Instant (20)
Creature (13)
Enchantment (4)
Land (23)
Sideboard
Land (4)
Instant (8)
Sorcery (3)
Maybeboard
Enchantment (1)
I first saw the main combo in a wonderful Pioneer deck posted by user Angel_Zero (Check it out here: grixis dagger burn combo).
The basic idea is, ‘Burden your opponent with a white elephant, an unwanted albatross of a card, and force them to keep up the payments—with dire consequences.’
I thought, ’I wonder how that would translate to Modern, with the larger cardpool?’
Here’s what I came up with.
I had received some much welcome feedback from a few different users, the most notable of which pointed out that the main combo the deck is built around is already complete in and of itself. I should have gathered as much from the source deck posted by Angel_Zero but it somehow slipped by. In short, once we use Metamorphic Alteration to ‘gift’ our opponent the Archfiend of the Dross, no further action is necessary. We don’t need to remove the oil counters to trigger game over, as they were not part of the duplication process to begin with (thanks again JortsWeedman, for pointing this out!).
That freed up a number of card slots, and with some minor tweaking detailed below this is a much more capable, though slightly more expensive build.
A generous thank you to all who offered advice/comments. No matter how many decades one plays this game, there is always room for improvement!
Skewed marginally more toward than we can get away with running less than optimal (and thereby less expensive) lands.
•15 basic lands (10 Islands and 5 Swamps) ensure our other lands function as non-restricted dual lands in the truest sense, entering play untapped and ready to go. The removal of several cards has shifted the color balance toward , thus upping the Island count and lessening the number of Swamps required.
•Aside from basics, Choked Estuary will function like an Underground Sea 9 times out of 10.
•Sunken Hollow functions likewise, with the added benefit of counting as an Island/Swamp in and of itself.
If one was in a hurry, one might be forgiven for taking a quick glance at Archfiend of the Dross and thinking ‘A 6/6 Flyer for 4 mana that pings for 2 whenever an opponent’s creature dies? Nice!’.
Of course, upon closer inspection there is a critical downside: The moment it enters play, you’re on an oil counter countdown to losing the game. Hm. Not ideal. However…
What if there were some way to saddle your opponent with this burden? That’s precisely what we intend to do—leave them sitting there awkwardly, like a self conscious husband in the mall tasked with holding the wife’s purse while she shops at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
First, we have to transfer control of Archfiend of the Dross. Hot Potato cards are the domain of , and , so we’re in luck.
•Metamorphic Alteration is the cheaper of the two options. Very very few decks are creatureless these days, so finding a target shouldn’t be a problem. Pick your hapless target (ideally the most dangerous or combo-centric creature your opponent has in play) and Enchant it, transforming it into their very own White Elephant.
Once the opponent has possession of Archfiend of the Dross, victory is triggered immediately upon successful resolution of the spell. Unless it’s countered or the fiend is somehow otherwise removed, it’s officially Game Over for the other player.
Whether it’s cards being placed on the table uncomfortably close to your own, or worse yet, one of those opponents that feels the need to reach their Cheeto-stained finger out and touch whichever card of yours they intend to remove or interact with, sometimes you just need a space cushion.
•As far as control is concerned, we run the typical package augmented by a particular creature.
In order of easiest to hardest to cast: Spell Pierce, Mana Leak and Counterspell. In a nutshell, slap their hand away and quip ’Don’t touch that.’
•Pact of Negation is our salvation waiting in the wings, best held in reserve until we’ve cast Metamorphic Alteration to ensure it absolutely resolves without question. Timed correctly, we will never see our next upkeep and the suicide element inherent in the card is neutralized.
•Spellskite is another great fit. Cheap and easy to cast, it’s ready to hurl itself in the line of fire at a moment’s notice.
Removal is another story. In lieu of the usual suspects we run an assortment of kill/bounce spells that may seem odd at first, but make perfect sense in context when considering our core combo.
•Unsummon and Vapor Snag will both ’Return to Sender’ any viable target. Bounce a threat (or vaporize the mildly problematic 3/3 Centaur tokens produced by Hunted Horror), but the real value lies in returning Archfiend of the Dross to our hand, should there be treachery afoot that threatens our plan of action.
Freeing up card slots enabled a path to graft in an alternate wincon, making the deck much less a glass cannon affair and raising the bar for interactivity. If playing the Enchantment is a no go, shift gears and prepare to administer a hefty beat down instead.
•Hunted Horror is a great fit. For a measly two mana we get to plunk down a 7/7 Trampler. Yes, the opponent creates two 3/3 tokens, but we’ll likely have at least one bounce spell on hand which erases said token from existence.
•A side benefit of running cheap control spells is an increased likelihood of bringing out Gurmag Angler. He’ll munch away those spent 1-drops and get ready to wreak some havoc of his own.
•Cast Archfiend of the Dross
•Regift the creature to your opponent with Metamorphic Alteration.
•Stifle any attempts your opponent may make to remove their copy of Archfiend of the Dross or otherwise interfere with our strategy, using Spell Pierce, Pact of Negation etc.
•Alternatively, beat the opponent into submission using Hunted Horror and Gurmag Angler.
Just ideas so far. Suggestions welcome, but keep them on the cheaper side. There will be Black Lotus reprints before this deck will ever be competitive, so there’s no sense wasting money. This was more or less an interesting side project which might be fun to try out and see how it does.
•Bojuka Bog for graveyard hate.
•Forbidden Orchard helps with mana fixing and creates a viable target for Metamorphic Alteration to latch onto, should there be a dearth of creatures across the table.
•Surgical Extraction to permanently remove all copies of a particular threat.
”Not all have gifts of healings, do they?”
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Casual
100% Competitive
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 1 year |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 0 - 2 Mythic Rares 24 - 9 Rares 0 - 4 Uncommons 18 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.22 |
| Tokens | Centaur 3/3 G w/ Pro Black, Spirit 1/1 C |
| Folders | Modern, Ideas, Deck Inspiration, Modern |
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