@WrathofCod actually, you may be surprised to hear that Infect and Burn are both pretty good matchups for this deck. Having so many chump blockers, removal spells, and Ghost Quarters seems to lean the infect match-up in our favor. Similarly, the chump blockers and the artist effects usually save us enough life to survive burn without much trouble as well.

So far, in my experience, Merfolk and Valakut decks seem to be the worst match-ups. With Spreading seas and island walk, there is very little we can do to stop Merfolk if they get rolling. Its hard to have enough removal to deal with all of it. And this deck has very little to deal with Valakut. Ghost Quarter doesn't really do the trick and there is not a lot we can do to interact with them. We basically just have to race a lot of the time. Bogles can be tough too, unless you can stick a Grave Pact. Then they don't stand a chance.

@ LordSnow Thanks for responding so quickly! Your reasoning and explanation makes perfect sense! While I wouldn't have guessed it before, I see why merfolk and Valakut decks are difficult to beat. Have you considered adding in some Fatal Pushes or Searing Bloods to help deal with merfolk? I don't know how you feel about push (since you already have Path to Exile), but I think it definitely warrants some consideration since revolt is very easy to trigger for this deck. As far as Searing Blood goes, I can't blame you if you don't want to include it due to its RR casting cost, but it has been putting in a lot of work for me against infect, merfolk and zoo in my red decks! Anyways, thanks for the informative input and for sharing this amazing deck with the magic community! Best wishes!

@WrathofCod Thanks for the great feedback. I just love the deck and want more people to play it. It is so much fun. And shockingly powerful.

I have thought of Fatal Push and I think it would be great because of the revolt triggers, but at the same time I feel like this deck really does need the catch all that is Path. It is important to have something around that can get any creature any time. Searing Blood is interesting though. Could definitely speed up the match and help remove most of their threats. The early double R may be tough though. I am not sure how easily we could get that.

Not sure if you ever tried this card but i was going to see how it does in my version of aristocrats Grafted Wargear

@frogkill45 that is a really interesting idea. I have never seen anyone try that, but honestly, that could be pretty solid. It would make a measly spirit token into a really serious threat.

@LordSnow it turns all your guys into good aggro sized creatures, you lose the ability to instant sac, it also makes blood artist a 3/3 because so many times he just cant do anything but sit there, and its a huge power jump on falkenrath aristocrat.

I know that Path has more targets, but I'd suggest replacing them with Push. Push denies your opponent any kind of upside, plus it triggers Blood Artist whereas Path doesn't.

@Kezvin Yeah, I have thought a lot about it since it would be nice to deny them the land and revolt is so easy to trigger. Not to mention the Path Artist Non-bo. However, I really think it is more important to have the catch all available. Aside from Path and Grave Pact we literally have nothing to kill things like Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Reality Smasher, Drowner of Hope, Endbringer, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Wurmcoil Engine, Platinum Angel, Sundering Titan, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, World Breaker, Primeval Titan, anything from a Living End or reanimator deck, or any other big baddies that cost more than four that I can't think of.

Also worth mentioning are any instances of indestructible, undying, persist, or regenerate.

And then there are creatures with graveyard abilities or the in dredge.

As much as I love Push, Path just feels like a necessary evil.

@LordSnow I've aquired my budget version of this deck, and it's so much fun! It's probably my favorite deck I've ever played. I've decided I want to make it more competitive and include a sideboard as well as update my land base little by little since it's out of my budget to upgrade it all at once. Not to mention I'll probably be without Dark Confidant for a while...

When it comes to your sideboard, do you find it difficult to play Grave Pact because of the cost? Would Dictate of Erebos be easier to cast even though it has higher cmc? I'm debating which one I'd rather sideboard.

@Abzkaban I am happy to hear it! Its insanely fun, right? I am glad you are liking it.

As for your question, I personally have only rarely had issues playing Grave Pact since most of the lands in the deck can produce black. Dropping it on turn 4 can be extremely powerful. But Dictate of Erebos is definitely a good replacement until you have all the lands and can more regularly get triple black.

