One or two copies of Manamorphose to cast souls under blood moon?

Xinofos thank you or the upvote and suggestion!

I really like the idea of Manamorphose and the idea to cast Lingering Souls was the exact reason I was thinking to play it in the first place. What would you recommend taking out?

Why no planeswalkers? I have seen so much of Liliana, the Last Hope. It seems like such a great card for the deck

Evelyn_Bonnie the deck runs very strict on card ratios. Not much flexibility (maybe only 3-5 flex spots in most builds). Some use planeswalkers. That’s totally fine! I prefer more removal (additional Dreadbore), more flexibility (Collective Brutality), and a mainboard beast of a creature, Hazoret the Fervent.

Planeswalkers are great and can be built around. I personally want to build around spells, instants, and low hand size (kept low from Hazoret the Fervent). Play the Walkers if you’ve got em! I personally don’t like them too much here.

Play Risk Factor as a 3 of over Brutality (Which should go in the board because it's better than ensnaring bridge and hazoret).

Do not play Hazoret. She was good in standard as a result of few "exile target creature" effects. Indestructible is not really relevant in Modern. Path to Exile is the best white removal card in modern, and is played in everything from Burn to Jeskai Control to Hatebears. Not only that, but there is also a massive amount of hand attack spells such as Thoughtseize that eliminate hazoret before she becomes a problem.

Captainamerica, I couldn't disgree more sir. Hazoret beats Jund all by herself. You always run bridge in your SB because we are the best Ensnaring bridge deck in Modern. Same with why you never cut Blood moon from the 60. We are the best deck to take advantage of main board moon because of looting. Brutality will always be better than Instant Speed Browbeat because it has options and the ability to discard souls on curve.

captainamerica, thank you for the comment (in addition to the reasoning behind it)! I do, however, have to agree with Evelyn_Bonnie.

I personally don’t like Risk Factor because it feels like a “win-more” card. If your opponent is only at 4 life, you’re already in a good spot. If Risk Factor is in opening hand, it doesn’t set up field or gy for synergy. Also, adding more 3 cmc cards in the build lowers amount of spells to cast a turn. Mardu works well casting discard (1 cmc) and removal (2 cmc) generally. Basically, opponent will do whatever is more convenient for them. We want more control. Faithless Looting and Bedlam Reveler fuel card draw pretty well.

This brings up the next points: Hazoret the Fervent and Ensnaring Bridge. Both are great in Mardu Pyromancer since both encourage the game plan already in progress. Dog Mom is great against big creature decks (like Jund or Grixis Death's Shadow). Path to Exile is problematic, but that’s the basic “dies to removal” argument/excuse. Dog Mom is hasty/burn for the long game, which this deck is built to do.

Ensnaring Bridge shuts down Bant Spirits or other anthem/tribal decks (along with Anger of the Gods. Also, Collective Brutality is awesome with this game plan.

Both support and synergize with each other. If you want to play Risk Factor, go for it! I don’t think it helps since opponent holds the choices. Risk Factor may belong more in a burn deck, but even burn doesn’t generally play Browbeat so there must be a reason. Maybe “jumpstart” is the game changer, but I think Mardu can forego Risk Factor.

Thanks again for your comment captainamerica!

Edit: editing and Infect and Tron would like to have a word with you about “Indestructible” not being Modern relevant.

itachi45 I appreciate your upvote and your comment. Allow me to answer your questions/statements the best I can.

First, it’s awesome you are interested in what makes decks unique. Spicy techs are just that: a surprise and can often take a game from not being anticipated, especially in a midrange/control deck. However, some spicy techs may be less optimal. In modern, some cards are just better than others. If you’re playing an uncommon deck (maybe seen once in 10-20 matches), you already have the “spicy” unique build at LGS or FNM. What I’m trying to say is, if your opponent is expecting something (for example here: Blood Moon staying in or swapping out game 2/3) then you can “fake them out” and play mind games. Modern is so vast and ever evolving, that mind games play such a huge part in being successful. Mind games can often be more successful rather than a suboptimal “spicy” tech that doesn’t affect the board state as well as a generally accepted tech.

