Mostly just put this in here for reference, as I think something resembling this deck could work really well in Modern. I also just really like this list - it's innovative, and fun to play with, and features
Abbot of Keral Keep
- which I think has bunches of potential. So this is also here for discussion, if anyone's interested. It made top 64 at GP Oklahoma City (so it's not crap, but maybe needs work). I believe Chapin has said that a Grixis version is probably better, but I like this Temur experiment. I think Jund and Jeskai could work as well.
The deck is mostly centered around
Abbot of Keral Keep
and Tarmogoyf. Snapcaster Mage provides additional card advantage and bodies, and Monastery Swiftspear brings in serious speed, more prowess action, and the occasional early game combo-like win.
So the rest of the spells are really designed to be good hits with Abbot's ETB trigger, and to make Goyf big, while providing as much control and disruption as possible given those priorities. There's 8 freebies (which Abbot can't whiff with) - 4 of them are Mishra's Bauble - also giving Goyf one more counter than usual. Also pursuant to hitting with Abbot, everything in the deck is 2-Mana or less, with only Izzet Charm requiring more than 1 colored mana (Charm is also a nice way of getting counters in the deck, but also not having many cards that don't give Abbot a legal target).
Two of the really interesting pieces are Seal of Fire and
Rancor
. They are both good hits for Abbot, and the Seal can get Goyf up to 6/7.
Rancor
is also a nice recursive source of prowess triggers, and the trample helps with tokens and to push damage through. The seal is pretty brilliant, because you can always cast it off Abbot, and have a Shock effect and prowess trigger on tap for a later attack. It can also combine with Bolt to hit Tasigur and the like.
Two tempo staples that might seem awkward or overused here are Remand and Vapor Snag. Snag isn't that powerful, but it's a nice effect for 1 blue, and can also let you bounce your own Abbot or Snapcaster for card draw. The deck also needs ways to clear a path, so I think it works reasonably well in this context. Remand is obviously a good card, but seems an awkward hit for Abbot, but I think the idea is that you can counter one of your own spells without losing card advantage if you can't afford to.
The sideboard is fairly standard stuff, the one surprise is probably
Deprive
. My guess is he just evaluates that a 2-mana hard counter in Modern is just good, end of story, especially in a deck that can afford to bounce a land.
As far as potentially improving the deck goes, I think Bauble might be better as a 2-of, so you still get the Goyf counter occasionally, but you could also get more power out of 1-2 more Seal, or maybe even something like
Forked Bolt
. I also think Crimson Wisps is worth considering in an Abbot deck, because it cantrips, triggers prawess, and gives Abbot haste. Simic Charm may also be worth a shout for sheer versatility, but it creates more of a problem in terms of holding up mana when casting Abbot. I'm interested to see what other people think.
Here's some Abbot decks I built a while ago (below). They are lesser decks, with no Goyfs (save the fast Jund version) for budget reasons. In retrospect, I hedged the decks way more than Chapin, sacrificing explosiveness (mostly by not running Monastery Swiftspear) for greater card-by-card value. My decks also whiff with Abbot way more often. So they're more midrange-y in the sense that they topdeck better, but aren't capable of turn 3 wins. I've also added some versions that take Chapin's ideas into account.
Older, Midrange-y builds:
12-Snapper (Grixis Tempo)11-Pseudo-Snapper (Jund Tempo)10-Snapper (Jeskai Tempo)
Newer, Faster builds:
10-Snapper (Jeskai Tempo - Fast Version) Jund Tempo Prototype No-Delver (Grixis Tempo Prototype)
My old versions are also more burn-heavy than Chapin's, though notably with the omission of Seal of Fire. I also didn't think about
Rancor
at any point. I basically just stuck card-advantage creatures with the best power-dense 1-2 drop spells I could in each case (there's the occasional 3-drop). They tested surprisingly well for stuff I didn't agonize over, making me think there was something to the basic ideas. I hope to revisit them with some of Chapin's ideas in mind. Ultimately, though, this type of deck may need another playable prowess creature to break through.
