[Discuss] Top 3 competitive modern decks
Modern forum
Posted on Dec. 3, 2015, 5:26 a.m. by Omgnoob
I just recently finished purchasing the rest of the cards for my JUND deck, and I was wondering about the next modern deck I will be building. So what do you guys think the top 3 tier 1 modern decks are? Which are the most fun to play? What do you hate to play against?
JexInfinite says... #3
Most fun is purely subjective, and so nobody will agree on that.
December 3, 2015 5:59 a.m.
I would say the top modern decks are affinity twin and burn. Most fun are abzan midrange, GR tron, and some coco variant those are just things I enjoy every now and then. I hate playing against burn and any combo decks things that have basically 0 interaction and can just win from a top deck.
December 3, 2015 6:03 a.m.
Burn and Tron are also tier 1. Some people say Burn is not that fun to play. Though, I disagree. However, I think Tron and Twin are very fun to play.
December 3, 2015 6:06 a.m.
Purely based off numbers over about the past 6 months. I'd have to say Affinity, Bloom, and Twin (in general). Honorable mention to Naya Burn.
December 3, 2015 6:16 a.m.
But if we're talking fun, and very powerful, for the investment, Merfolk is right up there. It's strong, it's aggressive, it can tempo, it's fun to beat with.
December 3, 2015 6:22 a.m.
Top 3 decks - Twin as the clear leader, Affinity in second, Burn and Jund tied for 3rd.
Most fun to play - Jund and Abzan. Very similar decks. Challenging to play, extremely powerful, difficult to master.
Hate playing against - Tron, because I play Abzan and it's a ridiculously hard matchup.
December 3, 2015 6:24 a.m. Edited.
In a wider sense, if we look at the history of modern; jund, junk, affinity, twin, and scapeshift have most consistently performed at the GP and PT level.
December 3, 2015 6:29 a.m.
i play UG or U Tron and BUG Infect. Infect is so fun to play, getting past them for a surprise win and playing around counters or removal can be a real challenge too. I also play Infect in Tiny Leaders, which is pretty fun too
December 3, 2015 7:17 a.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #11
This article rates deck on how fun they are for both the pilot and the opponent. It provides an interesting angle on it and is a worthwhile read.
Oh and chief, grixis midrange was rated higher than BGx :). Although you're very right in that BGx is difficult to be good at and very interactive. Definitely my favorite deck to face.
December 3, 2015 8:15 a.m.
I would say twin affinity Jund just based on numbers.
December 3, 2015 9:36 a.m.
I exclude burn because both affinity and burn fall into the exact same "super aggro" archetype and I think the ridiculously powerful synergies in affinity make it a better deck than burn. Twin is the best combo and Jund is the best midrange so if you want to play a particular archetype, those three decks are the top of the line.
December 3, 2015 9:41 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #14
That article is an interesting read. I may need to bookmark it for when players are blindly decrying that combo is unfun to play against without assessing how other decks lineup. Granted I don't agree with everything said but it is a metric that at least tried to be unbiased whereas I an most others are very biased and make arguments to support our favored play style.
December 3, 2015 10:03 a.m.
Doth no one represent the minority of infect hither?
J'adore infect.
December 3, 2015 10:06 a.m. Edited.
I enjoy playing infect (my primary) and lantern control (my secondary). Have to agree with the consensus of the best top three.
December 3, 2015 10:14 a.m.
JakeHarlow says... #17
Is Scapeshift considered Tier 1.5 these days? I haven't seen the archetype do much of late, but I'm not the most current on Modern these days.
December 3, 2015 1:03 p.m.
Without Dig Through Time, Scapeshift hasn't pushed past a Tier 2 combo deck since January.
December 3, 2015 1:11 p.m.
I have to agree with the general consensus, Burn/Affinity, Jund, and Twin are by far the best decks, as for decks I hate playing against? BURN, INFECT, TWIN, ZOO, and to a lesser degree Affinity...lol as you can see I despise fast shit and evil combo/counter magic...though that's mainly because my favorite and most fun decks to play (mostly brews, so they may not count as much) are either not very interactive or fold to counter spells , so these decks are very frustrating and difficult lol.As for an actual competetive deck, my favorite to play is Grixis Control/Midrange, and aside from burn, all the top decks listed are pretty easy match ups.
December 3, 2015 1:58 p.m.
JakeHarlow I agree! You know it's bad when it's either play delver/pod, or don't play Modern...I danced and rejoiced and laughed in the faces of the entire Modern community when the banning happened! And it just goes to show you that it was the right decision, because the majority of pod and delver players (which was everyone) sold their collections and quit Modern lol. We don't need those kind of elitist cry baby attitudes and it was killing the format being filled with them.
December 3, 2015 2:03 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #22
Haha yeah. I'm back to playing Soul Sisters and I'm loving it. Such a fun deck and now it can actually win things (but not too often). Who would have thought Stave Off would be a 4-of in the sideboard of a Modern deck? But you need it to have a chance vs Twin.
I'm a real Tier 2 junkie. 8-Rack, Shift, and Sisters are my thing. I don't win that many events with them, but it's fun when I do. I also use Faeries!
When I'm at a serious event, I play Affinity because that's when I want to consistently win. Kind of how I homebrew in Standard 99% of the time, until a 5k or PPTQ rolls around. Then I pull the Tier 1 Abzan list out of my bag. Basically, I either play for fun (but try to win), or I play to win, period. I pilot Tier 1 decks at Competitive REL but go Tier 2 or homebrew for everything else.
December 3, 2015 2:13 p.m.
SwaggyMcSwagglepants says... #23
Well, even though there are a best 3 decks, many people, including pros, believe that the best deck and the 20th, even the 30th best deck aren't that far off. So personally, I think it's more of what you think is fun. I like Twin, Infect, and Grixis personally.
December 3, 2015 5:55 p.m.
Well, a skillful pilot with an intimate knowledge of his deck and the meta can often outperform a pilot less familiar with his deck. That may go without saying, but just because someone is piloting affinity, twin, or Jund doesn't mean they'll win like the pros. And it's pretty obvious that even tier one decks can lose to tier two and janky brews. I'm an advocate of finding a deck you like and making it yours. Know it inside and out and pilot it with high percentage of accuracy. Do that, and oftentimes you'll win because you made fewer mistakes. This could all just be the ramblings of a tired Johnny/Spike, but maybe it's not all wrong haha
lemmingllama says... #2
The top three decks are currently Affinity, Jund, and Twin.
The most fun decks are Twin, Amulet Bloom, and Grishoalbrand. I do like the dirty combo decks, but all have some great lines you can pursue.
As for decks that I hate to play against, it's definitely Storm. I tend to not run hyper interactive decks, so they are typically able to race me well.
December 3, 2015 5:45 a.m.