TappedOut's Fourth Modern Moot

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ChiefBell

14 July 2016

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TappedOut’s Fourth Modern Moot

The Fourth Modern Moot

Modern moot is an article series about modern decks, written to appeal both to those who enjoy playing Magic, and those who enjoy talking about the game. A moot is a word from old or middle English that refers to a meeting or discussion between people about a particular topic, and that is what this article series aims to recreate. Consider these write-ups as casual discussions about decks in the Modern format.

Normally I focus specifically on one single deck archetype and analyze it. This time however I thought I would take a peek at the latest Eldritch Moon spoilers and discuss whether I see any modern potential in them. I want to avoid trying to predict whether any will be specifically played because surprises always occur, and it is nigh on impossible to predict which tier 2 deck will spring up next. I am more interested in taking a look at each cards potential and discussing what could be done.

Last time I wrote a Modern Moot we discussed Oath of the Gatewatch spoilers, which you can find here here. For those of you interested in the predictions I made last time, go and give it a quick look - I feel pretty happy with it!

The Theme For Today: Spoilers

For the fourth article I wanted to discuss a few of the new cards that have been spoiled for Eldritch Moon. The whole set is out now so it is relatively easy to have a good look through and try to make some predictions about the new cards on offer and where they could, potentially fit. My aim is to foster some discussion about these spoilers, and hopefully some excitement for new modern potentials.

Warning: Spoilers Below

Eldritch Evolution

This card has been the talk of the modern town since it was spoiled. I have already done my fair share of typing on the subject but I wanted to get my thoughts down in an article.

This is a 3 mana sorcery that allows you to sacrifice a creature as a cost to search for a slightly larger creature. Fairly simple premise. Note: sacrificing the creature to Eldritch Evolution is a cost, not an effect. If the spell is countered the creature still dies. This is fairly significant because it makes it a risky play against the new Jeskai Nahiri decks. On the other hand, you cannot respond to Eldritch Evolution by killing the opposing creature, because the creature is already dead by the time you get to respond. This makes it a good play against decks like Jund.

This card is pretty obviously amazing in a whole variety of ways. So good in fact that some have even speculated on an imminent ban. It is similar to Birthing Pod, which is noteworthy because Birthing Pod itself is banned, but the acceleration Eldritch Evolution offers is faster (mana cost 2 more instead of just 1 more), however on the other hand it is not a repeatable effect. Do not be fooled; this card is not similar to Collected Company. Collected Company favours decks with cheap creatures that go wide. This card favours more midrange, value decks that contain silver bullet style cards that cost slightly more mana. Where Collected Company favours the Melira combo (Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Viscera Seer + Kitchen Finks) due to the fact that it fetches multiple creatures with a low cost, Eldritch Evolution favours the Archangel combo (Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder) due to it being less able to find multiple cards, but more able to find cards that cost a bit more mana.

There are lots of possibilities with this card, that is for sure. We have seen decks that aim to assemble Birds of Paradise and Allosaurus Rider on turn 1, then follow up with an Eldritch Evolution on turn 2 to find a Iona, Shield of Emeria. I have seen decks that attempt to cast an early threat with delve such as Hooting Mandrills or Gurmag Angler and then turn those threats into something more potent. These decks are a little slower than the supremely quick turn 2 Iona, Shield of Emeria, but can back up their strategy with Dispel. My money, personally, is on a return to midrange creature toolbox decks like Pod. You run a variety of value creatures at the two and three mana slots such as Kitchen Finks and Voice of Resurgence. You use these as sacrifice fodder to tutor up Spike Feeder + Archangel of Thune for infinite life, or more general threats such as Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Thragtusk. These decks are very solid because they function incredibly well as just your plain, old, everyday, creature goodstuff deck, but have the added kick of an accelerant and tutor to enjoy on the side.

Spell Queller

What would you say if I told you that you could counter a spell and get two power in the air, all for 3 mana? What would you say if I told you could play an aggressive game whilst also not losing out on the ability to control the board? You would probably tell me that such a thing is impossible. Spell Queller makes it a reality!

This card costs 3 mana and gives you 2 power in the air and a sort of counterspell version of Tidehollow Sculler at the same time. The value here is absurd. Normally a temporary counterspell would cost 1 to 2 mana, and 2 power in the air is typically 2 to 3 mana. Bolting both together would lead one to assume a mana cost of 4? Maybe 5? Not so in this case. The efficiency alone is enough to be interested.

