Eldritch Moon (Ponza variant) (Modern MTG Deck)

With Ponza, this choice was easy, based on the types and quantities of mana we wanted. Arbor Elf/Utopia Sprawl playsets were a given. In an Evolution deck with go-wide synergy and a bit more aggressive stance, we have incentive to experiment here, because every extra body can represent clock. I'm acquiring some quantity of Noble Hierarchs in the future to experiment, but they seem like gasoline if we can get our red mana elsewhere.

This is still 3 drop tribal, don't cut ramp slots and expect to function. This build doesn't mind seeing 3 dorks in a game, certainly not as much as conventional Ponza builds.

The idea I'm currently playing with here is that the full 4 Utopia Sprawls isn't worth running. It's a ridiculously powerful card, but I'm not cutting Blood Moons/Eldritch Evolutions/Planeswalkers for it, and I only get so many non-creature slots.

Powerful Turn 2 (12-14 slots)

You will notice that Eldritch Evolution isn't listed here. Casting Evolution on T2 is like a Valakut deck casting Scapeshift on T3 so it can get a utility land. There is a critical board state before Evolution hits it's stride, and the longer the game goes, the strong Evolution gets. Don't pull a Jack Sparrow.

T2 Finks is strong enough in this deck to justify a full 4 mainboard. It's a cute clock by itself, it protects any walkers that come down the following turn, you can Evolve it T3+ into anything but Inferno Titan. It's everything we want in a card that isn't Blood Moon.

Speaking of which, I remain unconvinced about dropping to 3 Blood Moons so you can pack a Magus of the Moon. Nothing violates the color pie like an enchantment that forces you out of every enchantment molesting color. Evolving for Magus, while crafty, is honestly not stronger than simply barfing out a Hasty Dragon. One makes the game go longer, the other wins.

Hasty Dragons (2-4 slots)

Kitchen Finks on the Field, EE in hand. It's a common situation with this deck, and I want it to lead to a win as often as possible. No matter the enemy board state, a 5 CMC Hasty Dragon will put you on the road to victory. I recommend running a selection of Hasty Dragons, finely tuned for you meta. Onlookers can't help but chuckle as you "eenie-meenie-minie-moe" these beautiful beasts. Also, they top deck like a motherfucker in a deck with so much Ground Clogging Goodness. This is the default win condition of the deck (if you don't count T2 Blood Moon as a win con).

Ground Clogging Goodness (3-5 cards, synergizing with all our other pieces)

Ground Clogging Goodness is the secondary win condition. It enables your Hasty Dragons to swing without fear of the crack back, but it also simply wins by itself sometimes. We have Nissa, Voice of Zendikar's -2 that can drop a lot of power once we're wide and beatdown the old fashion way or we can utilize my favorite mode for the deck: Ping You For Two (PFYT).

PYFT (the pronunciation is like a soft fart) is a life style, much like going vegan. You'll hear people talk about the benefits. You'll notice it feels kinda good, that first time you try it with Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Clue Tokens. Then one day, you win in your second main phase by evolving Thundermaw Hellkite into Furystoke Giant and turning your board of dorks and thopters sideways for 14 additional points of reach. You turn in your chair to share this high, but all of your friends are gone. Your wife left you with the kids. You're a husk of your former self, drooling and shaking at the thought of drawing games out. Just one more Plant Token, gotta untap with one more dork before I evolve into Furystoke Giant and earn this stupid overkill in a way that no one in the room has ever seen. Calm down, you junkie.

The honest trick to this part of the deck is to not get too carried away with PYFT. It's amazing, but so is the rest of the deck. PYFT is a punishment for decks that try and avoid interacting with us. They want to avoid wasting resources on our tokens, they want to ult their planeswalkers, they want to get value from their creatures. We keep that shit in check without spending our precious Lightning Bolts. We need those to Go Face.

Go Face (up to 5 slots)

Lightning Bolt is a hell of a drug. I really like the 6 CMC variant and says, "If you untap after casting, win the game." Inferno Titan is a multi-format all star, and we can tutor him out for 3 mana after Pia and Kiran finish barfing their thopters. It may be wrong to only run one, but it's definitely wrong not to run any.

You know he's good when you cast Eldritch Evolution and your opponent asks for him. They can't wait to receive his fire-breathing, Arc Lightning love. If another EE target doesn't win the game on the spot, do not disappoint your opponent. Give it to them.

