The Team Modern Super League continues today at 9 PM Eastern (GMT -4) on twitch.tv/magic.
After 10 weeks, it’s finally time to begin the semifinals of Team Modern Super League 2! The first semifinals features Stream Team—made up of MTGNerdGirl, April King, and Jessica Estephan—going up against the Mage Market—Michael Bonde, Thomas Enevoldsen, Andreas Petersen—in a win or go home match.
Both teams brought interesting decks to battle with this week. Some decks with a lot of interaction and some that have a streamlined game plan but execute it fairly well.
Mage Market
Mage Market has apparently been playing the entire season with a surprising stipulation: they decided that they wouldn’t play the same deck more than once. That means the decklists below represent the 16th-20th unique decks that Mage Market will play in Team Modern Super League 2—and if they take the whole season down, they’ll have done it with 25 unique decks.
Esper Control
Like its counterpart, UW Control, Esper Control had its time in the sun pre-Modern Horizons, but what brought it back now? The addition of a third color allows for four Kaya’s Guile, which is a very flexible card as it’s a good graveyard hate spell, while also being efficient against aggressive and midrange variants. All modes to this card is pretty relevant and getting to six mana in this style of deck is pretty easy with spot removal, wraths, and permission spells.
In the sideboard of this deck we have access to discard against other control variants and the inclusion of Plague Engineer which has shown its power level against the Hogaak decks recently. With access to more spot removal it doesn’t need to rely heavily on the Celestial Purge in the matchup like UW Control does.
Modern Esper Control
| Creatures (4) 4 Snapcaster Mage Spells (25) 4 Cryptic Command 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Esper Charm 1 Force of Negation 4 Kaya’s Guile 2 Logic Knot 4 Opt 4 Path to Exile 2 Fatal Push 1 Mana Leak Enchantments (1) 1 Detention Sphere Planeswalkers (5) 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria | Lands (25) 3 Field of Ruin 2 Celestial Colonnade 1 Drowned Catacomb 3 Flooded Strand 1 Glacial Fortress 2 Hallowed Fountain 3 Island 4 Polluted Delta 2 Marsh Flats 1 Plains 1 Swamp 2 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 2 Celestial Purge 1 Ceremonious Rejection 1 Stony Silence 1 Duress 2 Force of Negation 1 Thoughtseize 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Wrath of God 2 Plague Engineer 1 Vendilion Clique 2 Kor Firewalker |
Cheerios
Cheerios is a deck that is known to be extremely uninteractive with the sole exception of casting a lethal Grapeshot. This deck has a really high ceiling and is capable of winning by Turn 2—but more realistically Turn 3. Hogaak decks have very little in the way of creature and artifact interaction, as well, so I can see why people would choose play Cheerios in this metagame.
Modern Cheerios
| Creatures (8) 4 Sram, Senior Edificer 4 Puresteel Paladin Spells (12) 4 Repeal 4 Retract 1 Grapeshot 2 Noxious Revival 1 Hurkyl’s Recall Artifacts (25) 4 Mox Opal 4 Cathar’s Shield 4 Kite Shield 4 Paradise Mantle 4 Spidersilk Net 4 Bone Saw 1 Accorder’s Shield | Lands (15) 2 Plains 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Seachrome Coast 1 Sacred Foundry 2 Windswept Heath 2 Flooded Strand 2 Arid Mesa 2 Marsh Flats Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of Sanctity 4 Burrenton Forge-Tender 3 Silence 2 Path to Exile 2 Fragmentize |
Gifts Storm
Gifts Storm is a deck that crushed Modern for a long time. Like most combo strategies, the deck doesn’t play well with others and mainly tries to assemble a critical mass of cheap spells to cast a lethal Grapeshot. The biggest thing I would be concerned about is trying to deal with all the mainboard graveyard hate people are playing to be prepared for Hogaak. It does look like Mage Market is prepared for this, and gave the deck the ability to shift towards a more grindy game plan with Aria of Flame and Pieces of the Puzzle.
