Fresh off my Top 16 at Mythic Championship Barcelona, I’m here to tell you how to win in this crazy format.
Good friends of mine like 40-card Ben Friedman are often posting on Twitter about how this format is all luck dependent and they are don’t enjoy it very much. To me you just need to find the right deck that fits in your niche and master it — that’s the key. Whether you are into control, aggro or combo I am here today to give you a Tier 1 option that can be customized to win almost any matchup.
Let’s start off with those of you who love control strategies. One of my besties, Shaheen Soorani, has been playing Esper or Azorious for the better part of a decade. To top it off he won the recent Team Trios Open in Philadelphia with his latest iteration of Azorius Control which he then piloted again in Barcelona:
[Deck Title= Azorius Control – Team Face to Face Games]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Detention Sphere
3 Cryptic Command
2 Force of Negation
1 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
4 Opt
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Oust
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Celestial Colonnade
4 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Prismatic Vista
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
2 Celestial Purge
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dovin’s Veto
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wrath of God
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Now much of Shaheen’s list has become fairly stock, utilizing some newer cards in [Card]Dovin’s Veto[/Card], [Card]Prismatic Vista[/Card], [Card]Narset, Parter of Veils[/Card] and [Card]Teferi, Time Raveler[/Card]. His real spice lies in the sideboard [Card]Geist of Saint Traft[/Card]s and the addition of the fourth [Card]Wrath of God[/Card] effect. These slots are usually occupied by [Card]Baneslayer Angel[/Card] and some other utility cards. I like that these changes give the deck an alternative route to victory, which of course gives you an edge when it comes time to sideboard.
In contrast to Shaheen’s deck there’s also another way to take this archetype in deckbuilding — a small snow theme. Mostly for [Card]On Thin Ice[/Card] which improves the decks removal spells in the early game, but Astrolabe also helps reduce the effect of [Card]Blood Moon[/Card], casting [Card]Cryptic Command[/Card] becomes smoother with all the [Card]Field of Ruin[/Card]’s in the deck and nicely smooths out your early draws. Which version is better I can’t say for certain, but if you haven’t tried them both to find out you probably should before playing in a big event.
Shaheen didn’t do so hot with a 2-3 record in Constructed on Day 1 in Barcelona, but many players utilized alternative strategies to some success. Players like Guillaume Wafo-Tapa were in Top 8 contention even going into the last two rounds of the tournament. Wafo utilized Esper and mixed in some of the new cards like [Card]Kaya’s Guile[/Card] for an extra avenue of combatting the graveyard-based format known as Modern.
Now if you’re newer to Modern you probably shouldn’t start with a control deck. I would be more inclined to refer you to a more aggressive strategy. To be honest in a lot of ways that’s what this format is all about. One of the decks that’s come a long way with all the new additions to Modern is Goblins. You heard me right, these little guys are back on the menu and they’re not very nice. When Goblin’s stormed onto the scene with Modern Horizons they were crushing the MTGO leagues early on, now while that may have slowed down a bit with the format adjusting. They are still primed to be an excellent choice in most metagames.
[Deck Title= Goblins]
[Creatures]
3 Frogtosser Banneret
1 Goblin Cratermaker
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Legion Loyalist
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Munitions Expert
1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Alpine Moon
2 Collective Brutality
1 Earwig Squad
3 Fatal Push
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Goblin Trashmaster
4 Leyline of the Void
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Above you’ll see the latest 5-0 the deck has put up online, but it’s definitely a non-traditional build for the new goblin menace. This list doesn’t play [Card]Aether Vial[/Card]! Instead it opts to attack fast, get card advantage, and tear apart it’s opponent’s hand with Inquisition and [Card]Thoughtseize[/Card]. If you’re going to pick up this deck beware [Card]Plague Engineer[/Card] post-board, it’s important to position yourself with the ability to reduce the number of x-1 creatures you have in your deck. Don’t cut the Leylines unless you want to be a dog to Hogaak. Me personally I prefer [Card]Aether Vial[/Card], but make sure you test out both versions again to find the right build for you.