The other huge upside is that this card slots into many existing decks in the metagame. Delver decks that run counterspells alongside creatures like Delver of Secrets  ^Flip have long adopted a gameplan referred to as Tempo in which the player attempts to maximise their aggression and disruption for as little mana as possible. Spell Queller lets you do both for 3 mana. Great; efficiency and speed. Jeskai Nahiri is a traditional slow control deck that uses Nahiri, the Harbinger as a win condition to fetch up Emrakul, the Aeons Torn alongside a suite of counterspells and killspells. Again, this is a deck that is very much interested in doing as much as possible whilst saving mana and card advantage so is attracted to a natural 2-for-1 offer. I am not entirely sure at this stage whether the card will make the cut or not, but it is undeniable that it has a high power level due to its sheer flexibility. It is definitely worth talking about and exploring further.

Grim Flayer

An undeniably strong addition to the BGx archetype that ticks all the correct boxes. Solid stats, cheap cost, decent ability, scales well into the late game. This card is certainly not as good as either Tarmogoyf or Dark Confidant so it might not see play in the most high budget versions but that is not to say this card is bad at all. It could even, questionably, tentatively, be tested instead of Scavenging Ooze, but shutting down Dredge, flashback cards, and delve with ScOoze is very useful and will be missed.

We should not ever underestimate the ability to manipulate what we draw, and how fast we cycle through our deck. Grim Flayer does this in the most BG way possible by allowing us to reorder the top of our deck and throw useless cards away to the graveyard. This lets us ensure that our topdecks will be potent, and it also meshes quite nicely with delve threats like Tasigur, the Golden Fang which Grim Flayer can make cheaper to cast by throwing away your cards, before Tasigur uses his ability to return some to your hand!

The lategame ability is really nice as well. BGx does not have a lot of trample at its disposal, and certainly no flying. Stalling a BGx deck out with a 1/1 token is a real possibility so cards like Siege Rhino and Grim Flayer present the opportunity to bypass the small creatures that would otherwise stop the deck for a turn or two. This is, quite obviously, a large advantage because it gives the opponent less time to find the topdeck they need.

Bedlam Reveler

Card draw in red, with prowess and a 3/4 body, for a potential 2 mana. This card is obviously exceedingly good but just has to find the right shell to slot into. It is worth noting now that his ability is not the same as delve. You do not need to exile the used cards from your graveyard, and therefore he works nicely with Snapcaster Mage and others. It also means the card works well in multiples, because each copy does not make the next harder to cast, unlike delve threats like Gurmag Angler.

Skred and All-in Delver come to mind immediately as obviously being interested in this card. Burn, Mardu Control, Grixis Control, and Jeskai Control also appear to be lingering in the background as decks that may want to see if this card can offer anything in the late game, but will not like it as much for various reasons. Essentially, Bedlam Reveler appears to be a very good fit in a deck that unloads its hand quickly and wants a potent finisher that can also ensure you have more cards to cast later. Decks that do not unload their hand quickly, or cannot stand to discard their hand may shy away from this threat but should also recognize how powerful it is and the flexibility it provides.

Red has been given a lot of goodies recently, and Bedlam Reveler is no exception. The flexibility of cards like Pia and Kiran Nalaar has been continued with another offering that seems to do a little bit of everything. There are many reasons to give it serious consideration. It costs little to cast. It draws you cards. It can get huge in a deck that casts instants and sorceries. Red in modern has definitely transitioned from a colour that was considered to only be useful in the early game to one that provides significant mid- and late-game options. Long may this continue. Offering players increased flexibility in a variety of colours should serve to expand our metagame for the better.

Thalia, Heretic Cathar

A 3 mana creature that has 3 power and first strike is already fairly good, however it is her abilities that really shine. Making nonbasic lands and creatures come into play tapped is a really potent ability in this meta that has a strong reliance on fetchland and shockland combinations in greedy 3 colour manabases. Normally Jund will consider sacrificing a fetchland to bring a shockland in untapped in order to get off early discard, Liliana of the Veil or Terminate. With Thalia, Heretic Cathar down the fetchland would come into play tapped which would cost the deck one turn, and then any shockland would come into play tapped, potentially costing it another turn. If the opponent wanted to cast a turn 3 Liliana of the Veil then they will find themselves out of luck, and if they wanted to curve that into a turn 4 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet they will be sorely disappointed. Yes, Thalia, Heretic Cathar only has 2 toughness which makes her die to just about everything in the format, but she demands an answer or forces the opponent to really lose tempo.

