Rule of Law – Modern Metagame CracksBy Matt Sperling  //  1 Feb, 2012

Today I’ll be discussing how the upper tier of the Modern metagame is shaping up, and what holes or weaknesses exist in the popular strategies.

The Modern Metagame

Caw Blade

Sick_Variance (1st Place)
Modern Premier #3345542 on 01/29/2012

1 Arid Mesa 2 Celestial Colonnade 2 Hallowed Fountain 5 Island 1 Moorland Haunt 3 Mutavault 2 Mystic Gate 2 Plains 3 Scalding Tarn 4 Seachrome Coast 1 Steam Vents 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Vendilion Clique 1 Batterskull 4 Cryptic Command 2 Gitaxian Probe 1 Mortarpod 4 Path to Exile 4 Remand 3 Spell Snare 1 Steelshaper’s Gift 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Sword of Fire and Ice Sideboard 2 Disenchant 1 Engineered Explosives 2 Gut Shot 3 Kitchen Finks 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1 Relic of Progenitus 2 Suppression Field 1 Sword of War and Peace 2 Wrath of God

One of the many blue tempo decks, this one generates card advantage alongside tempo, eschewing Bolt and Helix for Hawks and Cryptic. As always with Caw Blade in its various forms, this version of aggro control seeks to back up cheap threats with efficient countermagic and equipment.

Isochron

_Blaze777_ (7th Place)
Modern Premier #3345532 on 01/27/2012

1 Arid Mesa 2 Celestial Colonnade 1 Hallowed Fountain 4 Island 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Steam Vents 3 Sulfur Falls 2 Tectonic Edge 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Snapcaster Mage 2 Vendilion Clique 4 Isochron Scepter 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Lightning Helix 3 Magma Jet 4 Path to Exile 1 Research Development 4 Serum Visions 2 Spell Pierce 2 Spell Snare Sideboard 1 Combust 2 Dispel 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 3 Gifts Ungiven 2 Grim Lavamancer 2 Pyroclasm 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind 1 Unburial Rites 1 Vendilion Clique

This look at aggro disrupts you a little, but mostly just burns you. The Gifts Ungiven for Unburial Rites and a Fatty package (explained below under Gifts Control) gives people the tough decision of which removal and how much to leave in after sideboard. Play a bunch of answers to Sphinx, and you might just get burned out. Since this deck is narrower than Caw Blade, it’s easier to fight. Making sure you don’t lose to a fast burn clock is step one. Dealing with Gifts/Rites after board is step 2. This deck is easier to fight, but by no means easy. Many lists in my notebook are unfinished because during brewing, I thought of this deck and wondered how I’m going to beat it.

Gifts Control

qbturtle15 (2nd Place)
Modern Premier #3345542 on 01/29/2012

3 Creeping Tar Pit 1 Godless Shrine 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 4 Marsh Flats 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Plains 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Snow-Covered Swamp 1 Swamp 2 Watery Grave 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 1 Grave Titan 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Cryptic Command 2 Forbidden Alchemy 4 Gifts Ungiven 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Mana Leak 1 Mystical Teachings 1 Negate 4 Path to Exile 1 Slaughter Pact 1 Smother 1 Talisman of Dominance 2 Talisman of Progress 1 Thirst for Knowledge 2 Thoughtseize 1 Unburial Rites Sideboard 2 Baneslayer Angel 1 Damnation 1 Darkblast 1 Disenchant 1 Divine Offering 1 Negate 1 Night of Souls’ Betrayal 1 Rest for the Weary 1 Solemn Offering 2 Thoughtseize 2 Timely Reinforcements 1 Wrath of God

I don’t want to make too much of a couple good finishes, but this deck just makes sense from an evolution of the metagame standpoint. Gifts Ungiven as double Entomb (only “find” 2 cards, Unburial Rites and a fatty, and the opponent must put them in your graveyard) is very powerful against aggressive decks, and gifts for control elements is strong in the control mirror, so it makes sense that Gifts is migrating from sideboards to maindecks. Caw Blade seems a bit tough when you’re playing so many 4 mana spells, but with these tools, there’s ways to build around nearly any problem, so it’ll be interesting to see the next steps.

