Modern Death & Taxes... Again.
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 14, 2014, 12:21 a.m. by EvenDryke
In one week I'll be taking my version of this deck to a local tournament. Since I have some extra time to make last minute changes, I wanted to get some feedback on possible card options.
Obviously, this deck is largely based on the Legacy version, so a lot of the creature choices are either the same, or the modern equivalent.
Skip to the bottom if you don't like descriptions or explanations.
What I like in the deck:
AEther Vial - Shenanigans! Need I say more?
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - Since the deck only runs 8 or less noncreature spells, Thalia is a good choice that punishes decks that don't want to "play fair." First strike also makes her relevant in aggro matchups, since she kills or at least trades with most aggressive creatures.
Student of Warfare - This is good for early damage and demanding an answer from your opponent before it gets out of hand. Finishes games at level 7 more often than I thought it would.
Phyrexian Revoker - You can find something to name in almost every matchup, especially Tron and Jund. Admittedly, this does get sided out often.
Serra Avenger - Kills or trades with almost every relevant flier in the format. Serves as a good beater as well.
Leonin Arbiter - Some people prefer Aven Mindcensor in this role, but I think that the cat is a better choice. It comes out one turn earlier and is a little bit harder to kill. It loses points for the lack of evasion, but it gets those points right back for either forcing a mana investment from your opponents, or hard locking them if they can't.
Flickerwisp - This is great if you have an AEther Vial at 3. If not, it's iffy.
Judge's Familiar - This one is more of a meta choice for me than anything else. A 1/1 flier for 1 is ok for early damage, but the real reason I run this is because turn 1 Judge's Familiar into turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is tough for combo and control decks to deal with.
Dryad Militant - At first this was just a placeholder, but it's aggressive body and utility against Jund and control make it better than I thought it would be.
Hero of Bladehold /Elspeth, Knight-Errant - These are my big finishers. They are very good at getting those last few points of damage through.
Path to Exile - The Modern equivalent of Swords to Plowshares .
Ghost Quarter /Tectonic Edge - Traditionally the deck runs 4 Wasteland , and mana denial is an important aspect of the deck. These are not nearly as good as Wasteland , but they're the best we have to work with.
Plains - While this card is a bit of a downgrade from Island , it enables a lot of the plays in this deck, and for that I would say it's a must include.
What I dislike in the deck:
Aven Mindcensor - See above. Both this card and Leonin Arbiter don't totally stop your opponents from searching their decks, but I find this one to be the less reliable of the two.
Kitchen Finks - Competes with Flickerwisp for the 3CMC slot, and just barely loses because it doesn't allow for nearly as many shenanigans. I don't advocate running it alongside the other three drops because this is technically an aggro deck.
Blade Splicer - See Kitchen Finks .
Mangara of Corondor - Without Karakas you just can't pull off the amount of tricks that you can in legacy. There are still some shenanigans with Flickerwisp and AEther Vial , but those are hard to pull off so I find this guy slow and clunky.
Ethersworn Canonist - This is also a bit of a meta choice. There aren't many decks that care to play more than one spell each turn in my area.
Stonecloaker - I recognize the possible strengths of this creature, but I am still not entirely convinced. I do think it is worth testing.
Wrap up:
This is a deck type that is very fun in Modern. It plays like a more aggressive Hatebears deck. Your best chance at getting a good number of wins is by tailoring it to your meta as much as possible. It's one of those decks that will go 2-1-1 at best by catching your opponents off guard, but don't expect to win a GP with it.
What are your thoughts on the deck? Is there anything you would add or remove?