Modern Gifts Storm
| Creatures (8) 4 Baral, Chief of Compliance 4 Goblin Electromancer Spells (33) 4 Desperate Ritual 4 Gifts Ungiven 2 Grapeshot 4 Manamorphose 3 Opt 1 Peer Through Depths 4 Pyretic Ritual 2 Remand 1 Repeal 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand Enchantments (2) 2 Past in Flames | Lands (17) 1 Fiery Islet 3 Island 1 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Steam Vents 3 Shivan Reef Sideboard (15) 2 Abrade 1 Echoing Truth 2 Empty the Warrens 4 Pieces of the Puzzle 2 Spell Pierce 2 Lightning Bolt 1 Rebuild 1 Aria of Flame |
Bant Spirits
Bant Spirits used to be a contender for the best disruptive creature deck in Modern but has since been (convincingly) beaten out by Humans. The deck uses both Aether Vial and Collected Company to deploy disruptive, hard to kill threats at instant speed, and has picked up improvements in both Unsettled Mariner and the Horizon lands from Modern Horizons.
Modern Bant Spirits
| Creatures (28) 4 Supreme Phantom 4 Mausoleum Wanderer 3 Unsettled Mariner 4 Drogskol Captain 4 Spell Queller 2 Deputy of Detention 4 Noble Hierarch 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Selfless Spirit Spells (8) 4 Collected Company 4 Path to Exile Artifacts (3) 3 Aether Vial | Lands (21) 1 Plains 1 Razorverge Thicket 2 Seachrome Coast 2 Botanical Sanctum 3 Flooded Strand 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Moorland Haunt 1 Horizon Canopy 1 Breeding Pool 1 Hallowed Fountain 2 Windswept Heath 1 Temple Garden 1 Island 1 Forest 1 Waterlogged Grove Sideboard (15) 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 1 Collector Ouphe 3 Damping Sphere 1 Unified Will 1 Rest in Peace 2 Force of Negation 2 Kor Firewalker 4 Leyline of the Void |
Hogaak Dredge
What more can we say about Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis? This deck puts the free 8/8 into the pre-existing Dredge strategy, but the game plan is ultimately the same: dump cards in the graveyard and play Hogaak ASAP.
Modern Hogaak Dredge
| Creatures (23) 4 Bloodghast 3 Golgari Thug 3 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis 2 Narcomoeba 3 Prized Amalgam 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Stinkweed Imp Spells (18) 4 Cathartic Reunion 2 Conflagrate 4 Creeping Chill 4 Faithless Looting 4 Life from the Loam | Lands (19) 2 Blood Crypt 1 Mana Confluence 2 Copperline Gorge 1 Dryad Arbor 2 Gemstone Mine 1 Mountain 2 Stomping Ground 3 Verdant Catacombs 4 Wooded Foothills 1 Blackcleave Cliffs Sideboard (15) 2 Thoughtseize 4 Leyline of the Void 3 Lightning Axe 4 Nature’s Claim 2 Ghost Quarter |
Stream Team Decklists
UW Control
UW Control used to be one of the top decks in Modern pre-Modern Horizons but has since fallen out of favor.
What makes this deck good now? Well, exile effects, namely Path to Exile, are really good right now. This deck is able to utilize their Paths well and with some well-timed wrath effects it can stabilize against almost any deck, including the Hogaak variants. Detention Sphere is also a good tool against Hogaak as those decks can bring back multiple Vengvines or Bloodghasts in one turn.
Looking at the sideboard, this deck has access to three Celestial Purge, which is similarly good like Path to Exile. Rounding out the sideboard is four Rest in Peace to combat the Hogaak menace when combined with permission spells to stop any interaction Hogaak may have for them.
Modern UW Control
| Creatures (4) 4 Snapcaster Mage Spells (23) 1 Oust 2 Supreme Verdict 1 Timely Reinforcements 3 Cryptic Command 3 Force of Negation 1 Logic Knot 1 Mana Leak 4 Opt 4 Path to Exile 1 Spell Snare 2 Surgical Extraction Enchantments (1) 1 Detention Sphere Planeswalkers (8) 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 3 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 2 Teferi, Time Raveler | Lands (24) 3 Celestial Colonnade 4 Field of Ruin 4 Flooded Strand 2 Glacial Fortress 2 Hallowed Fountain 6 Island 2 Plains 1 Polluted Delta Sideboard (15) 1 Timely Reinforcements 1 Baneslayer Angel 3 Celestial Purge 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Dovin’s Veto 2 Monastery Mentor 4 Rest in Peace 1 Stony Silence 1 Wrath of God |
Red Deck Wins
We really saw the power level of red-based strategies at Grand Prix Minneapolis over the weekend. Granted, most of the Top 8 was Hogaak, but two were red-based aggressive decks.