For my build, the unique techs I run are Lightning Helix, Hazoret the Fervent, Ensnaring Bridge, and Surgical Extraction over Leyline of the Void. Each plays to the advantage of 1) keep hand size low, 2) burn and play a faster game, and 3) add more instants to the graveyard to fuel Bedlam Reveler and Young Pyromancer.

Now, as to Mardu Pyromancer not topping major events. This is true. From what I’ve seen, and experienced, midrange is advantageous (somewhat) against everything, depending on how you sideboard. However, the meta has become so aggressive, it is hard to stabilize the game before getting wiped. Even games won against aggro decks (Burn, Tribal Humans and Spirits, grave-based decks like Dredge or Hollow One) are only won by a couple life. Hand disruption doesn’t work when a deck either 1) wants to have stuff in the grave or 2) plays so many small threats that it doesn’t matter if 1 of their 3/4 small threats get through. I don’t think U/W control is too bad since we can pressure their hand and field and become more aggressive than they can handle. Adding more aggressive tactics (since we don’t play to just “lol-nope” their stuff) allows us to outrace U/W control.

Basically, the meta is extra aggressive and Mardu Pyro takes too long to set up. Mardu has made some top contending spots, but not a top top spot, like you said. Some source to reference to see how Mardu Pyromancer is doing in top events:

https://www.mtgtop8.com/format?f=MO

Honestly, Mardu Pyromancer isn’t bad. The sideboard and game plan need to be altered to combat the aggressive meta game. I’m excited to see what comes out for Rakdos and Orzhov in the next Ravnica set. Maybe we get some good techs? Hope this helped!

I might need to try this out. Also, check out my deck: RBGW Prison

itachi45 oh boy... Ravnica Allegiance huh?

Kaya, Orzhov Usurper is the best thing I saw from the set, but even then... meh...

Light Up the Stage seemed like a cool idea, but awful in the beginning and exiled stuff instead of putting it in graveyard where it can be Bedlam Reveler fuel.

Hero of Precinct One May seem like another Young Pyromancer , but makes our 1 cmc Faithless Looting and hand disruption not as effective.

Judith, the Scourge Diva would have been the bomb is it said “token” and not “nontoken” for the burn effect. But alas, it was not to be.

Bedevil , again, looks nice, but since the build really works well on 2-3 lands (4 barely for Hazoret the Fervent ), we don’t want to skip a turn on a 1-1 when we could use more Kolaghan's Command , Wear , or Collective Brutality for more value and 1-2 trades.

Skewer the Critics is hilarious, but again, it requires constant damage, like burn, and Mardu can’t always guarantee that.

Hope this helps! Unfortunately, no good techs. A Facebook group and I have taken out Blood Moon in favor of Path to Exile . It helps against all these super fast creature aggro decks that are storming the meta.

What do you think about a couple man-lands? also Nahiri?

Metropolis39 thanks for the comment! I’ll give examples and reasoning for excluding manlands and Nahiri, the Harbinger (I assume, rather than Nahiri, the Lithomancer , since you didn’t specify).

First, manlands come in tapped. In modern, speed is the name of the game and we want our lands active by turn one. We can’t fetch for them and if we open up a hand with only a manland, it’s an auto mulligan. Manlands also usually require a lot of mana investment and don’t contribute to the Young Pyromancer / Bedlam Reveler gameplan.

Lavaclaw Reaches - 3 mana for a 2/2 that can get bolted, pushed, or removed before we can actually use it, does not work. Also, Mardu Pyromancer does well with 3-4 lands. So we would only activate and not pump it with the current gameplan.

Shambling Vent - the only one I would somewhat consider. Lifelink is nice with fetches and shocks, and 2/3 is not bad, but still bolt/push fodder while also entering tapped. Still doesn’t add to original gameplan.