“Pure” Delver

Demonic_Penguin (1st Place)
Modern Premier #3345532 on 01/27/2012

2 Breeding Pool 1 Forest 6 Island 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Tarmogoyf 2 Vendilion Clique 3 Burst Lightning 2 Cryptic Command 1 Deprive 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Mana Leak 4 Serum Visions 2 Sleight of Hand 1 Spell Pierce 2 Spell Snare 2 Vedalken Shackles Sideboard 3 Ancient Grudge 2 Combust 1 Dismember 3 Grim Lavamancer 1 Negate 2 Obstinate Baloth 3 Spell Pierce

What I call “Pure” Delver doesn’t try to Isochron or equip a sword, it just plays a pure tempo-burn strategy that puts you a little behind and never lets you catch up. Many other aggro controls players aren’t using Tarmogoyf, so that works to your benefit if you do. Vedalken Shackles is another card that other Delver players will wish they had too when you cast it.

Fae

BraveGhostOfYou (3rd Place)
Modern Premier #3345542 on 01/29/2012

1 Faerie Conclave 18 Island 4 Mutavault 2 Tectonic Edge 4 Mistbind Clique 4 Scion of Oona 2 Spellskite 4 Spellstutter Sprite 3 Vendilion Clique 4 Cryptic Command 3 Mana Leak 4 Remand 4 Spell Snare 3 Vedalken Shackles Sideboard 1 Dismember 2 Hurkyl’s Recall 2 Ratchet Bomb 4 Spell Pierce 1 Spellskite 2 Steel Sabotage 2 Threads of Disloyalty 1 Vedalken Shackles

Everyone’s least favorite tribe seems to be slowing down a bit as people adjust. It’s trending down, but still a very powerful deck that will punish anything slow. It feels a step behind other aggro control with a broader range of tools and cards that are just more powerful than Scion of Oona.

Jund

DPS330 (3rd Place)
Modern Premier #3345532 on 01/27/2012

4 Blackcleave Cliffs 3 Copperline Gorge 1 Forest 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Raging Ravine 2 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 2 Treetop Village 2 Twilight Mire 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Dark Confidant 2 Grim Lavamancer 3 Kitchen Finks 4 Tarmogoyf 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 2 Blightning 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Liliana of the Veil 3 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Terminate 2 Thoughtseize Sideboard 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Combust 2 Jund Charm 1 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Obstinate Baloth 2 Seal of Primordium 1 Surgical Extraction 3 Thorn of Amethyst 1 Volcanic Fallout

The deck that just does what it’s always done. A casual glance might make it seem like the deck builds itself and doesn’t adjust to a metagame, but look closer. 4 [card liliana of the veil]Lilianas[/card] was sacrosanct 3 weeks ago, but that was before opponents were casting Vendilion Clique nearly every round. Grim Lavamancer punishes [card delver of secrets]Delvers[/card] and [card squadron hawk]Hawks[/card], and that’s why it’s here. Pilots tend to emphasize Terminate over [card maelstrom pulse]Pulse[/card] as Twin and Fae get more popular. They’ve been getting less popular, so here we see DPS330 using 3 Pulse 2 Terminate.

Melira Pod
DoctorPenick (4th Place)
Modern Premier #3345542 on 01/29/2012

4 Forest 1 Godless Shrine 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Horizon Canopy 2 Marsh Flats 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Overgrown Tomb 2 Razorverge Thicket 1 Sunpetal Grove 2 Swamp 1 Temple Garden 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Birds of Paradise 1 Eternal Witness 1 Harmonic Sliver 4 Kitchen Finks 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 3 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Murderous Redcap 1 Ranger of Eos 1 Reveillark 1 Spellskite 1 Sun Titan 3 Viscera Seer 4 Wall of Roots 4 Birthing Pod 4 Chord of Calling 3 Thoughtseize Sideboard 1 Aven Mindcensor 1 Baneslayer Angel 1 Dark Confidant 1 Ethersworn Canonist 2 Ghostly Prison 1 Kataki, War’s Wage 3 Obstinate Baloth 1 Orzhov Pontiff 1 Praetor’s Grasp 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Shriekmaw 1 Withered Wretch

This deck gets played a lot, so I include it in Tier 1. I’m of the opinion that a Pod deck with all utility stuff and no combo stuff would be better, but what do I know. This deck typically presents a combo kill, that when the opponent disrupts can turn into a beatdown plan or reassemble itself with the Sun Titan or Reveillark or just redundant elements.