Hatebears is already an existing archetype that focuses on small creatures with annoying abilities such as Leonin Arbiter or Aven Mindcensor. This card provides more of the same. In fact, Hatebears will now have access to 12 cards that can be played on T2 (some requiring a manadork), that can screw around with manabases (Leonin Arbiter, Aven Mindcensor and Thalia, Heretic Cathar). The other thing worth talking about here is that in such a deck that relies heavily on creature aggression to close out a game, the fact that Thalia makes creatures enter tapped means that your opponent will be less able to play blockers on time. This is obviously disastrous for them when you can swing for large amounts of damage and there is almost nothing they can do about it.

I do realize that Thalia, Heretic Cathar dies to a lot of removal, and costs a lot of mana whilst doing it! She is a risky investment. You never want a 2, 3, or 4 mana etc., creature dying to a one mana removal spell, but I think that in this case Thalia is forgivable, in the same way that Dark Confidant is. They both suffer from incredible vulnerability, but at the same time they both offer such amazing abilities they simply must be answered or the opponent loses. In this case an exception can be made. Both creatures provide a fantastic shield to protect your others. You force the opponent to think long and hard about whether they want to answer the Dark Confidant that is drawing you into lots of goodies, or the Tarmogoyf that is whittling away their life. Here too, Thalia makes your opponent think very carefully about whether they answer her or the other creatures you have that may have a larger power and toughness. This is extremely valuable because it leads people to misplay, and part of winning a game is encouraging your opponent to misplay as often as possible.

Sigarda's Aid

This is the wildcard I have chosen. On the surface it does not appear to achieve much, but deeper down it could help a few different archetypes rise to the foreground. At face level this card allows you to cast equipment at instant speed and then attach it to a creature straight away without paying a cost. You could do this in response to a removal spell to save a creature by giving it hexproof. You could do this to start a combo in your opponents turn so that you can untap and insta-win in yours. You could play a sword that gives a creature protection in response to your opponent attacking to surprise block, or even kill, an opposing threat. What initially seemed a bit weird and janky becomes sort of interesting and potentially, really quite potent.

One of the first things that comes to mind is the fact that many of us older players know how effective the cycle of Sword of X and Y are. Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Light and Shadow etc. However, they are clunky in modern because they represent a hefty 5 mana investment before they do anything, and they die to Kolaghan's Command which is one of the most widely played spells in the format right now. The benefits of the swords are undeniable; drawing cards, pinging damage, creating tokens, reanimating creatures. But they were always just a little too slow. Speeding them up could create some kind of new archetype that really takes advantage of all the options on offer. In fact the possibility to speed up many pieces of equipment with fairly high equip costs is a potential. Options such as Behemoth Sledge, Ghostfire Blade, Godsend, and Scythe of the Wretched come to mind.

The second thing that hit me was a peculiar little deck called cheeri0s that always threatened to become popular in modern but never quite did. The deck plays Puresteel Paladin along with 0 cost artifacts (hence the name cheeri0s, because of all of the Os), in order to draw and play many artifacts and then either swing with a large Puresteel Paladin or cast Grapeshot. It suffered a fair amount from being entirely sorcery speed, and it also suffered from the fact that the paladin died to a large amount of removal. Being able to play equipment at instant speed that could potentially protect the paladin, and being able to go off at instant speed when the opponent may have tapped out, could potentially make the deck more resilient and more tricky to deal with.

This card is certainly a bit of a wild one and may not achieve anything, but it definitely has some potential. In essence it changes one of the core assumptions of equipment - that they work at sorcery speed. By altering this assumption it creates an environment where surprising and innovative plays become possible.

Outro

I am going to keep the same Outro from last time because I feel it is still apt, even now. I really like spoiler season because I tend to be somebody who gets more excited than disappointed. I stick to possibilities and future developments instead of focusing solely on where new cards do not work. I find that more conversation is stimulated if we start looking at what we can do, instead of always talking about what is not feasible. Here I hope to have highlighted some future inclusions and discussed what they can add to your decks. What I particularly like about this set, from analysing a few cards, is that there appears to be a lot of additional value here. Many of the cards have multiple interesting abilities that are usable in a variety of different situations. Flexibility: these cards are not just vanilla bodies or beaters. They give the player interesting ways to affect the game. It makes me want to test old decks and see how they change once they have new capabilities within.

I hope you enjoyed this article about a few spoilers and I hope that it can stimulate some discussion. Perhaps you even want to go out and test new decks yourself. If you do I would love to know your thoughts!

As always I welcome any comments and criticisms you may have. Feel free to let me know what you enjoyed here and what you didn’t like as well. Maybe you have a request for next time? Maybe you have a question? Let me know below!

ChiefBell