The main format/color I have been playing for the last year is EDH. Mayael the Anima is my commander of choice, and besides being sneaky and activating her on someone else's turn, I usually am only playing spells on my turn trying to beat face.

This deck has made me slow down and consider timing. A lot of times, playtesting with Blood Scrivener , I find myself emptying my hand on their turn via instants. Then refilling on my turn. It has also made me think about what/when/why to counter something. For example, if I have an Abrupt Decay in hand, why waste my counter on an AEther Vial ? Old me wouldn't have let it touch the field, but new me knows I have an answer so let it resolve. Little things like that.

Seems to me you might like Tron. Big creatures for cheap. Since Tron likes to be late game you have to stall with counters and bounce. It's quite fun.

I have been thinking about a U/G Tron build as maybe my next modern endeavor. Tron lands are cheap, and I have a couple of the pieces already, Though no Karn.

Mana Leak is almost strictly better than Remand in this deck. Remand is mostly for stall decks like Tron. Mana leak will almost always work as a hard counter; this deck excels through turns 4-5. I suggest 3 mana 2 remand or somesuch composition. Also are you getting Bobs? Because Blood Scrivener is only good in super aggressive hand-on-the-field decks.

Sorry, posted before I read. My bad. I'd flat-out take out Blood Scrivener if you aren't replacing him with Bob. He'll almost never be useful in this kind of deck.

Good luck, man!

I agree about Mana Leak and Remand , but I like the card draw on Remand . Early on it's basically Time Walk with an extra draw. I've been thinking on changing out a Spell Snare for another Mana Leak , but I'll have to get some play in tomorrow to really decide about that.

Eventually, I want to put in Bob's and Goyf's in here, but until then I feel like with my suite of instants I can reliably trigger Blood Scrivener . Even if I can only trigger it every other turn, it's some card draw that I can semi manipulate when I get it. His hand-on-the-field nature is why I only want to run 3 at first, then after a couple weeks of play either take him out or make it a 4 of.

Ahhh np bud, I like seeing everyone opinions on cards. But I totally agree that at this point in time Bob is better. I'm just a poor college student though :D.

not sure myself about Vampire Nighthawk in modern outside of vampire lists. he's a good deterrent with those 3 specific keywords though. one interesting card i'd found was Dross Harvester just out of range for lightning bolt and it's something Path to Exile really can't deal with. though the cost of having the creature on the battlefield is definitely worth noting. I'd have suggested Delver of Secrets  ^Flip but that guy kinda requires a package of topdeck-manipulating spells along with it, even with a high density of spells in the deck...

As silly as this sounds, I was playing against a R/G Tron deck who threw down an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn . He attacked me, I sacked 6 things, then blocked with Vampire Nighthawk to kill it. Then in response to his GY trigger I exiled him with Deathrite Shaman . I came back from that and won it lol. Dross Harvester seems interesting, but in here I think the cost outweighs the power of the card. I don't see a way I could put myself on a 5 turn clock, one without evasion, without some game changing ability. Maybe in the future if I get more support cards.

This deck actually started out as a Delver of Secrets  ^Flip deck, but my only way to manipulate the topdeck was Dimir Charm and it wasn't very good haha. When I could flip a delver on turn 2 it was a good day, otherwise I'd be playing on a hope and a prayer. The thrill of flipping him was fun though.

Serum Visions does the topdeck manipulation you'd need for a delver flip, as does Telling Time . but who wants to pay 2 mana for something like that when you probably need that mana for the counter to protect it?

it's nice seeing Quirion Dryad in a deck, even though it's a stand-in for the old goyf... what really made her tick though was the fact that a lot of the cards in the decks that ran her replaced themselves... shame Winter Orb isnt modern legal.

also, I think Extirpate could be mainboarded, it means you'd have less removal/threats to deal with as the game progresses and can have some late-game interactions with Inquisition of Kozilek letting you nab more than one card off the knowledge of what your opponent is holding and if that's in their graveyard...

Another card you might want to consider would be Vendilion Clique . It can make sure that your opponent's tutors don't do what they want them to do, easily tucking away that emrakul they just got from ugin or that Supreme Verdict they were planning on using, plus the tempo off that card is amazing.

I saw a great GU faeries list that ran Zur's Weirding to ensure the opponent couldnt draw into anything useful, who cares if you're paying life if your opponent is losing it at a faster rate? the deck also ran Noble Hierarch which helped the fae go over the top of similarly-powered fliers, also letting you power out your turn three drops on turn 2

mind having a look at my UG tempo deck? The Simic Snake's Fangs Are Retractable I might be adding in some ninja in place of Faerie Impostor , she's just annoying at sorcery speed, not doing much for a deck that's meant to hold up an aggressive front while trying to be protective your creatures. Similarly i have budget constraints which stop me from being able to use cards like Remand that would help my deck tons.

I don't own any Serum Visions which is why I was having trouble flipping delver.

At times I feel like Quirion Dryad is better than Goyf since I can sometimes chain so many spells at instant speed.

The Extirpate and Surgical Extraction were mainboarded, but they help more in the SB since by game 2 I'll know what their plan is. Game 1 I'd rather have versatile permission/removal.

Vendilion Clique is probably the card I would put in place of Vampire Nighthawk , but it's on the list of cards out of my budget.

Are two Shadow of Doubt necessary? I would drop one and opt for more hand disruption or another Maelstrom Pulse . OR if you can another Liliana of the Veil .

That being said I think it's hilarious how your sideboard turns this into a Gifts deck. But, if that's the case drop Phantasmal Image and put in another Unburial Rites .

So far I'm looking to probably cut Hero's Downfall and eventually move the two Shadow of Doubt into the SB for Phantasmal Image and Dismember . That'll free up space for another LotV and maybe two Vendilion Clique . If that happens I might actually cut a Snapcaster Mage for another IoK.

I don't really want to draw Unburial Rites , and that package will only come in when it'll just shut down my opponent, no questions asked, so one copy is all I want.

+1, I hope everything works out and this deck looks quite promising. This would be a nice deck to test out my Phyrexian Nightmare with, just to see how well mine can perform as well.

4 Creeping Tar Pit is too much. I play tested, you're screwing yourself on green mana.

I agree that 4x Creeping Tar Pit is greedy, but so many people run LD main board for Tron I like to have them. The color is no issue as fetches fix that, and deathrite picks up the slack.

What's with Iona in your sideboard? Hoping for 3 deathrites to be on the field at the same time? I feel like that's a bit optimistic...

I see the unburial rites but that's cutting it close, don't you think?

With Gifts Ungiven I put both in the GY and cast Unburial Rites on Iona. This only comes in in certain matchups like RDW. With DRS and the Temple Garden getting a single white is very manageable.

I love the deck! It seems like you're purposely running the most expensive spells and lands in modern... but they're expensive for a reason. +1

In your description, you talk about Deathrite, just make sure it's not in the deck for March!

Oh lol yeah I haven't updated the description. With his banning, I turned this into a BUG Eternal Command brew.

I want BUG to be as powerful in Modern as it is in Legacy but I can't get it to work.

But if you want to play 3 color control (especially with Cryptic Command), you're going to need more lands.

IMO Cryptic Command is too costly for this deck.