Would Skyrider Elf be any good here? It has counters on an evasive body, and we'd have the option to make him bigger (in RUG, at least...). The evasion also makes pongifying their threats a more relevant play. Maybe as a 2-of? We have such explosive starts that a little extra reach seems good.
Another card I'm curious about here is Bone Picker. It's probably still too conditional, but it seems like this would be the deck for it if there is one.
Yeah, I was originally thinking main-deck relics, but the ability to turn Mausoleum Wanderer into Spell Pierce was just too tempting Perhaps the 1-drops just don't do enough without lords, though.
I've also considered cutting one or two nullifiers, which would ease up our exile requirements. I'm definitely on the fence about whether Beckon Apparition is powerful enough. Aethersphere Harvester might make the 1/1 more relevant, but it's slow. Dimensional Infiltrator and Vendillion Clique are also considerations if I end up cutting Apparition.
Here's a shot at a more midrange list that's less all-in on nullifiers:
I think an important question here is what makes us want to play pirates over Zoo or Merfolk? Zoo is a superior aggressive deck, and Merfolk is a superior tribal deck, so we need to be something more if we hope to compete.
We are a tribal deck, but I think we need to evaluate our tribal cards very differently due to our lack of lords. Creatures like Mogg Fanatic and Cursecatcher wouldn't be powerful enough on their own, but a critical mass of Goblin/Merfolk lords help them get there. We don't have that luxury, so our cards need to be more powerful on their own.
Cards I don't think are quite powerful enough:
Forerunner of the Coalition (I feel like this is far too slow for not putting the card into our hand) Fanatical Firebrand (Mogg Fanatic is playable in Goblins/8-whack, but I think it really needs lords to get there. If we're looking for ways to enable our Rigging Runners, I feel like Goblin Guide would be better here even though it isn't a pirate). Ruin Raider (great upside, but I don't love 3-drops that don't pass the bolt test) Dire Fleet Ravager (5 mana is VERY expensive in this format, and we're an aggressive deck. By the time we can cast this, we'll be lucky if it hits them for 3) Dire Fleet Poisoner (if we had more 3-toughness guys, or if we had lords, I think this would get there. But I would rather play more removal or blue for fliers than try to trade on the ground. It's also worth noting that it can only target an attacking pirate).
There are a lot of playable cards here, but I think the main things drawing me into pirate tribal over a non-tribal deck that plays some pirate cards would be Lookout's Dispersal and Fathom Fleet Captain (and Fiery Cannonade out of the sideboard), so I'd look to build around those. I don't think this list is quite there yet, but the printing of a pirate lord could push it much closer.
I like the combo, and think you could probably make it the main focus of the deck.
If you want to go more of the straight combo route, I'd for sure run the full playset of Presence of Gond. There's also Midnight Guard (infinite 2-card combo with Presence of Gond, and could replace Forerunner of the Legion), Heliod's Pilgrim (searches out your PoGs), Intruder Alarm if you want to go Bant, and if you want to branch into Naya colors, Elemental Mastery works too.
It occurred to me that Ulamog's Nullifier pairs pretty nicely with Spell Queller. In my search for exile effects that a deck like this might want to play, I also came across Delay and Beckon Apparition (which incidentally does some pretty fun stuff with Mausoleum Wanderer). I've always thought Mystic Snake would be an absolutely bonkers magic card if it just had flying, and I just can't ignore the fact that Ulamog's Nullifier gets pretty close. With a critical mass of exile effects (coupled with incidental exile from meta staples like Snapcaster Mage and Gurmag Angler), I think there's some real potential here. Anyway, here's a preliminary list. Any feedback is appreciated!
Spirit synergies are a central theme, but this deck is meant to play far more like Faeries than spirit tribal. The emphasis is on instant-speed, evasive threats that double as interaction.
Notable interactions:
Ulamog's Nullifier + Spell Queller and/or Delay = hard(ish) counter. Beckon Apparition + Mausoleum Wanderer = Spell Pierce. Can also shrink goyfs and hose Snapcaster. I'm not sure whether we need to go so heavy on the exile effects and/or whether the tribal synergies with Beckon Apparition make it worth it, but the interactive potential is intriguing.