Needle Spires - 4 mana for a 2/1? No, thanks. This can be hit by Lightning Bolt , Fatal Push , and even Gut Shot . For 4 mana we could get Hazoret the Fervent , or a combination of spells to fuel Young Pyromancer and Bedlam Reveler .

Nahiri, the Harbinger - as for planeswalkers, I personally don’t like them since their typing doesn’t add to the instant/sorcery gameplan. I mentioned why I don’t use planeswalkers in the primer, but, specifically for Nahiri, the Harbinger , I like the current list for flexibility and adding to current gameplan. Planeswalkers dont seem to add a quick enough clock for us. Nahiri, the Harbinger is nice for card draw and removal, but Mardu runs the best removal in Magic, so we don’t really need that. Plus, Surgical Extraction helps with exiling problems and adds to instant/sorcery count and it’s at instant speed, whereas Planeswalkers are sorcery speed.

I hope this answers your question/recommendation!

Yeah. Thanks for the in depth response. This will help my building of deck.

Hi. First of all, your list looks really nice, great job with this primer. My question is, how do you sideboard against Lantern Control? I expect your answer.

So, out of curiosity, have you seen my vampire lists?

I'm looking into building Mardu Pyro just because I already own like 90+% of the deck, side included, and flex cards. I've seen some lists run Liliana variants, some run Chandra (torch) and some run Nahiri, and some don't use any, same with moons, blood or otherwise.

I'm gonna be honest, this gets a +1 from me just for being another vampire with a love for igniting things (and people). As I build I'll happily share my experience. I also run Boros burn if that interests you.

Say, what are your thoughts on Seasoned Pyromancer ?

You need to update your meta matchups, some of the cards in there aren't in the deck or sideboard anymore

Sorry I’ve been offline for so long! I hope to answer all recent posts.

Mellro thank you for the compliment! As for Lantern Control, it’s not so much what you side in, but how you play against it. It’s about learning the timing (when to fetch, when to go wide with creatures, what to remove and when). You want artifact hate, so side like Affinity/ Hardened Scales . Side in artifact hate rather than spot removal, and more creatures for a clock. Kambal, Consul of Allocation is nice against all their non-creature spells. Maybe side in more Wear overall. Hope this helps!

YamishiTheWickedOne I’ve seen the deck What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse and I love it! Really similar to my mono black vampires. So... Seasoned Pyromancer ... I LOVE IT!!! I think it’s what Mardu needed. In my opinion, an auto-4 of in the build, for 2 Bedlam Reveler and some other spells/enchantments/planeswalkers. The increase of creatures in the build makes Unearth more and more appealing.

JacenSolo29 yep! You are absolutely right! I’m play testing different ratios so it’s not current, until I find the exact ratio I like. So... yes: my build is horrendously out of date. In all seriousness, I do want to ask your patience and understanding while I work on it. Thank you!

I'm debating if I like the Dreadhorde Arcanist variant more. How do you feel with no Blood Moon? Seen a lot of people running 8 pyromancers and 1-2 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician . I love btw how the main villain of MtG before Bolas was plot-relevant and Eldrazi/Nahiri were a thing is meta now. We need a 5 color Urza and pure black Yawgmoth walker, because they were both planeswalkers. Speaking of, see the new 3 mana Sorin yet? Absolute gold for vampire tribal.

No worries, I just didn't know if you knew about it and just brought it to your attention. I'll be looking forward to it. Also I've seen a build with kaya's guile and monastery mentor, what are your thoughts on those cards?

done some testing. I liked Dreadhorde Arcanist engine but unholy mother of Alucard, Yawgmoth is broken in this deck. You're a token generator, his first ability is "pay 1 life, sac another creature, an opposing creature gets permanent -1/-1 AND YOU DRAW A CARD for no mana at instant speed." He's like a giant Viscera Seer on some kind of highly illegal steroids that looks distinctly oil-like. On top of this, if you can have a young pyro live to turn 5, you can hardcast old pyro, get your 2 draws and 2 tokens, sac him with yoggers, draw a third card, then unearth him, basically digging 5 cards into your deck (or 10, if you feel like spending 6 life), making 5 tokens and potentially killing a creature for 4 mana and 1 life. Yawg Dawg is pretty much a walking Necropotence crossed with Skullclamp with protection from the best creature tribe in Modern. If this were yugioh he'd be emergency banworthy, at least back before I abandoned ship there.

