I dabble in knights in modern, and i love KOTR, so lemme be of assistance.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch is not the strongest 1 drop in modern, and yes you can play him late game and he could be big, but i dont think you need that, id up the Student of Warfare count up to 4, its simply one of the best 1 drops there are in modern. Im not the best with mana bases, seeing as you have 6 plains, 1 forest, id add a single swamp in there as well. and if you can afford, fetches like Verdant Catacombs and Marsh Flats , thats why KOTR is so strong because of the fetches, otherwise he is a 2/2 and you have to tap him to make him bigger, with fetches he can get bigger on his own.

Besides that, looks good, i like the addition of Kitchen Finks and the splash of black for Liliana of the Veil and others. Good job+1

Crazybop09: Great advice, thanks!

The reason Mikaeus is there isn't to be a 1-drop (indeed, if you casted him as a 1 drop, he'd die immediately), but to buff out the knight's midrange and allow them to hyper-scale . It also negates any -1/-1 counter on Kitchen Finks , allowing them to persist nigh indefinitely. I do adore the Student of Warfare , though. The issue is that he doesn't really provide the utility that either Mikaeus, Finks or Ooze do, so that's why I've left him as a 2 drop for now.

Originally, I had Corpsejack Menace in here because I loved how he allowed Ooze and Mikaeus to scale, but he proved to be a little to heavy for his own good. Still testing with him, but I think he's been replaced be the finks.

In terms of the fetches: You are 1000% right. They would def. take this deck from where it is (I'd estimate a high T2) to a Tier 1.5, at least. unfortunately, I don't have the money atm for a full set of 6 fetches. I'll update the deck when I do!

I understand, i dont have the money for fetches thats why all i do is brew, currently im running a version of Viga-BOOM! (turn 2) that barry created, and i love it. But good luck, let me know what other things you decide to change with this deck.

I like it dude! To be honest I never considered the Finks + Lunarch synergy... And I never considered that +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters would just cancel each other out in the sense that they are both actually removed from the game. I double-checked to be sure for myself, and sure enough, it's confirmed in subsec. 704.5r:

If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it. http://wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/318/~/magic%3A-the-gathering%3A-state-based-actions

Looks really solid, glad to see you included Thoughtseize MB. You will have to let us know how things work with Mikaeus, the Lunarch . If you have long enough games, it seems like he could have a chance to perform quite well. So long as you keep him around make sure you name "Human" via your Caverns.

If I was to suggest any comments or concerns, I guess I would say this:

1) Your manabase for Student is a little rocky (only 10 white sources open to levelling). You may want to adjust your mana base slightly or consider cutting him for a different knight card. If you do adjust your mana base, he is a great card to run a full set of. If not, the quickest power-knight cards that come to mind are Hero of Bladehold and Wilt-Leaf Liege (since it seems you have opted for greater versatility with strong creatures, instead of a direct tribal focus). Stillmoon Cavalier may work for you as a midrange power sink. Other than those, I have found Knight of Meadowgrain to be an amazing anti-aggro, pressure-control card, albeit her lack of triggered or activated abilities doesn't quite align with your other choices thus far.

2) With only 13 knights currently in your deck, you may occasionally find Knight Exemplar to be sitting there awkwardly next to your other non-knight creatures. Don't be afraid to cut the count to 3 if you feel she isn't pulling her weight.

3) Planeswalkers - Liliana of the Veil is one of the best planeswalkers ever printed (maybe the best?), and you CAN more or less just pop her into any black splash, but I do feel I should point out her +1 ability. It doesn't really synergize well with your deck (unless you have already emptied your hand). Maybe Scavenging Ooze can pick up a creature you discarded, or KoTR could benefit from an extra land, but without having a lot of flashback options or insane draw already from Bob to negate the loss, she could wind up injuring your strategy every now and then as you struggle to add counters to use her -2 ability. Maybe just use those slots for more removal or creatures instead?

I could certainly see Liliana of the Veil working well with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge (and maybe Smallpox ), but I don't know how easily he could just be added in.

Anyways, +1!

