Happy Valentine’s Day, Nexus readers! While I know this holiday can be a controversial one, today I’ll invite you to set aside your differences (or crippling loneliness, or whatever) and join me in celebrating the strong bonds between some of the most eligible decks of the year. As Modern again finds its footing, the format is playing home to a myriad of novel strategies and neat twists on old favorites. Behold, the betrothed!
Does Every Rose Have Its Thorn?
Bant Stoneblade is one of the unlikely winners after Modern’s recent shakeups, its niche opened up now that Simic Urza no longer executes its overarching midrange gameplan more effectively and reliably.
Bant Stoneblade, SWARM_OF_MATS (4-1, Modern Preliminary #12081600)
| Creatures (11) 4 Ice-Fang Coatl 2 Snapcaster Mage 4 Stoneforge Mystic 1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Planeswalkers (5) 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 2 Teferi, Time Raveler Artifacts (6) 4 Arcum’s Astrolabe 1 Batterskull 1 Sword of Feast and Famine Instants (13) 1 Archmage’s Charm 2 Cryptic Command 3 Force of Negation 2 Mana Leak 4 Path to Exile 1 Spell Snare Sorceries (2) 2 Supreme Verdict Lands (23) 1 Breeding Pool 3 Field of Ruin 4 Flooded Strand 1 Hallowed Fountain 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Mystic Sanctuary 1 Snow-Covered Forest 4 Snow-Covered Island 2 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Steam Vents 1 Temple Garden | Sideboard (15) 2 Ashiok, Dream Render 2 Blood Moon 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Kor Firewalker 1 Mystical Dispute 2 Rest in Peace 2 Timely Reinforcements 2 Veil of Summer | |
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This build seems to be where most players are settling, with namesake Stoneforge Mystic the proverbial “thorn” in an otherwise unremarkable Bant midrange deck. Ice-Fang Coatl is a flexible role-player enabled by Arcum’s Astrolabe, able to trade with menacing threats while cantripping or just carry a Sword to victory itself. And since Astrolabe makes the mana so good, palpitation-inducing packages like Blood Moon are available from the sideboard.
Bant Bladeless, SOULSTRONG (3-2, Modern Preliminary #12081619)
| Creatures (9) 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 4 Ice-Fang Coatl 2 Snapcaster Mage Planeswalkers (5) 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 2 Teferi, Time Raveler Artifacts (4) 4 Arcum’s Astrolabe Instants (15) 2 Cryptic Command 3 Force of Negation 3 Mana Leak 3 Opt 4 Path to Exile Sorceries (3) 2 Supreme Verdict 1 Timely Reinforcements Lands (24) 2 Breeding Pool 3 Field of Ruin 4 Flooded Strand 1 Hallowed Fountain 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Mystic Sanctuary 1 Snow-Covered Forest 5 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Steam Vents 1 Temple Garden | Sideboard (15) 1 Timely Reinforcements 2 Ashiok, Dream Render 2 Blood Moon 1 Celestial Purge 2 Disdainful Stroke 1 Kor Firewalker 1 Mystical Dispute 2 Rest in Peace 2 Veil of Summer 1 Wrath of God | |
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And here’s the same deck, minus the Stoneforge! SOULSTRONG told himself the Ice-Fangs and Astrolabes were great, but was less impressed by the deck’s corest component. So in come extra copies of Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath. 6/6 is no joke in Modern, and plenty of decks this month have discovered that the slightly overpriced front-side of this Titan is well worth the Big Late-Game Energy it furnishes down the road. We haven’t seen the last of this primordial cupid….
Confection Collection
Collected Company has long been paired with another instant or sorcery in a deck otherwise stocked full of creatures—Chord of Calling, Eldritch Evolution, and others have all seen their day. As players’ love for the four-drop seems to know no bounds, today we’ll welcome a couple of its newer mistresses into the fold.
Once Collected, XAKX47X (3-2, Modern Preliminary #12081600)
Once Collected, Forever Protected, as the saying goes. XAKX47X took this just-invented expression to heart, complimenting his trusty set of Companies with the cantrip that’s got every faithful Modern die-hard gazing after it longingly as the dallying dude from that meme, including yours truly. Once ensures early-game curves loaded up with the right mix of mana dorks and payoffs, a balance now supremely tweak-able depending on the opponent—in postboard games against Jund, for instance, pilots can dig for extra dorks to replace the first one, which is almost certainly dead on arrival, or just Giver of Runes, a one-mana handful for any spot-removal deck.
Collected Blink, ANTOINE57437 (1st, Modern Challenge #ANTOINE57437)
Modern Challenge winner ANTOINE57437 skipped over Once in favor of Ephemerate in Collected Blink. Well, not entirely; the card may well be too good not to include, as evinced by the single copy that did make the cut! More of a Blink deck that splashes Company, Collected Blink features the usual Blink suspects, including the Wasteland Strangler and Tidehollow Sculler package and a staple, recurring Black Lotus effect in Aether Vial. Even when it’s scooping up the deck’s one- and two-drops, Collected Company finds plenty of high-value targets in this build, including hosers like Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Gaddock Teeg after siding.
