Creatures
1) Dark Confidant: It's Bob Maher, it's Skrillex, no... wait, it's Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg! What is there left to say about arguably the best black creature ever printed? He exemplifies what black is all about, "Greatness at any cost," and as I've learned, life is only important when it's the last one. The card draw netted from him can be incredibly game changing, and he can swing for 2 in an empty field, block, and is easy enough to remove.
2) Tarmogoyf: Best beater there is, I was slow to acknowledge it but now I realize that Goyf has no replacement, and in multiples he just shines that much more. He can change the board state at any point in the game, and is just the best 2 drop in Green.
3) Scavenging Ooze: Beater, Blocker, Life Gain. Its all three. Against aggro or RDW it will come in and buy me some time or swing for the win. It takes all their creatures I kill and all my creatures they kill and provide fuel for the ooze. The life gain is also great, and against RDW with cards like Hellspark Elemental or an early Vexing Devil they go to the graveyard and I can gain life off of them. Its a powerhouse against many decks that rely on the graveyard, like Melira Pod and Living End.
4) Snapcaster Mage: Did someone say value? Value is what Tiago is bringing to the table. He gives me another hand to work with in my graveyard, letting me re-use any of the counterspells or removal whenever I need them. Thoughtseize 1 through 3 instantly becomes 4-6, letting me rip apart their hand and knowing exactly what I need to go back for. He's a chumpblocker against anything that I can flash in, and he let's me re-cast a Dismember after blocking to make sure I rip apart their creature (pun intended). Oh, and along with all this, he is splashable.
5) Vendilion Clique: I never quite got why this card is so good until my opponent asked me why I wasn't playing the best blue creature in Modern. I told him I already mainboard 3 Snapcaster Mage, and he laughed an pulled out a judge promo Clique. After some questions and explanations, I got why this is so good. Instant speed (thanks to flash) hand disruption that I can do on their upkeep to take out a combo piece. The fact that it comes on a 3/1 flier is even better. When I can get rid of what I don't want them to have, or I can draw after taking out a card in my hand that I don't want, is very, very good.
Planeswalker
1) Liliana of the Veil: Probably one of the best cards in the deck, Lili is a repeatable Mind Peel, Cruel Edict, and good God if you get to her ultimate good game. She is a powerhouse, wrecking control, shutting out any voltron or hexproof decks. I only run 3, but getting her at any point in the game is enough to turn it around.
Spells
1) Abrupt Decay: Uncounterable destroy spell, not limited to creatures, at instant speed. Why wouldn't you play this when most threats are within this range.
2) Disfigure: Instant speed -2/-2 for one black . It's an incredible removal against mana dorks and creatures in RDW (Goblin Guide to name one). Its easily cast and just as easily flashed back with Snapcaster.
3) Dismember: -5/-5 at instant speed with an adjustable mana cost. It's absolutely one of the best removal spells in the format, and it is only a 2 of because I don't want to draw into it late game with Dark Confidant. When you can destroy a creature for 1, 1 1 black and 2 life, or one and 4 life at any time, why wouldn't you.
4) Mana Leak: It may not be Counterspell or Force of Will, but for it's one of the best and most easily splashable counterspells in the format. When an opponent taps out nothing is more gratifying then casting this and watching them squirm. Oh, Tron wants their turn 3 Karn, that's not going to happen unless they have another tower on the field.
5) Remand: There's a reason this uncommon has a $10 price tag. Early game this is a timewalk, setting your opponent back a turn in order to re-cast whatever it is they needed, and you get to draw a card for it. Just like Mana Leak, it's instant speed and splashable, and late game this with Mana Leak makes sure that the Scapeshift that just got sent back to their hand isn't getting played again.
6) Thoughtseize: This is the best hand disruption in the format. There is nothing else to be said about it. For black and 2 life you can remove any non-land permanent, making this a good top deck late game as well as one of the best cards to have in your opening hand.