MetaphysicalxProdigy: This is actually my first attempt at a 'tempo' deck- I have very little experience with them.

In terms of your critique: The original deck actually included a trifecta of Mikaeus, Ooze and Corpsejack Menace . The idea for the Mikaeus-Corpsejack combo was suggested by Caligula, and I liked the flavor and midrange power it added. However in testing, CorpseJack felt too inadequate if I had no Mikaeus, Ooze, etc. So, I kicked him in favor of the more immediately valuable Kitchen Finks . (who still have combo potential with Mikaeus)

In terms of Student of Warfare , I am aware of this issue. Alas, what you say is true. I'd love to replace him with wilt-leaf liege, but honestly, I'm a bit worried about creatures that cost 4+ overloading my mana base... it's worth a shot, though. I'll look into it. Do you think It'd be too much?

Regarding your second point, I'm currently considering -1 exemplar for +1 reliquary. She's been doing fine so far, though, so It'll need more testing.

Where Liliana is concerned: I am under the opinion that she's powerful enough that she doesn't need to have 100% synergy. Her on-spot removal is just so ridiculous, her ability to send lands in my hand directly to the graveyard is more helpful than you'd think, and her game-ending ultimate threat has actually saved me a few games, as the opponent has been forced to deal with her before coming for me, giving me enough time to throttle them into submission.

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge is a neat card, and I'd totally love to throw him in the deck, but if I had the choice, I'd pick Wilt-Leaf Liege over him, and at the moment, Mikaeus is pulling more weight than he could. However, if I find Mikaeus to be lacking, I will try Haakon in his place!

Oh, also: I could use some help kerjiggering my lands. I have no idea what I'm doing there... Like, what a good ratio of fetch-shocks are, what the mana bases should be, etc.

+1

Have you thought about adding some mana dorks? maybe some Noble Hierarch or Birds of Paradise ?

PlattBonnay- the subject of mana dorks regarding this deck is actually a pretty interesting one. My deck, despite having only 21 lands, has never encountered a lack of mana, and has only rarely been stonewalled by having the wrong kind out (this would be fixed with fetches, which I have yet to add to the list, as I'm not very familiar with how to properly include them.)

With an average CMC of 2.1, -and- aether vial out, I've been about to do some pretty ridiculous things with half the mana that I'd normally need.

That being said, Noble Hierarch is a great card, due to the pure value it gives off the exalted + mana fixing. If it wasn't 50-60 dollars, I'd probably throw a couple in there instead of Student of Warfare . At the moment though, the advantage they would give is simply not worth adding 120+ to the cost of the deck.

I -am- looking to replace Student of Warfare though. He's nice, but I don't really have enough of a white mana base to really justify being able to level him up efficiently when I need to. What do you think of these options for a replacement:

Voice of Resurgence : Very powerful card, better vs. some matchups than others, but unless it's countered, it gives you assured value by throwing out at least 1 creature before it dies.

Fauna Shaman : creature tutoring is always excellent, although it's a bit more helpful in a Hatebears deck, Fauna shaman would allow me to tutor out things like Knight Exemplar if I need them in a pinch. Works very well with AEther Vial .

Tidehollow Sculler : Hand hate. Good and oft-underrated tempo card, in my opinion. I'm not really sure if the deck needs more tempo, but he's an option nonetheless.

Qasali Pridemage : Enchantment and artifact hate. My deck doesn't have a lot of it, so he'd be a good additional bit of hate to add, especially with AEther Vial , which turns him into basically a 'destroy target enchantment or artifact' for 1.

Oor, where 4 drops are concerned, there's always Wilt-Leaf Liege , and Thrun, the Last Troll .

Lingering Souls works well with Lily.

I would cut the Knight theme in favor of more utility and resourcefulness. Junk has some seriously powerful cards at it's disposal. Fauna Shaman is indeed awesome. She can fetch stuff like Gaddock Teeg , Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , and more.

Here is a list I came up with awhile back:

aeonstoremyliver: I do get your gripes with the Knight theme, but in testing I've actually been able to attain a pretty good degree of flexibility with my sideboard. Would a more hatebear approach be more effective? Probably a bit, but I love the Knight flavor enough that I don't really mind. Gaddock Teeg is already in the sideboard.

