I wasn't sure whether to put this in the main modern forum or in deck creation, but I figure since we'll hopefully develop an actual list that it should go here.
Madcap Experiment seems pretty broken with Platinum Emperion. I mean, maybe someone will come up with a better card to combo it with, but for now that's the best we have.
It seems like legitimately this combo could become or fit into a tier one or two deck, so it's probably worth brewing around. Granted, Platinum Emperion doesn't win the game when it hits, but at 4 mana it's pretty strong. If you can protect it, a lot of decks just can't beat you -- Infect doesn't care about it; affinity can beat you with Inkmoth Nexus; Ad Nauseum with Lab Man if they're running it; and Jeskai Nahiri with Emrakul's annihilator trigger -- but that's it (off the top of my head).
So, this isn't a foolproof combo. It's still strong. Someone in the spoiler discussion thread threw out the idea of playing it with Liliana of the Veil in Jund, which seems like a solid idea. Another idea would be creating an RW brew running Nahiri as Experiments 4-6 (or 3-5, or whatever). If you're in RW, you could actually play Blightsteel Colossus instead of Emperion, and then run Burrenton Forge-Tender and Soulfire Grand Master to negate the life loss. It'd be a bit more fragile but also more powerful -- and probably too janky to be good.
Those are my initial thoughts. Interested to hear what you all think!
EDIT:
I'll start us off with a sample list. No idea if it's better than the Jund direction.
That's 60. No idea if it's good, but it looks at least comparable to Jeskai Nahiri. Charm, Lighthouse, Clique and Nahiri all let you bin extra Emperions, but you can also hardcast them if the game goes long enough.
Madcap Experiment is masically a 4 mana Platinum Emperyon. That seems to be a pretty good creature but it's not a game winning combo.
My guess would be to jam it in a shell with other powerful creatures to force your opponent's removals. In your Jeskai list they will just keep their Path/Terminate until your play Madcap Experiment because and it will not do much.
But I'd go with a Naya shell like Big Zoo that look like this :
That looks powerful. I like the combination of 4-drops & mana dorks. 4 Nahiri seems a bit much perhaps? But your logic seems sound about Path/Terminate. This list seems to just use Madcap as a curve topper, which is legit. What are we giving up from normal big zoo to go this direction? Some Lightning Helixes and Atarkas Commands, or more Planeswalkers? Either way the list seems nice.
I will try it in my tooth and nail list, something like this. The courser, scavenging and harmonize you can switch around depending on meta and prefered cards.
Stil feeling that 4x Tooth and Nail and 4x Madcap Experiment is a bit much, and that you may want a 1 of Boseiju in there? But I have no experience with this deck.
I also liked Lantern's idea of slotting this into Grixis (he mentioned it in the Kaladesh discussion). Seems like this could shore up some weaknesses there.
The problem is a surprisingly large number of decks have ways around a Platinum Emperion Jund has Terminate and Liliana, Affinity/infect has poison, any deck with white has path to exile, Merfolk has vapor snag, and that's not mentioning the number of times the opponent will just be faster than a t4 Emperion. Shape Anew and Polymorph have been legal in modern for ages and neither one really sees any play.
Have you considered Platinum Angel instead? It lets you effectively run Pact of Negation for free, and explicitly beats any decks that can't remove it outright.
Seems to me that the most obvious deck to play this in is GR Titan.
- Shores up aggressive matchups
- Can actually cast Platinum Emperion
- Already plays the colors.
- Has enough flex spots to make it work
- Ramps up to 4 mana naturally.
- If the Platinum Emperion gets Pathed, you still ramp, so it's not even that bad... kind of like when Prime Time gets Pathed.
I could see this going into a 4-color Bring to LightScapeshift deck. Maybe with Helix Pinnacle somewhere in the 75... since you do actually have to win the game.
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If you can include Intervention Pact in the deck, you can potentially fish out your plat emperion/angel and gain 1-40 or so life depending how deep it was in your deck. You can also get the same effect off Soulfire Grandmaster and a Rhox Faithmender (harder to protect obv)
You can also run madcap without any artis for the guaranteed life gain if you hit that combo, for decks that can use that. I've been having some success in R/W running mass hysteria, 1 blightsteel, madcap experiment angel's grace and intervention pact. Being able to win on turn 4 for having the right 2 cards in hand is pretty cool.
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Madcap Experiment seems pretty broken with Platinum Emperion. I mean, maybe someone will come up with a better card to combo it with, but for now that's the best we have.
It seems like legitimately this combo could become or fit into a tier one or two deck, so it's probably worth brewing around. Granted, Platinum Emperion doesn't win the game when it hits, but at 4 mana it's pretty strong. If you can protect it, a lot of decks just can't beat you -- Infect doesn't care about it; affinity can beat you with Inkmoth Nexus; Ad Nauseum with Lab Man if they're running it; and Jeskai Nahiri with Emrakul's annihilator trigger -- but that's it (off the top of my head).
So, this isn't a foolproof combo. It's still strong. Someone in the spoiler discussion thread threw out the idea of playing it with Liliana of the Veil in Jund, which seems like a solid idea. Another idea would be creating an RW brew running Nahiri as Experiments 4-6 (or 3-5, or whatever). If you're in RW, you could actually play Blightsteel Colossus instead of Emperion, and then run Burrenton Forge-Tender and Soulfire Grand Master to negate the life loss. It'd be a bit more fragile but also more powerful -- and probably too janky to be good.
Those are my initial thoughts. Interested to hear what you all think!
EDIT:
I'll start us off with a sample list. No idea if it's better than the Jund direction.
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Madcap Experiment
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancestral Vision
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
1 Izzet Charm
3 Remand
1 Spell Snare
1 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Spirebluff Canal
3 Seachrome Coast
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Flooded Strand
1 Desolate Lighthouse
That's 60. No idea if it's good, but it looks at least comparable to Jeskai Nahiri. Charm, Lighthouse, Clique and Nahiri all let you bin extra Emperions, but you can also hardcast them if the game goes long enough.
Another direction could be a more all-in combo feature Boseiju, Who Shelters All.
That looks powerful. I like the combination of 4-drops & mana dorks. 4 Nahiri seems a bit much perhaps? But your logic seems sound about Path/Terminate. This list seems to just use Madcap as a curve topper, which is legit. What are we giving up from normal big zoo to go this direction? Some Lightning Helixes and Atarkas Commands, or more Planeswalkers? Either way the list seems nice.
Stil feeling that 4x Tooth and Nail and 4x Madcap Experiment is a bit much, and that you may want a 1 of Boseiju in there? But I have no experience with this deck.
I also liked Lantern's idea of slotting this into Grixis (he mentioned it in the Kaladesh discussion). Seems like this could shore up some weaknesses there.
- Shores up aggressive matchups
- Can actually cast Platinum Emperion
- Already plays the colors.
- Has enough flex spots to make it work
- Ramps up to 4 mana naturally.
- If the Platinum Emperion gets Pathed, you still ramp, so it's not even that bad... kind of like when Prime Time gets Pathed.
Example Decklist
2 Platinum Emperion
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
Spells
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Farseek
4 Madcap Experiment
3 Explore
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Summoner's Pact
3 Scapeshift
4 Cinder Glade
3 Forest
7 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
MODERN – LANTERN (aka Fateseal or Barbershop)
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Thnkr's Content: Gameplay – Datasheet
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You can also run madcap without any artis for the guaranteed life gain if you hit that combo, for decks that can use that. I've been having some success in R/W running mass hysteria, 1 blightsteel, madcap experiment angel's grace and intervention pact. Being able to win on turn 4 for having the right 2 cards in hand is pretty cool.