Other considerations:
Vendillion Clique -- if we need more threats. Moorland Haunt -- Makes spirits. Orzhov Charm -- Can kill things, rebuy Spell Quellers and Nullifiers, or even return Mausoleum Wanderer to Mana Tithe them. Silumgar Sorcerer -- another 3cmc counter, potential consideration in creature-heavy metas. Dimensional Infiltrator -- an instant-speed threat that helps exile cards if necessary. With these two factors combined, I wonder whether this is better than the on-tribe alternatives... Drogskol Captain -- the lack of flash would hurt, but maybe would work alongside Rattlechains? Would certainly make our 1/1s a lot better... Selfless Spirit -- 2 CMC, is spirit, protects from sweepers, gets in for 2. Tasigur, the Golden Fang/Gurmag Angler -- beefy threats. Soulflayer -- a much spicier beefy threat (will usually have flying) that dodges Fatal Push and bolt.
I don't consider myself a die-hard blue player or anything (I actually usually play Junk in Modern), I just really like low-CMC spell-creatures with flash. They seem to have a lot of interesting lines of play attached to them.
Snapcaster Mage — The epitome of value on legs. Flash him in as a blocker, get some anemic beats on, flashback a cryptic to counter something and bounce him back to your hand for another use... pure joy.
Vendilion Clique — Disruption + the ability to hold up countermagic + a slight-above-curve body? Yes please.
Spellstutter Sprite — I can think of no better feeling than doing something proactive (even if only slightly proactive... I mean, it's a 1/1) while also not allowing my opponent to do something.
The thing I like about this set is that, even though there aren't a ton of cards that are obviously Modern-playable, there are a lot of unique cards with reasonable CMCs (I've always begged for more interesting one- and two-drops during spoiler season). When I looked through the full spoiler, I often found myself thinking "even if this doesn't end up seeing play, I'm glad it exists. I'm glad I have the option to build with this."
Most of these wont' be playable, but they're all cheap enough to cast and reasonably powerful in a theoretical sense, and many of them have totally unique effects. They're interesting. And that makes me happy.
Off the top of my head, here are some cards that I feel are powerful enough for Modern, but maybe don't have a deck yet or the right card hasn't been printed to make them legitimately shine:
Mystic Snake (a counterspell with a threat attached to it — even a startlingly mediocre threat — can't be horrible. Have seen it abused with Restoration Angel).
Koth of the Hammer occasionally sees play online as part of the Skred Red deck.
Academy Ruins is a key part of both Tezzerator and Mono-U Tron.
Strangleroot Geist is used a lot in Monogreen Devotion.
Steelshaper's Gift used to see play in Affinity if I remember correctly.
Proclamation of Rebirth was used in the Martyr-Proc deck back when that was a thing.
Lotleth Troll is used in the Necroticc Ooze versions of Griselbrand Reanimator.
Burning-Tree Shaman used to be a good sideboard card against Eggs.
Rancor is played a lot. It is one of the most important cards in Bogles.
I know that many of the cards I listed have seen play in the past or still see play in a specific deck or sideboard, but the thread is called "cards that should see more play in Modern," and I maintain that these ones should Rancor, for example, is played in Bogles and some Infect lists, but I think the card could be playable in an even broader sense.
Off the top of my head, here are some cards that I feel are powerful enough for Modern, but maybe don't have a deck yet or the right card hasn't been printed to make them legitimately shine:
The reason none of these cards are played in modern is simple: No deck that wants any of these cards isn't just better with Tarmogoyf in that slot. You can add a litany of two- and three-drops to that list: Bloodghast, Loxodon Smiter, Vinelasher Kudzu, Vampire Nighthawk, Jotun Grunt, etc. WOTC's in a tough spot. Goyf really should be banned in modern but it's a tinder box in terms of people who have shelled out for them and prevents them from putting it in as a chase mythic in MMA sets.
Tarmogoyf is great, but you can only play four of them. That means you still need 56 more cards.
And I don't know about you, but I sometimes play more than 4 two-drop creatures in my decks...
Not sure it's worth it to invest in another deck, Snapcaster Mage was in a ridiculous number of decks at the PTQ, and in 5/8 of the Top 8. I don't think he'll be sticking around in Modern much longer. Maybe once the PTQ hype dies down I'll try out a combo deck like Amulet of Vigor or Living End.
Snapcaster Mage should be pretty safe from a ban. The card is powerful, but nowhere even close to broken. It just gives you some value. It doesn't suppress any particular strategies or give you insane reach (like DRS did), it can't win the game by itself (well, not very quickly anyway... I have won games with Snapcaster beatdowns, but that's like poking someone to death with a banana — the whole time you're thinking, "he's got to be able to stop me somehow... there's no way he's going to let me keep doing this long enough to kill him..."), and it isn't part of a degenerate combo. It's just a guy that does a thing.