I'm looking to kick Student of Warfare for a 2-off of something, though. What would you suggest? Thalia, Guardian of Thraben ? Voice of Resurgence ? Fauna Shaman ? (I like the Shaman, because being able to tutor out an exemplar is extremely useful, and gives her a little more utility than she'd normally have.) Maybe just throw in some more hate, with Qasali Pridemage or Tidehollow Sculler ? Or mainboard Gaddock Teeg and sideboard something else?

Too many options, and I'm just not sure what would be the most helpful.

Here's a potentially better landbase:

4 Verdant Catacombs , 4 Marsh Flats , 2 Arid Mesa

2 Temple Garden , 1 Overgrown Tomb , 1 Godless Shrine

1 Gavony Township , 1 Tectonic Edge , 1 Horizon Canopy , 1 Sejiri Steppe

2 Plains , 1 Forest

I chose to include extra fetchlands to power up Knight of the Reliquary , and cut the Bojuka Bog and Vault of the Archangel from your Knight of the Reliquary package. Most KotR toolboxes only contain 2-3 lands anyway, so you could even cut one more for another basic or am M13/Innistrad dual land.

thispersonisagenius: That's a huge help, thank you! I may cut something to add in a basic swamp, if only so my removal suite isn't completely screwed by Blood Moon . I may try to keep a singleton of Cavern of Souls in play as well, as it's been hugely helpful to me versus control matchups. The extra fetchlands are a good call- I'm going to run a bunch of playtests with this mana base, and see how it goes. Thanks again!

Take out Kitchen Finks , this deck does not need to run it. Scavenging Ooze can go down to a 2x as well. I agree Student of Warfare needs to go as you mentioned on my profile.

• Raise your land count to 23, and add in 3 more Cavern of Souls (VERY IMPORTANT CARD). So that means you need to take out one land.

• Mikaeus, the Lunarch is a cool card, don't get me wrong, but you could use that slot for something more impactful.

• Knight Exemplar needs to be a 4x, no exception.

• Now, as for adding a few more cards back in, I suggest running 3x Inquisition of Kozilek and then either Black Knight , Knight of Infamy , or Stromgald Crusader due to the pro white (Path to Exile ). Great for even Mainboard due to how popular it is, plus the perfect side boarding out card when not against white since that can be hard to pick.

• Also after some more play testing you should consider finding a slot for a 4th Path to Exile , it is that important.

Dreno33:

Interesting- with those changes, the deck would be much more focused on KotR pump than soft stalling. The issue is, I feel like there aren't that many powerful knights that fill the slots I need them to, although Black Knight looks promising. What do you think of Haakon, Stromgald Scourge ? The main problem I have with him is the same problem I have with focusing solely on KotR, which is that graveyard hate appears to be very easy to get out in Modern.

What do you think of Fauna Shaman ? She could be extremely helpful in tutoring out Knight Exemplar or Knight of the Reliquary .

Just thought I would mention - Haakon combos with Nameless Inversion and Crib Swap , allowing you to cast them multiple times from the graveyard. As well as liliana and Smallpox , obviously, if you were looking to send him to the grave. Raven's Crime is also viable with him.

If someone is able to successfully cast grave hate (being any one of Rest in Peace , Tormod's Crypt or Relic of Progenitus ) then there isn't much you can do. Having player shroud does stop crypt and part of relic, but that's about it. If you get lucky they will lack the extra mana to detonate relic and you can use Abrupt Decay on it immediately.

Get rid of True Believer and run Leyline of Sanctity instead.

It may also be wise to cut Pulse from the SB and add +1 path, +1 decay instead. Unless you feel that tokens are a major part of your meta, of course.

One last note - is Mikaeus really, actually pulling his weight? I have wanted to use some for a long time but I feel that modern is just too fast for him. He is easy prey for Electrolyze , and even Lightning Bolt after you spend 4 mana to cast him. Wouldn't you rather run Bladehold or Liege instead? Gavony Township provides the same late-game effect anyways. And if money is also no object, then maybe switch him for 3 Dark Confidant (also keeping the human subtype for your caverns).