Red Deck Wins is just a more consistent Mono-Red Phoenix deck. You get access to more one drops to really come out of the gate fast. We’ve learned that the Hogaak decks can’t block well and this deck really punishes most Hogaak’s creatures inability to block as well as its low number of interactive spells.
Modern Red Deck Wins
| Creatures (14) 2 Blistercoil Weird 4 Soul-Scar Mage 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Bedlam Reveler Spells (28) 4 Crash Through 4 Faithless Looting 4 Lava Dart 4 Lava Spike 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Manamorphose 4 Light up the Stage | Lands (18) 4 Fiery Islet 14 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Surgical Extraction 1 Dismember 2 Flame Slash 3 Abrade 1 Shenanigans 3 Dragon’s Claw 1 Tormod’s Crypt |
Burn
Burn was the second Red deck that did well at GP Minneapolis, AKA GP Hogaak. The Hogaak deck does not have ways to gain life and also has a painful mana base, both of which Burn is great at punishing. Plus, the Burn deck has just enough interaction in the sideboard with Leyline of the Voids and Path to Exile to be able to contend with these powerful graveyard decks.
Modern Boros Burn
| Creatures (12) 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 4 Goblin Guide 4 Monastery Swiftspear Spells (28) 4 Boros Charm 4 Lava Spike 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Rift Bolt 4 Searing Blaze 4 Skewer the Critics 2 Skullcrack 2 Lightning Helix | Lands (20) 3 Mountain 4 Inspiring Vantage 1 Arid Mesa 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Sunbaked Canyon 2 Fiery Islet 2 Sacred Foundry SIdeboard (15) 4 Leyline of the Void 3 Path to Exile 3 Searing Blood 2 Skullcrack 3 Smash to Smithereens |
Hogaak Vine
After the banning of Bridge from Below, Hogaak decks stretched for cards like Satyr Wayfinder and Lotleth Troll to keep its graveyard engine running.
Modern Hogaak Vine
| Creatures (33) 2 Insolent Neonate 3 Lotleth Troll 4 Bloodghast 4 Carrion Feeder 4 Gravecrawler 4 Hogaak, Risen Necropolis 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Vengevine Spells (8) 4 Faithless Looting 2 Assassin’s Trophy 2 Lightning Axe | Lands (19) 2 Swamp 4 Blood Crypt 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Blooming Marsh 1 Gemstone Mine 2 Overgrown Tomb 4 Polluted Delta 1 Blackcleave Cliffs Sideboard (15) 2 Collective Brutality 3 Force of Vigor 3 Leyline of the Void 2 Nature’s Claim 3 Thoughtseize 2 Fatal Push |
Tron
Tron took down Mythic Championship IV London but did so without any Karn, the Create Creators. This version uses Karn’s -2 wish ability to go get any of the one-of artifacts from its sideboard to lock its opponents out of the game.
Modern Tron
| Creatures (5) 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger 1 Walking Ballista 3 Wurmcoil Engine Spells (9) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 Dismember Artifacts (17) 3 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 3 Oblivion Stone 3 Relic of Progenitus Planeswalkers (10) 4 Karn Liberated 4 Karn, the Great Creator 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon | 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 Walking Ballista 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Mycosynth Lattice 3 Nature’s Claim 1 Pithing Needle 2 Thragtusk 1 Witchbane Orb 1 Trinisphere 1 Crucible of Worlds |
Schedule
Make sure to watch this week’s exciting matches tonight on twitch.tv/magic at 9 PM Eastern. But if you happened to miss it make sure to catch the recap tomorrow!
Match 1: Michael Bonde (Gifts Storm) vs. MTGNerdGirl (Burn)
Match 2: Thomas Enevoldsen (Bant Spirits) vs. April King (Tron)
Match 3: Andreas Petersen (Hogaak Dredge) vs. Jessica Estephan (Hogaak)
Match 4: Michael Bonde (Cheerios) vs. April King (Red Deck Wins)
Match 5 (if necessary): Thomas Enevoldsen (Esper Control) vs. Jessica Estephan (UW Control)
Match 6 (if necessary): Andreas Petersen (Hogaak Dredge) vs. MTGNerdGirl (Burn)
Match 7 (if necessary): Michael Bonde (Gifts Storm) vs. Jessica Estephan (Hogaak)