Scapeshift
Andrew Calderon
13th Place at Grand Prix on 3/9/2014
There are a few pieces to the puzzle to help get lands into play ahead of schedule in the form of Sakura-Tribe Elder, Search for Tomorrow and two Explore. Since you need the lands in play for Scapeshift to do its magic these cards are critical and opening turns will often go turn 1 Suspend Search into turn 2 Elder which basically advances your combo by two turns. With Blue in the deck and a combo finish that needs protection we find a permission suite that consists of Remand and Cryptic Command, the latter usually the reason the deck will float four mana when going for the kill. There is also the utility player Izzet Charm which can act either as additional counter, dig to draw into answers or combo pieces, or even a way to burn small pesky creatures especially hate bears. There’s also a pair of Lightning Bolt, an Electrolyze and an Anger of the Gods to help as removal or a small amount of reach if needed to finish them off. And that Electrolyze pairs up with Peer Through Depths as the draw power of the deck with Cryptic and Explore as well. And finally what has quietly become a format all-star Snapcaster Mage is able to rebuy any of the already cast instants or sorceries and even do a little beatdown himself to work your way towards victory.
U/W Control
Shaheen Soorani
18th Place at Grand Prix Richmond on 3/9/2014
As with any Control deck in the post-Lorwyn world of Magic we find a very important package of Planeswalkers. Working as primary win conditions which come down once the deck has taken over the game we find the incredibly powerful dynamic duo of Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Gideon Jura both with their own style of beatdown. Also, we have Jace Beleren or ‘Baby Jace’ which is a very strong source of card advantage. There is also a pair of Vendilion Clique and a set of Celestial Colonnade to help the deck finish off the opponent making great use of Flying to sneak through the beats. Next we get to the permission package of the deck which sports some diverse answer with full sets of each Cryptic Command, Mana Leak and Spell Snare to ensure the opponent isn’t allowed to advance their game plan. There’s also a singleton Repeal to bounce any nuisance which they may have been able to sneak in at some point. And no Control deck would be complete without a range of removal with this deck rife on both spot and mass including a set of Path to Exile, trio of Supreme Verdict and pair of Detention Sphere which will find a way to get rid of anything that was allowed to hit the board. There is also a set of Tectonic Edge in the manabase to fight against opposing manlands, Tron lands or even Valakuts. As for draw supplementing the Jace and Cryptic there is also Serum Visions to help dig through the deck to find that right answer. The last piece of the puzzle is found in a trio of Snapcaster Mage that given this deck runs 23 spell targets for the Snappy to rebuy is a dream for any control player when able to slot them in.
The key to Affinity is a critical mass of artifacts and this deck boasts 48 including the manlands. The reason why the amount of artifacts is so crucial is because Cranial Plating can turn a simple tiny creature into a one or two shot killing machine as it boosts power for each artifact you control. The army comes from a variety of artifact creatures starting with zero drop in Ornithopter and Memnite which help the deck start the game by emptying as much onto the battlefield as quickly as possible increasing the total artifact count substantially. The decks true one drop is Signal Pest with it team pumping Battle Cry and uniquely evasive ability, but Vault Skirge with it Phyrexian mana cost is most often played as a one drop and can quickly gain back the life lost paying for it. Speaking about pumping the team Steel Overseer is a card that if you are allowed to untap with it on the board can quickly make your army of mites turn into ferocious battle bots quickly. Another strong card is the Arcbound Ravager which carries a lot of history in the Affinity decks. With him able to manipulate the board state and sneak damage through where you opponent left himself defenseless can create an inevitable demise for your enemy. The final creature is Etched Champion which in a land of spot removal and opponents with colored creatures it reigns supreme. Often once you attain Metalcraft with him on board it’s gameover in very few hits. There is also two set of manlands with Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus, both able to help end the game but Inkmoth with it poison counters pairs up with Cranial Plating very nicely to quickly infest your opponent from the inside out.
The engine of the deck runs primarily around the interaction of Birthing Pod with its ‘pod chain’ which is basically a set of creatures at each converted mana cost which you chain together to move up progressively. There is also a second way to ‘tutor’ your creatures with Chord of Calling which is why the deck is so heavily focused on creatures and has a toolbox which can find answers in the maindeck to many of the problems the deck may face from the different decks in the format.
