The Team Modern Super League continues today at 9 PM Eastern (GMT -4) on twitch.tv/magic. Zack Kanner also contributed to this post.
Tonight is the last semifinals match of Team Modern Super League 2 with Pamplemouse battling against Brothers Who Bash. Pamplemousse returns with Reid Duke, Logan Nettles, and Gabe Nassif, while Brothers Who Bash feature Brad Nelson, Corey Baumeister, and (probably) Brian Braun-Duin. If BBD can’t make it, Seth Manfield will fill in.
The winner will earn the right to play Mage Market in the finals with the coveted league championship on the line. Let’s jump right into what decks we are going to see tonight!
Pamplemousse Decklists
Pamplemousse is packing Jund, and Mardu Shadow to keep Brothers Who Bash off balance, rounding things out with Eldrazi Tron, Mono Red Phoenix, and of course, Hogaak.
Jund
The Jund list of pretty close to a standard list. The twist Pamplemousse has put on it is adding two copies of Tireless Tracker to the main deck. Tracker gives the deck more longevity which tells me that they expect Brothers Who Bash to bring interactive decks of their own.
Modern Jund
| Creatures (12) 3 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Scavenging Ooze 2 Tireless Tracker Spells (16) 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Thoughtseize 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Kolaghan’s Command 2 Fatal Push 1 Maelstrom Pulse Planeswalkers (8) 4 Liliana of the Veil 4 Wrenn and Six | Lands (24) 2 Raging Ravine 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 2 Bloodstained Mire 4 Verdant Catacombs 3 Wooded Foothills 1 Blood Crypt 1 Stomping Ground 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Swamp 1 Mountain 2 Forest 1 Blooming Marsh 1 Nurturing Peatland Sideboard (15) 2 Nihil Spellbomb 3 Fulminator Mage 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Collector Ouphe 2 Ancient Grudge 3 Plague Engineer |
Eldrazi Tron
Eldrazi Tron is a lot of what we’ve seen before. Showing up with Chalice of the Void and Karn, the Great Creator this deck signs up to beat on other mid-range strategies.
Modern Eldrazi Tron
| Creatures (16) 2 Endbringer 2 Matter Reshaper 4 Reality Smasher 4 Thought-Knot Seer 2 Walking Ballista 2 Simian Spirit Guide Spells (5) 2 All Is Dust 3 Dismember Artifacts (12) 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Expedition Map 2 Mind Stone 2 Relic of Progenitus Planeswalkers (4) 4 Karn, the Great Creator | Lands (23) 4 Urza’s Power Plant 2 Blast Zone 4 Eldrazi Temple 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Urza’s Mine 2 Wastes 4 Urza’s Tower 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth Sideboard (15) 1 Walking Ballista 1 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Ensnaring Bridge 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Mycosynth Lattice 2 Spatial Contortion 1 Mystic Forge 1 Sorcerous Spyglass 1 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Spellskite |
Mono-Red Phoenix
Mono-Red Phoenix is also something of a known quantity these days. Burn with extra explosiveness by exploiting prowess creatures and Arclight Phoenix fueled by free spells, this deck can be a lot to handle if the opponent is looking to go long.
Modern Mono-Red Phoenix
| Creatures (15) 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Soul-Scar Mage 2 Blistercoil Weird 4 Arclight Phoenix 1 Bedlam Reveler Spells (27) 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Lava Spike 4 Manamorphose 4 Faithless Looting 4 Light Up the Stage 4 Lava Dart 1 Crash Through 2 Gut Shot | Lands (18) 15 Mountain 3 Fiery Islet Sideboard (15) 1 Abrade 1 Shattering Spree 2 Smash to Smithereens 1 Pillage 2 Blood Moon 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Kozilek's Return |
Hogaak
Pamplemousse’s Hogaak list seems to echo what Duke and Nassif played at the Mythic Championship in Barcelona. Sporting a Lotleth Troll and two maindeck Leyline of the Void as tech for the mirror. Pamplemousse looks to take advantage of what is likely the last week that Hogaak is legal.