Tier "I wish these were in one of the other tiers so I could maybe play with them":Mystic Genesis, Plasm Capture, Overwhelming Intellect (I want to live this dream. Just once.), Sage's Dousing, Odds // Ends (I hate coin flips, but if you choose your targets right, this will do something no matter what. And the other side of the card adds value).
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben seems very underplayed right now. I don't know if it's just "lack of a good deck that can use her effect", but slowing down the combo decks by at least a turn, neutering the rituals in Storm, making the UW/x control decks that much less efficient, and the like seems like it has to be really good, no? I know she's common in the hatebears deck, but is that the only deck that can run her? Why don't more Pod decks play her?
I've been very pleased with Thalia's results in testing, but maybe spell-decks are just much stronger than creature decks in Modern? Has anyone else extensively tested Thalia?
Thalia is definitely a solid card, but right now, the decks she's best against tend to run enough removal that she often reads: "Until end of turn, target Lightning Bolt becomes Searing Spear." If Storm surges in popularity, she'll get better again, but she doesn't seem worth it against UWR.
I'm curious what Blue Moon's plan for GR Tron is. I of course know that Blood Moon and Spreading Seas turn off Urzatron, but Blue Moon looks like such a slow deck that Tron can just wait to hit enough lands to hardcast its stuff.
By that point, though, the Blue Moon player will also have drawn quite a few counterspells. With the exception of hard-casting Emrakul, the Tron player's threats will most likely just continue to get countered.
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Another card I'm curious about here is Bone Picker. It's probably still too conditional, but it seems like this would be the deck for it if there is one.
I've also considered cutting one or two nullifiers, which would ease up our exile requirements. I'm definitely on the fence about whether Beckon Apparition is powerful enough. Aethersphere Harvester might make the 1/1 more relevant, but it's slow. Dimensional Infiltrator and Vendillion Clique are also considerations if I end up cutting Apparition.
Here's a shot at a more midrange list that's less all-in on nullifiers:
4 Rattlechains
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
2 Vendillion Clique
2 Ulamog's Nullifier
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Fatal Push
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Remand
4 Delay
Lands: 23
4 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
1 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
For me, the main draw to pirates over Zoo or Merfolk would be the interactive options like Kitesail Freebooter, Lookout's Dispersal, Warkite Marauder (the synergy with Liliana, the Last Hope is worth noting), Siren Stormtamer, and Hostage Taker. In addition, value cards like Direfleet Daredevil, Fathom Fleet Captain, and March of the Drowned have the potential to set the deck apart from its competition. With aggressive beaters like Daring Buccaneer, Grasping Scoundrel, and Rigging Runner on the front end, our interactive and evasive threats can actually hope to close out the game. Vehicles like Smuggler's Copter and Aethersphere Harvester could give us some reach after the ground gets clogged up.
We are a tribal deck, but I think we need to evaluate our tribal cards very differently due to our lack of lords. Creatures like Mogg Fanatic and Cursecatcher wouldn't be powerful enough on their own, but a critical mass of Goblin/Merfolk lords help them get there. We don't have that luxury, so our cards need to be more powerful on their own.
Cards I don't think are quite powerful enough:
Forerunner of the Coalition (I feel like this is far too slow for not putting the card into our hand)
Fanatical Firebrand (Mogg Fanatic is playable in Goblins/8-whack, but I think it really needs lords to get there. If we're looking for ways to enable our Rigging Runners, I feel like Goblin Guide would be better here even though it isn't a pirate).
Ruin Raider (great upside, but I don't love 3-drops that don't pass the bolt test)
Dire Fleet Ravager (5 mana is VERY expensive in this format, and we're an aggressive deck. By the time we can cast this, we'll be lucky if it hits them for 3)
Dire Fleet Poisoner (if we had more 3-toughness guys, or if we had lords, I think this would get there. But I would rather play more removal or blue for fliers than try to trade on the ground. It's also worth noting that it can only target an attacking pirate).
There are a lot of playable cards here, but I think the main things drawing me into pirate tribal over a non-tribal deck that plays some pirate cards would be Lookout's Dispersal and Fathom Fleet Captain (and Fiery Cannonade out of the sideboard), so I'd look to build around those. I don't think this list is quite there yet, but the printing of a pirate lord could push it much closer.
