As I mentioned in my article last week, I’ve slowly started testing for the upcoming Modern Grand Prix in Antwerp. With two other Modern GPs coming up in Detroit and Brisbane, I figured there are more than a few people interested in a bit of quality time with the Modern format.

Last week, I looked at some of the predominately blue/red decks I am considering playing at the GP, and this week, we’ll take a look at the green contenders: Pod (Melira or Kiki), [card]Scapeshift[/card], Tron, and the deck I didn’t even mention last week: Jund, the format’s previous boogieman. In the following weeks, I’ll be looking at certain decks in more depth, so if you’d like me to test and cover your favorite, let me know in the comments.

From the land of Midrange…

Going back to Jund: how could I mention a bunch of decks that were weak to [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], without planning to at least talk about the [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] deck? Frankly, it had just slipped my mind. When I saw this list in a daily though, I almost immediately started sleeving it up for some testing:

[deck title=Jund by Smdster]
[Creatures]
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dark Confidant
4 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Olivia Voldaren
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Thoughtseize
2 Terminate
4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Maelstrom Pulse
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
1 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Woodland Cemetery
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Gutteral Response
1 Thoughtseize
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Back to Nature
1 Golgari Charm
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Spellskite
1 Dismember
2 Jund Charm
4 Rain of Tears
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

You see, they might have banned [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card], but ehm… they left all the other cards. Unlike banning a combo or centerpiece of a deck, Wizards merely weakened Jund by banning one of the many good cards Jund was playing. Fair, so now it’s weaker from being a format dominating monster. Also, did I mention it was a format dominating monster? While we lost BBE (not to be confused with pun-enthusiast BBD, he’s still around destroying [card]Orzhov Guildgate[/card]s with [card]Acidic Slime[/card]s or something to that effect), we still have [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], [card]Dark Confidant[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card], [card]Thoughtseize[/card], Lightning Bo… – before I name every card in the deck, I think you get the point. Considering we now get to play with this guy, I don’t think the deck is much worse. If there are a number of decks that are weak to good ol’ ‘goyf, why not try playing eight giant green monsters for two?

From looking at the other decks I’m considering, you can see that [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] has not been popular lately. Because of that, there are now a lot less [card]Path to Exile[/card]s and [card]Dismember[/card]s or other removal spells that outright kill [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] in maindecks. Sure, [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] and [card]Spell Snare[/card] are fairly widely played, but we have so many targets for those cards that they will be overworked. This Friday, I’ll be attending a small Modern tournament, and I’ll be sure to report back if [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] is still the [card]Lhurgoyf[/card] for the job.

Things I want to try: mostly increase or decrease the numbers on sideboard cards. I generally like a bunch of one-ofs, but I’m not sure it’s worth it in a deck without a ton of card draw.

… to Midrange-combo …

Let’s start this section off with the deck that won the most recent larger tournaments:

[deck title=Melira Pod by Jay Lansdaal]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Viscera Seer
1 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wall of Roots
1 Eternal Witness
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Sin Collector
2 Murderous Redcap
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Restoration Angel
1 Reveillark
1 Shriekmaw
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Thoughtseize
1 Blasting Station
4 Birthing Pod
2 Chord of Calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Forest
2 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Marsh Flats
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Dismember
1 Harmonic Sliver
2 Lingering Souls
1 Sin Collector
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Shriekmaw
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This list is kind of a mix between Andrew Cuneo’s list and the list Bing Luke won the most recent MOCS with. Some form of this deck is probably the number one target for most people to test against.

This deck is probably most famous for its “infinite life/damage” combo, but mainly it’s just a midrange deck that beat down with mediocre creatures that happen to disrupt your opponent. Once you have a [card]Birthing Pod[/card], your deck kicks into overdrive, finding whatever piece of disruption you need, or just downright killing your opponent by comboing out. For those that don’t know what that means, you find a repeatable sacrifice outlet ([card]Viscera Seer[/card], [card]Cartel Aristocrat[/card] or [card]Blasting Station[/card]), a persist creature ([card]Kitchen Finks[/card] or [card]Murderous Redcap[/card]) and a [card]Melira, Sylvok Outcast[/card]. Then, you sacrifice your persist creature, which will come back, but thanks to Melira, without the -1/-1 creature. You also gained two life or dealt two damage. Let’s repeat that process a few more times, shall we?

Things I want to try in this list include a bunch of sideboard options, and messing around with the one-ofs in the main. I’ll have to test a bunch before I understand what I need first though.

The other, nowadays less popular [card]Birthing Pod[/card] deck is this one:

[deck title=Kiki Pod by Ari Lax]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
1 Tarmogoyf
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wall of Roots
2 Deceiver Exarch
1 Izzet Staticaster
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Restoration Angel
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Zealous Conscripts
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Domri Rade
4 Birthing Pod
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Arid Mesa
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
2 Rugged Praerie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Path to Exile
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Negate
2 Tarmogoyf
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Chalice of the Void
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This deck is a little further down the combo slope than Melira Pod. Once this deck has a [card]Birthing Pod[/card] out, it aims to kill, not to get into a favorable board position. There is little interaction outside of the silver bullets (which the deck is chock-full of), as the deck needs as much creatures as possible to satisfy Domri’s needs. He might be a small man, but his demands are pretty big.

What I like about this version by Ari Lax is that it has what it needs to combo off, and not much more. It does have the backup plan of being an awkward beatdown deck, but that is sort of circumstantial. What’s not there by chance, though, is the [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]. ‘Goyf is there to tango with other [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s, which the deck otherwise has issues getting through. The fact there are two more in the sideboard means to me that Lax thinks they aren’t good enough in this deck in general, but they are in specific matchups. With only creatures, two planeswalkers, four artifacts and lands, this deck often only grows the ‘Goyf to 2/3 or so – which is not going to cut it. Against decks that grow the ‘Goyf for you, though, it’s a house.