UWR Control
Shaun McLaren
Pro Tour Born of the Gods – Modern – Champion
UWR Midrange
Vjeren Horvat
1st Place at GP Prague Modern on 01/12/2014
Lands (25)
Creatures (13)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
The first Grand Prix of the new year has come and gone this past weekend from the historical European capital of Prague in the Czech Republic. The format for this tournament was Modern which since its inception two and a half years ago has been one that always piqued my interest, much like the Extended format which it took its roots from did for me before it. This weekend was another very exciting weekend and Vjeren was able to battle through Moderns rather diverse field to rise to the top and take the first GP crown of the new year. It was great to see Modern in action as it is sorely lacking from this PTQ season since Wizards decided to push the Modern PTQs to the summer. This was also partially a tune up for some players as this is the only big tournament for the format before the Pro Tour in Valencia next month which is also going to have Modern for its constructed portion.
Getting into the deck it is at its core an extremely strong Counter-Burn shell using some of the most powerful elements of control and aggression to take over games and destroy opponents with impunity. The creature suite is centerpieced by a pair of legendary creature with Geist and Clique. They are supported by a pair of one-ofs in Resto Angel and Thundermaw which really help to dominate the skies. But the real synergy comes from a full set of Snapcaster with a plethora of targets to push his value to the limit. A huge burn package starts with the requisite set of Bolt along with a set of Helix, then to top it off Electrolyze which doubles as card draw as well. As if all that burn wasn’t enough there’s a trio of Path to clear away any pesky creature threats. Then we get into the permission package with the versatile Cryptic, tempo play Remand and stock control piece Leak. Put that package together and we get a deck that can really lay out the beats.
So if you are lucky enough to have your local game store host Modern FNMs or are already thinking ahead towards the summers PTQs definitely give this deck high consideration. And even if you don’t think this deck is your style make sure you have it in your gauntlet to be sure you know how to attack it lest it burns you out with a Bolt Snap Bolt GG finish.
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
ejseltzer@hotmail.com
Tin Fists
Jan van der Vegt
Day One at GP Prague Modern on Jan. 11th 2014
Lands (21)
Creatures (15)
Spells (24)
For those of you who don’t know Jan and his signature bell he is a very active Twitch streamer from The Netherlands who goes by the handle DzyL. And for those of us who do know we have already been watching him test his Tin Fists brew on MTGO. He was able to pilot the deck to an 8-0 start before dropping his last match of the day but still remains at 8-1 going into Day 2 giving himself a great chance to make a run for the top 8.
This deck can have some ridiculously explosive starts, some of which were seen on camera in his feature matches. It is basically looking to cheat a Griselbrand or Emrakul into play which can happen at times as early as turn two. The deck uses Goryo’s Vengeance as it’s reanimation tool to rise these legendary creatures back from the grave for a turn, and because it is an instant you are able to respond to Emrakul‘s graveyard trigger before he gets shuffled back into the libray. Using Faithless Looting and the draw/discard mode of Izzet Charm you are able to dig through your deck then stack the graveyard with targets. But the final and perhaps most ingenious aspect of the deck is where is gets it’s name from, Fist of Suns. This simple little artifact allows you to cast any spell for one mana of each color instead of it’s actual mana cost. Jan then carefully crafted his manabase with a specific mix of duals to compliment City of Brass and Gemstone Mine so you could somewhat ‘easily’ cast an Emrakul on turn five, and since it is cast you get to take advantage of his extra turn trigger which will most often draw an instant concession .
So while the tournament is still now far from over it does look like Jan has put together a true contender with this spicy brew. I know I will be glued to the coverage in hopes to see another turn two Griselbrand or Emrakul take it down. Good luck DzyL, we will all be rooting for you. DING !!!
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
ejseltzer@hotmail.com
Tron
Fabrizio Anteri
Main Deck
60 cards
21 lands
4 creatures
31 other spells
4 planeswalkers
Sideboard
15 sideboard cards