Totally forgot - Qasali Pridemage could be really useful here, he is an excellent, powerful MB card giving you exalted and a toolbox to deal with artifacts/enchants. Maybe an alternative for Kitchen Finks ? There was an earlier comment that I agree with about there being too many Ooze in here. Maybe cut one and try cutting the finks to make some adjustments (+3 pridemage, +1 liege).

Never underestimate how strong enchantments and artifacts can be against junk. The pridemage could be all that stands between you and an Oblivion Stone , Vedalken Shackles , Wurmcoil Engine , Mindslaver , Spreading Seas , Blood Moon , Ghostly Prison , etc.

Two things to be wary of: 1) the fewer knights you have, the less potent Exemplar will become (less than 12 non-Exemplar knights without a tutor is risky for her being useful, IMO), and 2) you have a disproportionate number of creatures/cards in the 3cmc range for a deck running 21 lands. Vial certainly helps but you could find yourself flooded easily. Try and get in a few more versatile 2-drops and you will probably see better consistency.

Mirran Crusader is an all-star against pod, rock, g/w Hatebears, mono-black/green, etc but he is situational everywhere else. Without a sword to wield or lots of P/T pumps/buffs you may want to consider running only 3 instead of 4.

Reveillark could be interesting, although Ooze may juxtapose its role.

And finally, I wouldn't object to having a single Bojuka Bog in your KotR toolbox. It is the only MB gravehate you have against the rampancy of UWR/UWx control, UR storm, GB rock, etc

MetaphysicalxProdigy: I am actually currently testing a build that is disparate from the one posted on the site- I will likely update it as the build is seeing some success, although it's too early to really be sure.

I like Mikaeus a lot, but w/o Corpsejack Menace /Kitchen Finks , he's not particularly useful. (however, he's not -awful.- That's what makes the decision difficult. His ability to pump a Mirran Crusader to a 4/4 over the course of a few turns has saved me a few times.

That being said, my current build has:

-3 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

-2 Student of Warfare

-3 Kitchen Finks

for

+2 lands

+3 Fauna Shaman

+1 Thrun, the Last Troll

+2 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge

I actually like this build a bit better. There are a myriad of ways to get Haakon, Stromgald Scourge out, be it through Liliana of the Veil , or AEther Vial , or Fauna Shaman .

Fauna Shaman allows me to throw in a 1-off wincon that is Thrun, the Last Troll (I love this guy, but if you have a better candidate, let me know.) and allows me to tutor out Knight Exemplar , or anything else I need. With Hakkon in play, discarding a Knight isn't nearly as punishing as you would think.

The only major issue I have with this build so far is that it lacks any sort of explosive power without the graveyard. It places more emphasis on Knight of the Reliquary as the main beater of the deck, and between her and Haakon, Stromgald Scourge , if someone drops a Rest in Peace , I don't see myself being able to come back from that.

With the previous build (that is currently on the site), things like Kitchen Finks and Mikaeus can prove to be useful, even if I get nuked by Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus . What that most likely means to me is that while in a best-of-3 I have a very good chance of taking Game 1, a proper sideboard will completely screw the deck for Games 2-3.

Is this a valid concern, you think? I mean, I know there are other decks, such as Living End, that operate mainly on the hope that the opponent won't be able to get their graveyard hate out. (however, Living End isn't 800 bucks, so...)

Good call on Bojuka Bog . I'll throw one in.

When you say that a Rest in Peace is a huge issue it's never really a mainboarded card. This being said you can have answers boarded for against it such as Back to Nature . And if you decide to use Haakon, Stromgald Scourge you should consider running Nameless Inversion or Crib Swap as they combo well with him. Being a changeling spell with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge in play you can cast either one as many times as you can pay the mana cost for.

As an example I've got a suedo knight deck I've recently built you could check out for an idea or two.