Decks gonna be sweet. The blood moon plan might not be great anymore. I think its time to dip more into white with cards like kayas guile.

Aaaaaaaahhhhh bloody colorful euphemism Wizards. Well, dunno if this type of deck is still gonna be viable. The one good thing is all the new releases I bought are useful elsewhere. Also this is gonna hurt vampires who lean more heavily into madness. Yeah it makes sense as a ban but wow.... yes it's a way to hurt Hogak and Phoenix both at once but why can we not just ban Hogak directly and be done with it? Looting has become stupidly good, admittedly.

Edit: looked at the list. They actually did ban that mistake of a card. Much respect, WotC. Stoneforge being back fascinates me. I do own a single Stoneforge because I play Edgar Markov in EDH.

I have been AFK testing this new variant of Mardu Pyromancer and I think I have the ratios and inclusions that bring back that old familiar feeling of Mardu Pyromancer! I want to address some of the previous comments that I have now archived. Everything here on is brand spanking new!

JacenSolo29 I want to address some of the suggestions you made. As you can see, I actually did include one of them, so thank you for the suggestion! Kaya's Guile is a magnificent midrange/control inclusion that just fits perfectly in the sideboard against grave decks (few and far between, but still existent) and against burn for the life gain, edict/sacrifice effect, and chump blocking token. I usually bring it in in place of Kolaghan's Command or Bedlam Reveler for extra sustain. Honestly, a perfect inclusion for Mardu Pyromancer that just screams: "I do Orzhov things"! As for Monastery Mentor , it is always on my radar. I want it to work, but it just seems like an extra Young Pyromancer and always feels a turn late. I want to keep working on it, but it just doesn't fit, especially with being a splash color in the overall theme of the deck, it needs more testing.

YamishiTheWickedOne I want to try to address all your previous comments, that are under the first "update" tab. First, Seasoned Pyromancer is straight GAS. Literally, the nuts and the perfect breath of life that the deck needed to remain competitive. It's so good, that I've even seen it in Jund and Grixis Control decks as a sideboard option for card draw. Honestly, we need the full 4 copies and I would never EVER side out any of them!

YamishiTheWickedOne I tried Dreadhorde Arcanist , and it works well if you max out on every 1 cmc drop, like Inquisition of Kozilek , Thoughtseize , Fatal Push , and Path to Exile . However, since Faithless Looting got the ban axe, we need Ransack the Lab for card draw and it is 2 cmc and doesn't fit well with Dreadhorde Arcanist . It's an honest maybeboard card, but with the current build, it doesn't work.

YamishiTheWickedOne Blood Moon delays the inevitable against big mana decks. We need proactive choices that don't stall, like Fulminator Mage , Molten Rain , or Pillage . I've opted for Pillage so as to also kick some artifact behind, like Tron's plethora of artifacts and the occasional Affinity, since we can also destroy their manlands. Also, having sorcery spells help for all our creatures to trigger some type of additional VALUE advantage, minus Hazoret the Fervent .

YamishiTheWickedOne as for Yawgmoth, Thran Physician ... I don't like it, personally... it feels very "win-more" and doesn't work with the consistent in all the cmc of the cards. Besides, Plague Engineer literally takes a Phyrexian dump all over Human and other tribal decks. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician might need more testing, but I have not been excited to play him on turn 4 compared to other cards and combinations. Maybe one day he will be "emergency ban worthy" (really funny reference since I also was a Yugioh player before MtG), but as for now, he's "meh".

Thank you all for being so interested in the build and keeping the comment section alive and thriving! I appreciate the support and the enthusiasm! Here's to the future of Mardu Pyromancer!

4 Stoneforge seems to be popular in pyro lists lately, I'm noticing. Batterskull ofc, also Fire & Ice as targets.