4 Daring Buccaneer
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Fathom Fleet Captain
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Warkite Marauder
2 Skyship Plunderer
Planeswalkers: 2
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Other: 15
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lookout's Dispersal
2 Terminate
3 Aether Vial
4 Spirebluff Canal
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
3 Fiery Cannonade
2 Lookout's Dispersal
For something different, here's a UB list that tries to take advantage of the interaction between Skyship Plunderer and planeswalkers (bonus synergy between Liliana, the Last Hope and Warkite Marauder)
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Fathom Fleet Captain
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Skyship Plunderer
4 Warkite Marauder
Instants/Sorceries: 10
2 Thoughtseize
4 Fatal Push
2 Lookout's Dispersal
2 Dismember
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Jace, Cunning Castaway
Artifacts: 2
2 Aethersphere Harvester
Lands: 22
1 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
2 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Watery Grave
If you want to go more of the straight combo route, I'd for sure run the full playset of Presence of Gond. There's also Midnight Guard (infinite 2-card combo with Presence of Gond, and could replace Forerunner of the Legion), Heliod's Pilgrim (searches out your PoGs), Intruder Alarm if you want to go Bant, and if you want to branch into Naya colors, Elemental Mastery works too.
I might also look at more mana dorks (Noble Hierarch would be ideal, but Avacyn's Pilgrim works just fine too!)
To make the combo more bolt-proof, you could also consider Spellskite, Honor of the Pure, and Mutagenic Growth.
I like that Leyline of Vitality puts your combo pieces out of bolt range.
Cards I could see cutting are:
- Andanto Vanguard
- Metallic Mimic
- Mavren Faien, Dusk Apostle
- Chameleon Colossus
- Legion's Landing
- Forerunner of the Legion
(probably better to just run Midnight Guard)It occurred to me that Ulamog's Nullifier pairs pretty nicely with Spell Queller. In my search for exile effects that a deck like this might want to play, I also came across Delay and Beckon Apparition (which incidentally does some pretty fun stuff with Mausoleum Wanderer). I've always thought Mystic Snake would be an absolutely bonkers magic card if it just had flying, and I just can't ignore the fact that Ulamog's Nullifier gets pretty close. With a critical mass of exile effects (coupled with incidental exile from meta staples like Snapcaster Mage and Gurmag Angler), I think there's some real potential here. Anyway, here's a preliminary list. Any feedback is appreciated!
The Deck:
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
4 Ulamog's Nullifier
Other spells: 20
4 Beckon Apparition
4 Fatal Push
4 Path to Exile
1 Spell Snare
3 Remand
4 Delay
4 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
1 Aethersphere Harvester
1 Celestial Purge
2 Dispel
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Hurkyl's Recall
Spirit synergies are a central theme, but this deck is meant to play far more like Faeries than spirit tribal. The emphasis is on instant-speed, evasive threats that double as interaction.
Notable interactions:
Ulamog's Nullifier + Spell Queller and/or Delay = hard(ish) counter.
Beckon Apparition + Mausoleum Wanderer = Spell Pierce. Can also shrink goyfs and hose Snapcaster. I'm not sure whether we need to go so heavy on the exile effects and/or whether the tribal synergies with Beckon Apparition make it worth it, but the interactive potential is intriguing.
Other considerations:
Vendillion Clique -- if we need more threats.
Moorland Haunt -- Makes spirits.
Orzhov Charm -- Can kill things, rebuy Spell Quellers and Nullifiers, or even return Mausoleum Wanderer to Mana Tithe them.
Silumgar Sorcerer -- another 3cmc counter, potential consideration in creature-heavy metas.
Dimensional Infiltrator -- an instant-speed threat that helps exile cards if necessary. With these two factors combined, I wonder whether this is better than the on-tribe alternatives...
Drogskol Captain -- the lack of flash would hurt, but maybe would work alongside Rattlechains? Would certainly make our 1/1s a lot better...
Selfless Spirit -- 2 CMC, is spirit, protects from sweepers, gets in for 2.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang/Gurmag Angler -- beefy threats.
Soulflayer -- a much spicier beefy threat (will usually have flying) that dodges Fatal Push and bolt.
Snapcaster Mage — The epitome of value on legs. Flash him in as a blocker, get some anemic beats on, flashback a cryptic to counter something and bounce him back to your hand for another use... pure joy.
Vendilion Clique — Disruption + the ability to hold up countermagic + a slight-above-curve body? Yes please.
Spellstutter Sprite — I can think of no better feeling than doing something proactive (even if only slightly proactive... I mean, it's a 1/1) while also not allowing my opponent to do something.
There are some obviously powerful cards like Athreos, God of Passage, Iroas, God of Victory, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Reprisal, and Banishing Light, but then there are cards like:
Launch the Fleet
Dakra Mystic
Aegis of the Gods
Brain Maggot
Bassara Tower Archer
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer (+ Rancor? Not bad...)