+1

safearus: I like the idea of Nameless Inversion and Crib Swap , but I don't know what I'd take out to throw them in, as my removal suite is pretty solid now- If I were to add more removal, I'd probably just add another 3x Inquisition of Kozilek .

I wouldn't worry too much about "explosive power" without the graveyard. The only cards that are effected are KotR, Ooze and potentially finks (if Rest in Peace is in play). You did mention that Finks is still viable if you get nuked with RIP - remember that that card literally erases the concept of a graveyard from the game, and everything is just exiled for good once it's played. That means Finks is gone if it dies.

Yeah, gravehate like RIP does suck with a KotR/Haakon build, but the strong attrition you can get is the risk-reward tradeoff for using something more accessible than the library. It sucks worse for a Storm or Living End player - it's just part of the game. Fortunately for you, most competitive modern decks rely on the graveyard in some way and don't use gravehate as sweeping as RIP. This fearsome card is only relevant in aggro decks (i.e. white weenie, zoo) and a few select control decks (i.e. enchantment lockdown, some suspend decks). Just use Thoughtseize to get rid of it each time.

Glad to see you are going to try Haakon. He really does give you options against your opponents. I think you are still going to have a hard time against UWR builds that bolt your creatures repeatedly. They won't let you make awesome plays like using Fauna Shaman to tutor out creatures relevant to the match, although it seems you have wisely included some Spellskite in the side if things get too crazy. There is some really good potential with Fauna Shaman and AEther Vial , allowing you too tutor creatures and vial them out at instant speed, as blockers/EoT sneaks/or even to protect from being destroyed, as you can with Knight Exemplar .

Living End isn't that hard to play against. Just be wary of how many creatures you cast, and wait for the first End to hit. Then cast more (knights giving indestructibility is invaluable here), and if he uses End again then you return your creatures to the field. Haakon completely disrupts their strategy as well.

Aggro might be tough for you - albeit your knights will be your best defense here. Against hyper-aggro like affinity and RDW, though, you might be in trouble. You also still only have Bojuka Bog , and maybe thoughtseize + teeg to deal with storm (which further requires perfect timing to be effective).

I still think you should squeeze in something to deal with artifact/enchants in your main. You don't have many enemy combo breakers. I really do recommend that you add another Abrupt Decay or 2-3 Qasali Pridemage to maintain that flexibility, since you are playing for a slightly longer game. Pod and Tron are very popular in modern (dominating 12% and 8% of the entire competitive meta, respectively). How do you expect to destroy the inevitable Birthing Pod or Wurmcoil Engine artifacts without any relevant removal?

The indestructible trait is not huge in the Living End match up as we have to sacrifice our creatures. It would be a lot easier to deal with if it was a destroy effect.

As for viable removal of artifact threats I would say something like Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse are your best friends. Another possible way is Engineered Explosives . This card is awesome and very flexible with what it can do. For 2 mana you can wipe out all tokens. For 4 mana you can handle those pesky Rest in Peace cards. Honestly I've gotten into the habit of running this card as a 1 of in the main. Sure it never handles a Wurmcoil Engine but it handles the tokens that bad boy produces.

Creeping Corrosion roughs up affinity style decks too.

And don't get me wrong, Path to Exile is fantastic removal, but sometimes we don't want them to have that extra land drop. This is my personal reasoning when using Haakon, Stromgald Scourge I would rather have Crib Swap and stabilize at a lower life total than Path to Exile a creature and have them recover twice as fast.

Happy brewing

MetaphysicalxProdigy. safearus: You guys are correct about the difficulty with Affinity/Tron.

In a recent change, I've thrown in 3 Qasali Pridemage , taking out the student of warefares and -1 Ooze to do so, as I prioritize artifact/enchantment hate over graveyard hate at the moment.

Personally I'd swap out True Believer for Leyline of Sanctity . Being able to just slam it down at the start of the game really stop The Rock and Jund with it's discard spells, as well as almost completely taking Deadguy Ale and 8rack out of the game. It's pretty amusing to see somebody that keeps 1 or 2 Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek in their opening hand just to have them be dead cards and ruin their turn 1 plays if i do say so myself.