Modern Hogaak
| Creatures (31) 4 Stitcher's Supplier 4 Gravecrawler 4 Carrion Feeder 2 Cryptbreaker 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Bloodghast 1 Lotleth Troll 4 Vengevine 4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis Spells (8) 4 Faithless Looting 2 Lightning Axe 2 Assassin's Trophy Enchantments (2) 2 Leyline of the Void | Lands (19) 2 Swamp 2 Overgrown Tomb 2 Blood Crypt 2 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blooming Marsh 1 Nurturing Peatland 3 Polluted Delta 2 Bloodstained Mire 2 Marsh Flats 2 Verdant Catacombs Sideboard (15) 2 Leyline of the Void 2 Nature's Claim 1 Assassin's Trophy 4 Force of Vigor 2 Plague Engineer 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Abrupt Decay |
Mardu Death’s Shadow
Mardu Death’s Shadow is something we saw on last week’s show, and makes a return after having a great weekend including a Grand Prix win in Birmingham. Playing like a low to the ground Jund deck this could signal that Pamplemousse is looking to bolster their combo matchups be adding a mix of speed and disruption.
Modern Mardu Death's Shadow
| Creatures (18) 4 Death’s Shadow 4 Street Wraith 1 Gurmag Angler 1 Hex Parasite 4 Ranger-Captain of Eos 4 Tidehollow Sculler Spells (17) 2 Fatal Push 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Path to Exile 2 Temur Battle Rage 2 Unearth 1 Dismember 4 Thoughtseize Artifacts (6) 4 Mishra’s Bauble 2 Nihil Spellbomb | Lands (19) 1 Swamp 3 Bloodstained Mire 4 Marsh Flats 1 Sacred Foundry 1 Plains 4 Silent Clearing 2 Godless Shrine 1 Blood Crypt 2 Arid Mesa Sideboard (15) 2 Celestial Purge 1 Wear/Tear 2 Fulminator Mage 1 Liliana of the Veil 1 Kolaghan’s Command 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 2 Plague Engineer 1 Shenanigans |
Brothers Who Bash
Now that we know what heat Pamplemousse is bringing to the table, let’s see what their challengers are bringing. Brothers Who Bash are bringing quite the assortment of top level decks in the Modern field.
Mardu Death’s Shadow
Mardu Death’s Shadow is a pretty stock list being played here but I believe if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Death’s Shadow took down GP Birmingham and also various MCQ’s over the last few weekends. The decks popularity is rising due to it being able to deal with the Hogaak deck fairly well.
Modern Mardu Death's Shadow
| Creatures (18) 4 Death’s Shadow 4 Ranger-Captain of Eos 1 Gurmag Angler 1 Hex Parasite 4 Tidehollow Sculler 4 Street Wraith Spells (17) 3 Fatal Push 2 Temur Battle Rage 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Path to Exile 4 Thoughtseize 2 Unearth Artifacts (6) 2 Nihil Spellbomb 4 Mishra’s Bauble | Lands (19) 4 Silent Clearing 3 Marsh Flats 2 Arid Mesa 1 Blood Crypt 2 Godless Shrine 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Plains 1 Swamp Sideboard (15) 1 Shenanigans 2 Plague Engineer 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Kolaghan’s Command 1 Wear 2 Celestial Purge 2 Fulminator Mage 4 Leyline of the Void |
Urza Thopter Sword
Urza Thopter Sword has been a mainstay in Modern since Modern Horizons came out. This deck is really resilient as it has multiple ways to tutor the deck for silver bullets which is also good against a wide range of decks in the format. For example, this Urza deck has Grafdigger’s Cage to search for against Hogaak. I think this deck is very good and excited to see someone like BBD whose played a bunch of KCI and Lantern Control decks in the past.