7) Surgical Extraction: Well, since I don't have DRS anymore, I need another way to help remove threats in the graveyard against plays like Gifts Ungiven into Norn, or Academy Ruins for the Slaver lock. This is instant speed for the cost of 2 life or black, which allows for an awesome turn 1 Thoughtseize removing the threat and following it up with Surgical Extraction to keep it out of the game for good. And its repeatable with Snappy.Lands
1) Creeping Tar Pit: Man lands are incredibly important, as they help with mana fixing and provide a creature later on in the game. CTP is exceptional as it provides 3 damage exactly when you need it for 1UB, and it helps cast Clique and Lili. Removal is tough to deal with when I only have 7 cards to beat down the opponent with (Clique and Goyf), and this provides another.
2) Treetop Village: Another fantastic man land, for you get a 3/3 trampler that can block most creatures in the format and trade with them. It's only a 2 of because it is blockable and it only provides green.
3) Verdant Catacombs/Misty Rainforest: The fetchlands are important in every format, and one of the advantages of playing BUG instead of Jund allows me to have two fetchlands that can get any of my shocklands. Not much more to say about that.
4) Tectonic Edge: This is the modern equivalent of Wasteland and helps shut down Tron and Valakut along with Spreading Seas in the sideboard. Against decks that run multiple colors I can take out the one they need later in the game, and it provides land in the graveyard for Deathrite Shaman.
5) Watery Grave/Breeding Pool/Overgrown Tomb: The shocklands allow for 3 color mana fixing very easily, allowing me to easily get the 2 blue or 2 black I need turn 3 for Lili or Clique.
6) Drowned Catacomb: The checkland works well because it pairs with all three of my shocklands and provides the blue and black I need for Liliana of the Veil or Vendilion Clique
7) Forest/Swamp/Island: All of the basics are fetchable with my fetchlands. These help against Blood Moon that will most likely be sideboarded in against me.
Sideboard
1) Spellskite: Awesome card, as it can block early against many decks and redirects damage from RDW or Scapeshift for blue or two life. It shuts off Slippery Bogle or Voltron decks, and delays Splinter Twin until they can get rid of it. It can also redirect Karn's -3 which can give me some time to deal with him.
2) Shadow of Doubt: I bring this in against any Pod decks to keep them from searching for the next creature, or against some decks using fetchlands, which basically sets them a land and nets me a card. Its also great against the fringe decks like Wargate.
3) Spreading Seas: Swapped out for Pithing Needle, it shuts down Tron, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and any deck with a greedy manabase (like mine). Shuts down man lands like Celestial Colonnade or Inkmoth Nexus that are tricky to deal with outside of Dismember.
4) Golgari Charm: Really just in here for Bogle and twin decks, letting me take out their creatures before they can enchant them or prevent them from dealing damge. The destroy enchantments helps against decks that side in Blood Moon and Leyline of the Void.
5) Hurkyl's Recall: Oh, you're attacking with an 8/1 Inkmoth Nexus with Cranial Plating? Nope. Let's send that, along with everything else back to your hand. Oh, I guess that means you have to sacrifice your Glimmervoid since you have no other artifacts. The 3/3 Lifelink and 3/3 Deathtouch Artifact Wurms keeping you from blocking? Send the tokens back to their hand and watch as they disappear.
6) Engineered Explosives: A strictly worse Pernicious Deed, this timed removal deals with most aggro decks, from Fish to Elves. It has an adjustable casting cost, and for I can blow up everything when I want to.
RIP
Deathrite Shaman: The Swiss Army Knife of creatures, if Wizard's ever prints a 1-drop planeswalker it would look like this guy. He's removing what their Snapcaster Mage is targeting, or their Life from the Loam and dealing 2 to them. He's removing the Linvala, Keeper of Silence they're trying to reanimate and getting me two life. He's fantastic, splashable, and a one-drop. There's a reason people are wondering if he will be banned.