Storm

_mRichi_ (4th Place)
Modern Premier #3345532 on 01/27/2012

3 Island 1 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Shivan Reef 2 Steam Vents 4 Sulfur Falls 4 Desperate Ravings 4 Desperate Ritual 2 Empty the Warrens 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Grapeshot 4 Manamorphose 3 Past in Flames 4 Pyretic Ritual 3 Pyromancer Ascension 4 Seething Song 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand Sideboard 4 Defense Grid 3 Dispel 3 Echoing Truth 2 Firespout 3 Lightning Bolt

I played at Worlds, but I’m not really a fan of it. A lot has to go right when you play against the decks with 6 [card inquisition of kozilek]Inquisition[/card]/Thoughtseize or a bunch of counters and a fast clock. Even against Affinity sideboarding Mindbreak Trap, what seems routine can easily become a loss if your draws aren’t as good as theirs. Having said that… this deck is part of the metagame that you need to prepare for, people play it, and it occasionally performs.

Twin

yugor (3-1)
Modern Daily #3345400 on 01/29/2012

1 Breeding Pool 4 Island 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Steam Vents 4 Sulfur Falls 4 Deceiver Exarch 3 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 3 Pestermite 3 Spellskite 4 Dispel 3 Flame Slash 4 Remand 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Splinter Twin Sideboard 4 Ancient Grudge 1 Blood Moon 1 Combust 3 Echoing Truth 3 Firespout 2 Spell Pierce 1 Twisted Image

Had to click a few links before a Twin list popped up, it’s fallen that far out of favor. It definitely still shows up, but it suffers from the fact that people expect it, it’s very narrow, and the format has a ton of creatures in it, so your creature combo runs into Terminates and the like. Be prepared for this deck, but don’t play it.

Tron: Legacy (OK Modern)

DSacks08 (3-1)
Modern Daily #3345400 on 01/29/2012

1 Academy Ruins 1 Adarkar Wastes 4 Celestial Colonnade 1 Eye of Ugin 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Island 1 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre 1 Wurmcoil Engine 4 Azorius Signet 2 Condescend 1 Day of Judgment 1 Engineered Explosives 3 Expedition Map 2 Gifts Ungiven 1 Mindslaver 1 Oblivion Ring 4 Path to Exile 4 Remand 1 Repeal 4 Thirst for Knowledge 2 Timely Reinforcements 1 Wrath of God Sideboard 1 Baneslayer Angel 1 Crucible of Worlds 1 Disenchant 2 Dismember 2 Dispel 1 Ethersworn Canonist 2 Ghostly Prison 1 Ratchet Bomb 1 Rule of Law 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Timely Reinforcements 1 Torpor Orb

The other gifts deck, and likely the inferior one, feels glacially slow when your draw isn’t perfect. When your draw is really good, you just “come over the top” of whatever the opponent is doing and start taking their turns or Ali Eldrazi’ing them.

Not mentioned: Martyr, Merfolk, Affinity, Teachings, Tokens, other fringe players. Some decks just didn’t show up in top 8’s/4-0s often enough to warrant major concern. People do play affinity, so prepare as you know you can (it isn’t hard). Merfolk is just a very bad aggro control variant. Martyr is close to being good but looks better on paper than in practice.