Always love coming and looking at this deck, and it occurred to me today, have you tested this with Anointed Procession as a one or two of? I think it may be a bit too costly to run in the main, but would love to hear your thoughts

with the addition of Kitesail Freebooter will you be replacing Tidehollow Sculler ?

the upside of kitesail : easier to cast as it only requires / is a human so it can give Falkenrath Aristocrat a counter if need be. / has evasion with flying

the downsides: doesnt hit creatures / cant pull off the instant speed sac ability to exile a card on etb/ltb trigger / 1 less power

maybe just a bad Sin Collector. would love to hear your thoughts

@SnedtheDead I have thought about it, but I haven't actually tested it. I think it could be a bit slow and am worried this version of the deck isn't token oriented enough to really get max value out of that card. But it could be pretty good in slower games. Could you imagine Bloodsoaked Champion into Cartel Aristocrat into Blood Artist and Doomed Traveler into Anointed Procession into Lingering Souls with Flashback. Magical Christmas Land, but still, that would be so amazing!

@frogkill45 I definitely don't think it is a bad Tidehollow Sculler. I think the human synergy is great and I think the flying could be very important. It is hard for decks to keep up with the amount of flying creatures this deck can create. I think it is ultimately a meta question though. If you are not seeing many creature based combo decks I would probably lean towards Kitesail Freebooter. But overall I really like the sheer catchall abilities of Tidehollow Sculler. I generally will be wanting the ability to take anything I might need to at the time.

Hey, great deck, I like very much the idea ! Have ever consider bringing some Sword (Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice) in the deck ? You got some good sword bearer material here ... I don't even know what can result from the idea.

@Toak83 Thank you! I have thought about it but never had tried it. I have thought about Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow in particular. I think it could be good but I have always worried it could be too slow. Perhaps its worth trying in the Side Board. In a slower game, it could really do some work.

How does this deck play against Eldrazi Death and Taxes?

What do you think about Martyr of Dusk?

@x12721 That is a good question. I havent come across Eldrazi and Taxes in my games with this deck yet sadly. I will try to test that sometime. I have played against GW Hatebears and it was a good matchup. I am not sure if Eldrazi would go quite as smoothly. I could see it going either way. If anyone else has tried it I would love to know.

@bassgdae I think its a solid card in a standard version. I don't think it beats the options already in this deck for Modern, but it could be an option for an alternative!

I love this deck.

I have been brewing an Abzan Aristocrats list (mostly for Collected Company and Voice of Resurgence). I was wondering if you could give me some feedback on it.

Here's the decklist for Abzan Aristocrats:http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/19-04-18-ZAQ-abzan-aristocrats/

Here's a decklist for B/W Eldrazi and Taxes, if you want to know how the matchup goes. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/19-03-18-wb-eldrazi-and-taxes/?cb=1524170868

Hope you find the decklist helpful.

Hi LordSnow! I'm a new Magic player who wants to be build a Modern deck because in Houston, playing Standard is frowned upon.My question is: would you recommend this deck build to a noon player like me? Thanks.

@TolarianTaxCollector Thanks for the feedback, that is nice to hear! I will take a look at your build.

@N0n3 Hey! Welcome to MtG! That is odd that Standard is frowned upon, though it is pretty spendy and I prefer Modern myself. I will be honest with you, this deck is a lot of fun and can be very competitive in the right hands. However, it is not a particularly easy deck to use. The deck relies a lot on advanced combat tricks and specific timing within the turn phases. You will still have fun with the deck no matter what, but it is a very complicated deck compared to a lot of Modern decks and it definitely has a high learning curve. Once you figure it out that becomes a positive feature though, as your opponents will often have trouble seeing what you are up to until its too late. So, if you are the type of player who wants to jump in and just win with easy decks, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you are more into doing fun combos and mastering a complicated but ultimately rewarding deck, this deck is great! Hope that helps, and feel free to come back with questions.

Hey, I was wondering what your thoughts are on how this deck does against the current heavy/aggro meta. With a deck like Jund humans, hollow one affinity and Tron being a big part of the meta. Would putting in Fatal push maybe even main board be a good or bad idea? I am just what your thoughts are on the deck and how it compares to the meta cause I want to test and tinker with this deck.

@bmw22935 Hey! Thanks for your interest in the deck. To be totally honest I have been pretty busy and havent had a chance to play much against many of the newer decks in current meta. I am hoping I will have more time for testing soon. I wish I had a better answer for you! If you do end up testing and tinkering be sure to let me know how it goes.

As for Fatal Push, generally speaking, it is a great card and can definitely be played in the main board. I personally like my split of Bolt and Path because it lets me speed up my clock quite a bit with the bolts and Path is just the best catch all. However, Path does ramp you opponent which may not be the best in a very agrro meta. So if your meta is very aggro and you don't mind not having the Path that can exile anything for good, and are more worried about things that push can more efficiently handle, it may be worth switching to Push.

Nice deck!
I bet you're a English teacher.