Riptide Chimera
Triton Shorestalker
Nyx-Fleece Ram
Crystalline Nautilus
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Hypnotic Siren
Master of the Feast
Dictate of Heliod
Dictate of Kruphix
Dictate of Erebos
Dictate of Karametra
Gnarled Scarhide
Mogis's Warhound
Hour of Need
Oppressive Rays (sort of like the Mana Leak of Pacifisms that also hits activated abilities...)
Kruphix's Insight
Spite of Mogis
Ritual of the Returned
Setessan Tactics
Squelching Leeches
Nyx Weaver
Disciple of Deceit
Pull from the Deep
Market Festival
Eidolon of Blossoms
Underworld Coinsmith
Hall of Triumph
Tormented Thoughts
Strength from the Fallen
Twinflame
Godsend
Sigiled Starfish
Pharika, God of Affliction (every time I hear this card's name, I imagine the god parading around in Affliction-brand clothing, like some Grecian Zoolander deity)
Most of these wont' be playable, but they're all cheap enough to cast and reasonably powerful in a theoretical sense, and many of them have totally unique effects. They're interesting. And that makes me happy.
I know that many of the cards I listed have seen play in the past or still see play in a specific deck or sideboard, but the thread is called "cards that should see more play in Modern," and I maintain that these ones should
Tarmogoyf is great, but you can only play four of them. That means you still need 56 more cards.
And I don't know about you, but I sometimes play more than 4 two-drop creatures in my decks...
Snapcaster Mage should be pretty safe from a ban. The card is powerful, but nowhere even close to broken. It just gives you some value. It doesn't suppress any particular strategies or give you insane reach (like DRS did), it can't win the game by itself (well, not very quickly anyway... I have won games with Snapcaster beatdowns, but that's like poking someone to death with a banana — the whole time you're thinking, "he's got to be able to stop me somehow... there's no way he's going to let me keep doing this long enough to kill him..."), and it isn't part of a degenerate combo. It's just a guy that does a thing.
Tier 1 (Main deck staples for the decks that want them/can cast them): Cryptic Command, Remand, Mana Leak, Spell Snare, Rune Snag (I've been running it over leak now that DRS is gone, and I think I like it better), Deprive (I love this as a 1 or 2-of), Counterflux (hard on the mana, but probably the best 3-mana counter), Spell Pierce (I've been liking this less lately, but still a good card), Disrupting Shoal, Spellstutter Sprite.
Tier 2 (Sideboard/meta-dependent/situationally fantastic counters): Negate, Voidslime, Dissipate, Delay, Dispel, Swan Song, Flashfreeze, Unified Will, Bant Charm, Izzet Charm, Countersquall, Condescend, Guttural Response, Render Silent, Trickbind, Pact of Negation.
Tier 3 (corner-case counterspells that might do things in the correct situation): Logic Knot, Mystic Snake (I randomly stuck one of these in a RUG Twin list of mine and it's a hilarious value target for Splinter Twin. I've also seen it abused with Restoration Angel), Muddle the Mixture (slow, but sometimes useful to search out combo pieces/protect those combo pieces) Mana Tithe, Counterbore (hard to justify paying 5 for anything that isn't Pact of Negation), Familiar's Ruse (cute with Snapcaster Mage and Spellstutter Sprite, but perhaps too cute), Lapse of Certainty (the only reason this one is here is because it's in a color that rarely gets access to this type of effect), Psychic Barrier (usually you'll just want kills spells, but who knows), Punish Ignorance (might be worth it?), Spell Rupture (probably worse than Unified Will in the decks you want to bring it in against, but not always), Stoic Rebuttal (someday, perhaps).
Tier "I wish these were in one of the other tiers so I could maybe play with them": Mystic Genesis, Plasm Capture, Overwhelming Intellect (I want to live this dream. Just once.), Sage's Dousing, Odds // Ends (I hate coin flips, but if you choose your targets right, this will do something no matter what. And the other side of the card adds value).
Thalia is definitely a solid card, but right now, the decks she's best against tend to run enough removal that she often reads: "Until end of turn, target Lightning Bolt becomes Searing Spear." If Storm surges in popularity, she'll get better again, but she doesn't seem worth it against UWR.
Not that I could find. Aside from the Blood Moons, it seems to be running 2 Batterskulls and Vedalken Shackles main, plus Cryptic Commands, Mana Leaks, some number of Spell Snares, Master of Waves, and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir (though I'm not sure whether it's in the main deck).
By that point, though, the Blue Moon player will also have drawn quite a few counterspells. With the exception of hard-casting Emrakul, the Tron player's threats will most likely just continue to get countered.