As for that combo I was talking about, this deck aims to get a Kiki-jiki in play, with a [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card] , [card]Restoration Angel[/card], or [card]Zealous Conscripts[/card] to untap the Kiki-Jiki when the token comes into play. Use Kiki-Jiki to create a large amount of creatures, and run over your opponent.

Things I want to try are the same things I want to try in the Melira Pod deck: different one-ofs main, mess around with the sideboard, etc., but only if I have done some extensive testing first.

Next up,

… to Combo-land

Well, combo… Maybe “ramp” is a better denominator? The idea is to ramp up to a lot of mana, and finish with a big spell, either immediately ([card]Scapeshift[/card]) or shortly after ([card]Karn Liberated[/card] out of GR Tron). Let’s start with the more “normal” one of the two: [card]Scapeshift[/card].

[deck title=Scapeshift by Jay Lansdaal]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura Tribe-Elder
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Farseek
4 Izzet Charm
1 Khalni-Heart Expedition
2 Prismatic Omen
3 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
6 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Back to Nature
1 Combust
2 Spellskite
2 Vexing Shusher
2 Counterflux
3 Obstinate Baloth
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

There are various builds of [card]Scapeshift[/card] out there, but they’re all Green-Red-Blue, where the emphasis or lack of emphasis on blue is the main distinguishing feature. Some of the lists are all in on finding and resolving the deck’s namesake card, using [card]Peer Through Depths[/card], [card]Serum Visions[/card] and [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]s to find it, and [card]Cryptic Command[/card]s and other counters to buy time and resolve it. This version of the deck is more of a control deck than the above list, in which you’ll rarely ever be able to cast a [card]Cryptic Command[/card]. The list I’m considering is based off of a [card]Scapeshift[/card] list Paul Rietzl was messing around with a while back. I liked it back then, and kept it up to date whenever I was playing Modern.

What I like about the deck is a feeling of inevitability. Against most opponents, the longer the game goes the more likely you are to win. At the same time, the deck can kill someone on turn four. The deck is consistent and fairly flexible. With just about all four-ofs and eight cards that can search up a Valakut, the deck will rarely ever “fizzle”, unless you are completely careless with your mountains.

The win condition ([card]Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle[/card]) is also surprisingly flexible. You don’t have to one-shot your opponent (although if you can, feel free) as you can also use Valakut triggers to kill creatures to set up for a better turn later, or to get your Titan through for some extra points.

All in all, [card]Scapeshift[/card] feels like a solid deck with play against almost everything. It’s a bit weak to faster decks, hence the sideboard and the maindeck [card]Pyroclasm[/card]s.

Things I want to try include [card]Muddle the Mixture[/card] and more [card]Prismatic Omen[/card]s.

The other ramp deck I’m considering might be too close to non-interactive for my likes, but it is definitely powerful:

[deck title=GRb Tron by Ari Lax]
[Creatures]
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Expedition Map
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Pyroclasm
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Oblivion Stone
4 Karn Liberated
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Llanowar Wastes
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Combust
2 Spellskite
2 Torpor Orb
1 Firespout
3 Slaughter Games
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

For those of you that don’t know how this deck functions: this deck is built around the “Urza’s lands”. Put the right three together, and you have seven mana at your disposal: also known as Karn or Wurmcoil mana. To get the puzzle solved as quickly as possible, the deck plays eight cards that search for specific lands ([card]Expedition Map[/card], [card]Sylvan Scrying[/card]) and a whopping twelve colorless cantrips (to be cast off of Urza lands). The rest of the deck is basically disruption or win conditions.

Ari Lax played the above list in an SCG video recently, and there are more people that I respect that consider this a very good deck. I mean, I think we all understand a turn 3 Karn is nothing to scoff at. It doesn’t immediately win though, and previous experiences with this deck have led me to believe that at times it’s short on threats if your opponent is playing the right answers. You would say that [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] is often even bigger than [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] and thus should be harder to kill, but with [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] in everyone’s sideboard for the Affinity matchup, this might not always be the case. I would probably switch the [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] in the sideboard with the 4th [card]Oblivion Stone[/card] in the maindeck, just to have more “action”.

Another risk I see with Tron is that you sometimes get hit by “Splash hate” for [card]Scapeshift[/card] and Affinity. Admittedly, these hate cards (like [card]Shadow of Doubt[/card] and [card]Ancient Grudge[/card]) are not always as good against you as they are against the decks they are meant for, but they are being played on top of specific hate for your deck: [card]Blood Moon[/card], [card]Sowing Salt[/card], [card]Molten Rain[/card], [card]Fulminator Mage[/card], [card]Spreading Seas[/card], etc. If your opponents decided they did not want you to cast a lot of [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card]s the day you picked this deck for a tournament… you are in for a bumpy ride.

Things I would like to try in this deck include the fourth [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] main, or other winconditions like [card]Sundering Titan[/card].

Did I miss anything?

That was the overview of decks I’m considering to play. If you have any suggestions on which decks I have to look at, please let me know, but keep in mind I’m not generally fond of linear aggro decks like Affinity (I’m not saying it’s bad – I just don’t enjoy playing it) nor will I be likely to play intricate combo decks. I’ve played with Gerry Thompson’s Amulet of Vigor-Summer Bloom deck, and I left a tournament disappointed with myself, and a giant headache. I’m not planning to repeat that experience.

Join me next week for a more in depth look into some of the decks I talked about.

Jay Lansdaal
iLansdaal on Twitter and MTGO