Flirting With Death
It wouldn’t be a Modern Brew Report without a couple of graveyard decks, and February is certainly delivering on that front.
Hollow Ox, KANM_H (5-0)
| Creatures (23) 4 Flameblade Adept 4 Flamewake Phoenix 1 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Hollow One 3 Ox of Agonas 3 Runaway Steam-Kin 4 Street Wraith Enchantments (3) 3 Underworld Breach Instants (4) 4 Lightning Bolt Sorceries (11) 4 Burning Inquiry 3 Cathartic Reunion 4 Goblin Lore Lands (19) 4 Forgotten Cave 13 Mountain 2 Snow-Covered Mountain | Sideboard (15) 1 Anger of the Gods 3 Blood Moon 3 Dragon’s Claw 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Rampaging Ferocidon 2 Shattering Spree | |
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Faithless Looting may be gone, but Hollow Ox has a plan regarding how to revitalize the neutered Hollow Phoenix decks of old. First up is Ox of Agonas, replacing Bedlam Reveler as a restocking top-end threat; Ox cares not for the type of card in the graveyard, rewarding “bad” Burning Inquiry loots and turning the card into a velocity granter extraordinaire. It’s also exactly the card pilots want in the graveyard, since that’s where it can be cast from for escape.
Fueling Ox best is Underworld Breach, a Yawgmoth’s Will of sorts for the deck’s draw power. Topdecking Breach in the mid-game lets pilots recast their Inquiries and Reunions at will, helping locate and bin Ox only to drop it in play for even more card advantage. Rampaging Ferocidon from the sideboard joins Flameblade Adept and Runaway Steam-Kin as plans that persevere in sickness, health, and through Rest in Peace.
Assault Loam, LANTEROR (28th, Modern Challenge #12086268)
| Creatures (7) 4 Elvish Reclaimer 3 Simian Spirit Guide Planeswalkers (4) 4 Wrenn and Six Artifacts (4) 4 Ensnaring Bridge Enchantments (5) 1 Molten Vortex 4 Seismic Assault Instants (4) 2 Abrade 2 Magmatic Sinkhole Sorceries (6) 3 Anger of the Gods 3 Life from the Loam Lands (30) 4 Arid Mesa 1 Blast Zone 2 Field of Ruin 1 Field of the Dead 1 Forest 4 Forgotten Cave 1 Ghost Quarter 6 Mountain 1 Sheltered Thicket 1 Snow-Covered Forest 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 3 Stomping Ground 4 Wooded Foothills | Sideboard (15) 1 Magmatic Sinkhole 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno 3 Collector Ouphe 2 Force of Vigor 3 Ravenous Trap 1 Sorcerous Spyglass 3 Tireless Tracker | |
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Then there’s this unique take on Assault Loam, which seems cognizant of the deck’s positioning as a tad too slow to play the game it wants to in Modern. The solution? A playset of Ensnaring Bridge to slow down those faster aggro-combo strategies if not beat them outright. Sped into via Simian Spirit Guide, Bridge can stop assaults in their tracks as early as turn two. Wrenn and Six and Elvish Reclaimer are on-theme Plan B’s should opponents find ways of quelling the Assault-Loam strategy, such as with Surgical Extraction; Tireless Tracker and Chandra, Awakened Inferno also make appearances as totally new angles of attack.
The Fairly Odd Couple
The next two decks share only their quirkiness, which us high school graduates know can be more than enough to excuse a courtship.
Spark Double Skred, CHERRYXMAN (5-0)
| Creatures (14) 4 Spark Double 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Ice-Fang Coatl 2 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Planeswalkers (7) 4 Garruk Relentless 3 Wrenn and Six Artifacts (4) 4 Arcum’s Astrolabe Enchantments (2) 2 Blood Moon Instants (12) 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Once Upon a Time 1 Shadow of Doubt 4 Skred Sorceries (1) 1 Repudiate // Replicate Lands (20) 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Prismatic Vista 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Snow-Covered Forest 2 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 3 Wooded Foothills | Sideboard (15) 1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 2 Blood Moon 4 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Spell Snare 3 Tireless Tracker 3 Veil of Summer 1 Weather the Storm | |
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It may cost twice as much as Phantasmal Image, but Spark Double has the benefit of being able to copy planeswalkers and get around the legend rule. Although this nuance has never led to its play before, Spark Double Skred makes great use of the four-drop by flexing just how impactful it can be to have two of the same planeswalker on board ticking up or down with shared goals. Once the mana’s online, it can’t even be so bad to copy the lowly Ice-Fang Coatl, which nonetheless cantrips and leaves behind a deathly blocker for our trouble, or just fat-ass Tarmogoyf, who appears to be experiencing a resurgence this month with all the wonky card types running around.
