacombs 2 Wooded Foothills Sideboard (15) 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Collective Brutality 1 Plague Engineer 1 Tireless Tracker 1 Leyline of the Void 3 Fulminator Mage 1 Shenanigans 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Collector Ouphe 1 Nihil Spellbomb |
Is it any surprise that the Jund girl is registering Jund? Wrenn and Six has made a name for itself across Eternal formats as a staple way to gain card advantage. Wrenn lets us leverage unique lands like Raging Ravine and Nurturing Peatland, and it helps alleviate issues that Jund suffers from having too many Guildgate effects.
With the rise of Eldrazi Tron, the addition of Ghost Quarter can help slow down or even eliminate an Eldrazi Tron player from playing the game. The inclusion of Dark Confidant has been hotly debated, but it’s more likely Wrenn and Six is the better advantage card in a world of aggressive strategies.
Dom Harvey
Mono-Green Tron
| Creatures (5) 1 Walking Ballista 3 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Planeswalkers (10) 4 Karn Liberated 4 Karn, the Great Creator 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Spells (26) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 4 Oblivion Stone 2 Relic of Progenitus | Lands (19) 1 Blast Zone 4 Forest 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Sanctum of Ugin 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower Sideboard (15) 1 Trinisphere 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Mycosynth Lattice 2 Nature’s Claim 1 Pithing Needle 3 Dismember 3 Leyline of the Void 1 Torpor Orb 1 Liquimetal Coating |
Decklists from the Mythic Championship are starting to be published, and they leave no doubt that the Gaak is officially back. It’s always unclear how quickly people will respond to those sudden metagame shifts, but I expect people will be dusting off Leyline of the Void for this weekend. For Hogaak, matchups like Jund or Azorius Control depend heavily on how much hate they have and what kind of hate that is; a prepared opponent is a difficult opponent.
Tron gains a lot from the London mulligan, boasts a good matchup against all the fair decks that people are excited to play (especially now that they have to warp their sideboards once again to beat Hogaak), and I believe it’s fine against Hogaak itself with a little tinkering. Karn, The Great Creator makes sideboarding tricky. It’s possible that you want another threat that you can “Wish” for (e.g. Wurmcoil Engine or Walking Ballista) if Karn is unlikely to make it through the next turn.
Drake Sasser
Izzet Phoenix
| Creatures (10) 2 Crackling Drake 4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Thing in the Ice Spells (30) 2 Finale of Promise 4 Thought Scour 4 Faithless Looting 1 Flame Slash 4 Manamorphose 2 Gut Shot 4 Serum Visions 1 Echoing Truth 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Lightning Bolt Enchantments (2) 2 Pyromancer Ascension | Lands (18) 1 Fiery Islet 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Misty Rainforest 3 Steam Vents 1 Flooded Strand 3 Island 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 1 Magmatic Sinkhole 3 Force of Negation 2 Aria of Flame 1 Beacon Bolt 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Flame Slash 3 Ravenous Trap 2 Blood Moon |
Don’t quit while you’re ahead.
Very often the desire to have learned something or to have improved on the design after a tournament leads to over engineering a deck. I have been careful to avoid this recently and that approach continues to pay off.
I changed two cards from the list from the SCG Worcester classic for the Open in Philly. For this weekend, I expect to change none—fresh off of a Top 16 finish in SCG Philly, I’m not changing a single card. That isn’t to say the deck is perfect. But comfort is valuable in Modern and I am quite comfortable with this configuration.