Modern Urza Thopter Sword
| Creatures (7) 3 Goblin Engineer 4 Urza, Lord High Artificer Spells (3) 2 Whir of Invention 1 Galvanic Blast Artifacts (30) 4 Arcum’s Astrolabe 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Ichor Wellspring 4 Mox Opal 1 Nihil Spellbomb 4 Thopter Foundry 2 Sword of the Meek 3 Chromatic Star 4 Mishra’s Bauble 1 Pithing Needle 1 Pyrite Spellbomb 2 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Mind Stone Planeswalkers (1) 1 Teferi, Time Raveler | Lands (19) 1 Inventors’ Fair 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Steam Vents 1 Watery Grave 4 Polluted Delta 5 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Swamp 1 Snow-Covered Mountain Sideboard (15) 2 Plague Engineer 2 Fatal Push 3 Ceremonious Rejection 2 Wear/Tear 2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas 2 Thoughtseize 1 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Grafdigger’s Cage |
Tron
Tron is one of Modern’s classic decks. Looking at what Pamplemousse is bringing to the table—a bunch of midrange decks—Tron is actually a great choice. This version is close to the MC winning list in Barcelona instead of playing Karn, Great Creator and having a wish board.
Modern Tron
| Creatures (9) 3 Walking Ballista 4 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Spells (9) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 All Is Dust Artifacts (17) 3 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 3 Oblivion Stone 3 Relic of Progenitus Planeswalkers (6) 4 Karn Liberated 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon | Lands (19) 1 Blast Zone 5 Forest 1 Sanctum of Ugin 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower Sideboard (15) 2 Dismember 1 Emrakul, the Promised End 2 Leyline of the Void 2 Nature’s Claim 2 Spatial Contortion 3 Thragtusk 2 Veil of Summer 1 Warping Wail |
Hogaak
You can’t register for a Modern event without considering to play Hogaak and Brothers Who Bash went with the clear choice of playing Hogaak. Nothing out of the ordinary here out in this list and it is still very good.
Modern Hogaak
| Creatures (32) 4 Bloodghast 4 Carrion Feeder 1 Cryptbreaker 1 Dryad Arbor 4 Gravecrawler 4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis 2 Lotleth Troll 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Vengevine Spells (7) 2 Assassin’s Trophy 4 Faithless Looting 1 Fatal Push Artifacts (2) 2 Shriekhorn | Lands (19) 2 Blood Crypt 2 Bloodstained Mire 3 Overgrown Tomb 3 Polluted Delta 2 Swamp 4 Verdant Catacombs 3 Wooded Foothills Sideboard (15) 1 Collective Brutality 2 Fatal Push 3 Force of Vigor 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Nature’s Claim 3 Thoughtseize |
Hardened Scales
The last deck from Brothers Who Bash is Hardened Scales. This deck was given some life at MC Barcelona when one copy made the Top 8. I am not surprised that Brother’s Who Bash is choosing to register this Ancient Stirrings deck for this week’s semi-final event. Curious to see how they battle through the trenches with Hardened Scales against a field of midrange decks.
Modern Hardened Scales
| Creatures (18) 4 Arcbound Ravager 4 Arcbound Worker 4 Hangarback Walker 2 Metallic Mimic 4 Walking Ballista Spells (4) 4 Ancient Stirrings Artifacts (13) 3 Animation Module 4 Mox Opal 2 Throne of Geth 4 Welding Jar Enchantments (5) 1 Evolutionary Leap 4 Hardened Scales | Lands (20) 1 Blinkmoth Nexus 4 Darksteel Citadel 7 Forest 4 Inkmoth Nexus 2 Llanowar Reborn 1 Pendelhaven 1 Phyrexia’s Core Sideboard (15) 3 Damping Sphere 3 Dismember 4 Grafdigger’s Cage 4 Nature’s Claim 1 Torpor Orb |
Schedule
Come join us at 9 PM Eastern at twitch.tv/magic to see who will advance to the finals to battle against Mage Market!
Match 1: Logan Nettles (Jund) vs. Corey Baumeister (Tron)
Match 2: Gabriel Nassif (Eldrazi Tron) vs. Seth Manfield (Mardu Shadow)
Match 3: Reid Duke (Hogaak) vs. Brad Nelson (Hardened Scales)
Match 4: Logan Nettles (Mardu Shadow) vs. Seth Manfield (Urza Sword)
Match 5 (if necessary): Reid Duke (Mono-Red Phoenix) vs. Corey Baumeister (Hogaak)
Match 6 (if necessary): Gabriel Nassif (Mono-Red Phoenix) vs. Brad Nelson (Hardened Scales)
Match 7 (if necessary): Reid Duke (Hogaak) vs. Seth Manfield (Urza Sword)