Similarly, Tireless Tracker appears ever-popular as a boarded Plan B these days, with Veil of Summer also claiming hella spots across the board as an all-purpose answer to “your stuff” in the majority of interactive matchups.
Lazav Titans, LANNYNYNY (5-0)
| Creatures (10) 4 Lazav, the Multifarious 4 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger 2 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Planeswalkers (2) 2 Liliana of the Veil Artifacts (4) 4 Arcum’s Astrolabe Instants (16) 4 Once Upon a Time 1 Assassin’s Trophy 4 Fatal Push 1 Kolaghan’s Command 2 Stubborn Denial 4 Thought Scour Sorceries (6) 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 3 Thoughtseize Lands (22) 1 Blood Crypt 2 Overgrown Tomb 4 Polluted Delta 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Snow-Covered Forest 1 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Snow-Covered Swamp 1 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 2 Verdant Catacombs 2 Watery Grave 3 Wooded Foothills | Sideboard (15) 1 Stubborn Denial 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Ashiok, Dream Render 1 Damping Sphere 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Lightning Axe 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Unmoored Ego 2 Veil of Summer | |
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I told you we hadn’t seen the last of Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath! Both these decks run it, but neither as deliberately as Lazav Titans, whose creature suite paints a plain picture of its devious aspirations: front-end or otherwise put a Titan into the graveyard (such as with Scour, Liliana, or Lazav’s random mill), then copy it for its “cheating” price with Lazav, the Multifarious. Once Lazav is big and strong, Stubborn Denial can protect it from removal as it lays the smack down, Project Pat voice.
There’s no way to start any fairytale romance like Once Upon a Time, which naturally slots in here as a way to find Lazav or one of its Titan role models and set up the gameplan quickly. In the meantime, though, Jund’s classic discard suite of 3 Inquisition, 3 Thoughtseize, coupled with a full 4 Fatal Push, should keep enemies at bay.
Valentine’s is often a snowy holiday here in Montreal; Lazav Titan is ready for summer, though, running not a single snow synergy to go along with Arcum’s Astrolabe. Rather, the egg earns its place purely based on its color-converting capabilities, which speaks to how incredibly strong it is even as a mana filter. And in the sideboard, again with the Tracker-Veil-Moon package! Blood Moon seems mostly employed right now as a way to mess with Amulet Titan, even by color-intensive decks, although as David noted earlier this week, Ashiok, Dream Render (which too makes an appearance in the sideboard) is starting to catch on as a more deliberate Primeval Titan answer.
My Heart Still Beats On
Modern’s future has been uncertain as of late, with many potential threats to its continued existence causing players to question the format’s long-term viability. But if these lists are any indication, its pulse remains Kimye-strong. Tune in soon to find out what else won my affection this month!
Jordan is the copy and content editor at Modern Nexus. He has played Magic since 2003, and Modern since its inception. Jordan favors card efficiency over raw power and specializes in disruptive aggro strategies. He always brings tuned brews to events.
I love how Arcum’s Astrolabe has just thrown the color pie out the window. Looking at the first two Bant decks, we have decks that have GGUU, 1UUU, and 1WWU costed 4-drops in Uro, Cryptic, and Verdict. Yet *somehow* this deck is cool with running Blood Moon in the side. Like, not only is Blood Moon not the sort of card that most decks should be able to run as their only red card, but this sort of heavy color-intensive Bant deck should be one of the decks that tends to *scoop* to Blood Moon.
In fairness, Modern’s never had the best color discipline enforcement in it’s lifetime. I remember Grixis Control trying to make Cryptic Command, Liliana of the Veil, and Anger of the Gods live together happily, never mind the shenanigan’s that went down while Deathrite Shaman was legal.
I think that Blood Moon is generally underplayed because a lot of manabases were already exceptionally greedy. It’s just taken until recently for the scope of that greed to become evident.
I love that too! Interesting also that Moon is being so played despite many decks having a) snow basics to fetch and b) Astrolabes of their own. It’s no longer used to hose greedy-mana “balance” decks, as those are the ones that now pack Moon as a plan; rather, it’s for the combo decks that can’t run Moon because they lack the economy for Astrolabe or need their lands to go off.
Jordan, have you seen this crazy brew yet?
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-dice-factory-159162#paper
Figured you might appreciate it.
I have! Actually covered it last month: https://modernnexus.com/jan-20-brew-report-amberning-up/
Love these brew reports as usual !
You did not mention it but as far as I know, the primary goal of Underworld Breach in the Hollow Ox deck is to cast multiple Hollow One from grave for 0 mana.
I started with that thought, but after reading both cards, I wasn’t so sure it worked that way. But I guess if Snapcaster works with Delve… that’s pretty sick!