[Deck Title= Goblins]
[Creatures]
1 Earwig Squad
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
2 Goblin Chieftain
1 Goblin Cratermaker
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Trashmaster
3 Goblin Warchief
3 Mogg War Marshal
3 Munitions Expert
2 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
4 Warren Instigator
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Pashalik Mons
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
1 Tarfire
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Auntie’s Hovel
3 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Sunbaked Canyon
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Damping Sphere
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Arms Dealer
1 Goblin Cratermaker
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Goblin Trashmaster
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Thoughtseize
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Jim Davis was in our testing crew and immediately jumped on the back of the deck early on. Unfortunately, they let him down against the Hogaak (soon to be banned) menace. This deck did prove to be quite powerful, but loses to much in the graveyard dimension we find ourselves in when playing this format. Excellent choice for a post-Hogaak apocalypse however, so pickup your cards and get ready for this deck to rise!
Lastly, we get to my favorite archetype… Combo!!! And the deck that I ultimately decidedc on for the Pro Tour. Hopefully you’ve been watching my stream at Twitch.tv/EliKassis. If so, you have probably seen me piloting 5-Color Urza Snow. The pieces involved include [Card]Thopter Foundry[/Card], [Card]Sword of the Meek[/Card] and [Card]Urza, Lord High Artificer[/Card]. These cards combine to give you infinite life, infinite Thopters and infinite blue mana.
[Deck Title= 5C Urza Sword – Eli Kassis]
[Creatures]
4 Urza, Lord High Artificer
4 Goblin Engineer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Whir of Invention
1 Fatal Push
1 Galvanic Blast
4 Thopter Foundry
4 Arcum’s Astrolabe
4 Chromatic Star
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Ichor Wellspring
4 Mishra’s Bauble
4 Mox Opal
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Sword of the Meek
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Breeding Pool
1 Inventors’ Fair
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Spire of Industry
1 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Duress
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Plague Engineer
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Thoughtseize
2 Weather the Storm
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
I made a lot of changes to the stock lists I saw running around before Barcelona. Most notably I added green to the manabase for more versatile answers, and I think that should be the standard moving forward. Splashing in this deck is so trivial due to the colour-fixing artifacts that you already want to play, that having access to something like [Card]Assassin’s Trophy[/Card] is a huge upgrade in my opinion.
The sideboard answers for [Card]Leyline of the Void[/Card], [Card]Stony Silence[/Card], [Card]Rest in Peace[/Card] and other permanent-based hate is one of the reason I prefer this splashy version of the deck. In addition to it being a powerful deck, it has a lot of resilience and gets to play hate pieces that can trump other decks in Game 1, catching them unprepared. It’s pretty hard to understate how powerful that is in a format as diverse as Modern.
This deck has a decent Game 1 against the Hogaak menace and a very close to 50% matchup post-board, usually resulting in 2-1 wins. It is very hard to boast that with any other top tier deck, which is part of the reason I’m so high on Urza. Azorious Control and Eldrazi Tron are your tougher matchups, but those are both winnable and much better with the green splash. The burn decks are perhaps the deck that gives this deck the most trouble so if you’re local metagame is packing [Card]Lava Spike[/Card]s you’ll probably want to stay clear.
The first thing I did after the tournament was revise the deck I played of course. If we stop learning then we are doomed in this game.
[Deck Title= 5C Urza Sword]
[Creatures]
4 Urza, Lord High Artificer
3 Goblin Engineer
2 Bazaar Trademage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Arcum’s Astrolabe
4 Mox Opal
4 Mishra’s Bauble
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Chromatic Star
2 Whir of Invention
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Galvanic Blast
1 Fatal Push
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Spire of Industry
1 Inventors’ Fair
1 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
4 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Thoughtseize
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Plague Engineer
1 Pithing Needle
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Damping Sphere
2 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Another option we have is green leaving and white returning. This allows [Card]Thopter Foundry[/Card] to be cast a little easier, we get to play baby Teferi again, and Wear // Tear continues to be a powerhouse that doesn’t advance our opponents mana like [Card]Assassin’s Trophy[/Card] would. With white you’d still be enacting the gameplan I had at the PT of emphasizing the ability to interact with hate, but just taking a different approach.
In the sideboard I have never liked [Card]Sai, Master Thopterist[/Card]. But, I do think I stumbled onto what should be in that slot after also disliking [Card]Monastery Mentor[/Card] — [Card]Bazaar Trademage[/Card] He actually does quite a bit between blocking, sifting, and pressuring Karn.
If you tune in to my stream on Tuesday night (July 30th), you’ll get a viewing of my Azorious Urza Snow build as well. It’s sleaker, leaner and ready to rumble with a few new pieces of tech. If you want the list you’ll have to tune in however and afterwards you can of course reach out to me for it as well. I appreciate you all tuning in, feel free to leave feedback, suggestions, or just general tomfoolery and we can have a pleasant conversation anytime!