Addressing the Metagame

I want to present a sort of stream of consciousness about adjusting to this metagame so that whichever of the many competitive decks you want to play, you can find something that’s helpful or just start brainstorming in a similar way about tweaking you deck. When a format is this diverse, preparing only vs a couple decks rather than holistically is dangerous. Many times I’ve ended up 7-2 or 6-3 thinking “If I had just played against [public enemy no. 1] three more times I could have made top 8.” Well, maybe better preparation was what was lacking, not getting paired vs. the same 2 or 3 decks every single round.

Looking at the lists above, here are two cards that are criminally underplayed: Choke and Leyline of Sanctity.

You might not have realized Choke is legal, I didn’t until Kibler mentioned it in passing (he’s always trying to figure out how to make a bad green deck beat better blue decks in every format). You also might not realize that Leyline of Sanctity prevents the opponent from casting Gifts Ungiven, while at the same time it shuts off the [card inquisition of kozilek]Inquisitions[/card] and [card lightning bolt]Bolts[/card] we expect it to. I love how I want Leyline vs the Isochron deck to stop burn, and at the same time it stops the burn, it stops the Gifts transformation, and it’s very hard to get off the battlefield.

Finding a home for these enchantments isn’t easy, and perhaps that’s the defense in the trial of criminal underplayedness. Leyline of Sanctity does see some play, I would just argue not enough. Still, take a look at how many Islands are in the above lists, and how many decks need to target you to disrupt you or kill you. These sideboard cards could be very powerful.

If you can find a way to stick Ensnaring Bridge and Leyline of Sanctity (or even better, [card ethersworn canonist]Canonist[/card] + Spellskite as Nassif tried in Philly), decks could be locked out. I’ve been working on this idea a bit, and I haven’t struck gold yet, but I’m not done digging.

The next thing to note is how many 1-toughness creatures people intend to kill you with. Whether Vendilion Clique, Scion of Oona, Squadron Hawk, or the “thank god they banned Wild Nacatl and printed a blue one” everpresent Delver of Secrets, if you can deal with a 1/1 you can reduce people’s clocks significantly. I discussed above the wise inclusion of Grim Lavamancer in Jund. Cards like Flame Jab can do similar work in the right list (Gifts for Loam strategies could include a Flame Jab perhaps? Or you could just put Flame Jab in a burn deck and get value out of it). Magma Jet is too low impact in some formats, but not this one.

Firespout tends to be as good as Wrath of God, with some notable exceptions (Tarmogoyf). Damnation and Wrath being a turn slower than Firespout matters a great deal when Delver or Fae is the enemy. You might be able to cast Firespout but dead or [card mistbind clique]Mistbind[/card]/[card cryptic command]Cryptic’d[/card] out of casting a Wrath. The fact that Wraths feel a little slow works to the benefit of fringe players like WW Tokens and Martyr.

Graveyard hate is pretty low value overall, but it might be all you have against the Gifts plan. White Leyline might not be appropriate in your deck, so something like Surgical Extraction might make sense to counter Unburial Rites or weaken combo’s redundancy. Extraction type cards aren’t great as pure “utility” but the exception is against combo where 1) you often have a ton of dead or low impact cards to board out and B) getting rid of that one piece might actually break up an opponent’s combo, they’re not that redundant. Stuff like Nihil Spellbomb and Relic of Progenitus cycles, which is nice, and could turn of Snapcasters. Not a bad way to address part of the Snapcaster + Gifts plan decks.

Despite Tarmogoyfs (relative) decline, Spell Snare remains strong. This one isn’t rocket science, there are many targets, and when you have many targets, a 1-mana Counterspell is a good place to be.

There aren’t that many Ancient Grudges these days. I didn’t list affinity because it hasn’t been performing even acceptably. However, as people skimp on Grudges, the sleeping dog could wake up hungry.

Gaddock Teeg is getting somewhat interesting with the Gifts and Cryptics, Pods and Chord of Callings, but it’s probably too hard to rely on, because if they have red he just gets Bolted.

Beware of the transformational sideboard, aka how I learned to stop caring and leave my Path to Exiles in. If someone is playing creature light control game 1, odds are decent that Unburial Rites or Baneslayer Angel get sided in for games 2 and 3. Don’t get caught with just your “deck” in your hands.