Eldritch Evolution (5-6 mainboard slots, plus sideboard slots)

There are a million creatures I could list here, and I'm confident enough to say there's no other voice on the internet that's tested more of this shit in Eldritch-y Ponza style decks. It's one of the greatest draws to any deck with creature tutors, it's how I discovered Furystoke Giant in the first place, but I give you the big, disappointing spoiler here: if a creature isn't worth running without Eldritch Evolution, it's probably not worth running at all.

You choose whether you want to run 3 or 4 Evolutions, then a max of 2 mainboard flex targets. I'm really digging a Scavenging Ooze and Hazoret right now. Everything else sees the sideboard or not at all. If you don't have a read on the meta and your role in it, you will lose the most deckbuilding percentage points here.

We have two solid game plans, either on the beatdown with Trackers and Hasty Dragons or you're off the beatdown with Ground Clogging Goodness. Think about this when you're tutoring.

And for mental gymnastics I use to justify Furystoke Giant not falling in this category, please see the FAQ at the bottom of the description.

"Smoothing" Flex Slots (3 slots)

These are cards that provide generic benefits that synergize and temper our janky build into an FNM crushing machine. Never sad to see one of these cards in the opening 7.

When we started with Ponza, Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Courser of Kruphix were the go to. They remain powerful options, but it's easy to tweak here for playstyle without upsetting the goals of the deck. I'm currently running a Wood Elves over Courser of Kruphix because it's much better tempo with Evolution, as a sacrifice and in certain cases, a target.

I'm also testing a Chandra, Pyromaster, as she feasts on the X/1's that plague my local meta. She can still redirect damage to enemy planeswalkers, unlike modern's favorite Chandra, and she is a beast at threatening lethal swings by preventing their best blocker from playing. One day, I will ult Chandra, Pyromaster with a clogged board, I'll hit Eldritch Evolution, and I pray my opponent lets me play it out while yelling, "DRAGON STOOOOOOOOOOOORM!".

FAQ

Why not more one of silver bullet creatures?

My old answer was: The bullets I have included cover nearly every situation, and are rarely bad on their own, hardcasted. I want to keep the list as consistent as possible.

Atleast I was partially correct. As it turns out, that consistency is worth more than any number of what I'd consider "silver bullet creatures" in the mainboard. My apologies go out to the family of Ruric Thar.

How long have you been working on this pile of garbage?

My first post about it was early November 2017.

A month later, Joshua Unthank picked it up with some tweaks and took first at a Modern IQ. This is his list. That is to say, the deck has a 100% win rate for Modern IQs.

I put it down for a bit as I tested various Ponza builds before and after the unbanning of Bloodbraid (who perhaps will one day make it into this deck). Now that the days are longer and the weather is warm, I am compelled to return and witness what my hubris birthed.

Explain Furystoke Giant (FSG), you idiot

Let's start at the bottom. A 3/3 with Persist is the worst that FSG will ever be. Persist is a hell of a keyword (if you're not very familiar), especially you're on the backfoot. Without any of the synergies or other abilities, a 3/3 Persister is worth a card. Not 5 CMC, but definitely a card.

Now, let's see what the card reads on a mediocre day. 3RR, 3/3 Persist Creature that lets two Creatures PYFT. Are you familiar with Flametongue Kavu? I would love to play Flametongue Kavu in this deck. Glorybringer does a cool impression, albeit in the 5 slot. In this situation, which is one I'd consider average without having drawn an enabler, Furystoke Giant does a great Kavu impression. You can also split the damage, you can send it face. Is that worth 1 CMC more than Flametongue Kavu, or something worth playing instead of Glorybringer? Sometimes, yes. Often enough that I like the option in a deck with tutors, especially on defense.

What does Furystoke Giant do on a good day? It wins the game. I have won evolving into Furystoke. I have won evolving FSG into a Hasty Dragon and using any creature that wouldn't connect in combat to PYFT. I have won hardcasting Furystoke. I have won blocking with Furystoke and PYFTing them before the end of combat. I have won bolting my Furystoke after my opponent refused to block it in combat, because they knew what would happen if they killed it. We have lots of powerful cards that enable FSG that we'd run without it. We have lots of not powerful cards that enable FSG (dorks) that we'd also run with out. It's high value within the framework of this shell, in addition to the solid worst-case scenario body it provides, cements it's presence in the list. It's like running a playset of Resto Angel without Kiki-Jiki. Why not give yourself the chance to win out of nowhere?

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Casual

99% Competitive

Revision 42 See all

(1 year ago)

+3	Birds of Paradise	main
-3	Bonecrusher Giant	main

Date added	7 years
Last updated	1 year
Exclude colors	WUB
Legality	This deck is not Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 6 Rares 7 - 9 Uncommons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.38
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Elemental 1/1 R, Goblin Shaman, Treasure
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