Everyone thought it was going to be Twin, Abzan, Affinity, or Burn. Gerrard Fabiano proved them wrong. Against all odds, Fabiano took down the first SCG Open in Baltimore with his BUG control deck, showing Modern that brewing and innovation is still very much alive in a supposedly "stagnant"/"solved" metagame. Here is his 75 that brought him the gold:
A lot of users have questions BUG in the past, and continue to question it even with Gerrard's finish. Does Sultai have what it takes to be viable in Modern? What improvements will we need to make to the deck? Although the SCG Baltimore finish was awesome, there's a long way to go before this deck can truly be considered a contender. What is it going to need to get there?
I'm not a fan of the single Thoughtseize and the single Golgari Charm in the main deck myself. I think another Abrupt Decay and either 4th Mana Leak or 2nd Jace might be better in general.
I also feel like the sideboard is a little scattered and could be tightened up a bit. I don't know that 3 Disfigure is needed in this current meta. I'm a massive fan of Night of Souls' Betryal and I think I might run 2-3 in the side.
Of course I didn't just do amazing things with a homebrew deck like this, so whose to say I know what I'm talking about.
While I am sure that he knew what he was doing, I would probably cut the Golgari Charm for the 4th Abrupt Decay, cut a couple Inquisitions of Kozilek for Thouhgtseizes, and replace Maelstrom Pulse with Sultai Charm. I also want to find a way to fit in some Tectonic Edges. The deck is pretty weak to opposing manlands, especially if they have evasion.
I've suspected that a list like this might have been around ever since rotation, but I've mostly been messing around in Gifts Ungiven shells. The real innovation here is Ashiok, which looked fantastic against a format full of Tarmogoyfs and Siege Rhinos.
Part of made this deck look so powerful is that it has a great Twin matchup, so it can afford to run more powerful sorcery-speed action such as wraths and planeswalkers. In gameplay it certainly looked like more than a flash in the pan, and I'll be curious to see how the midrange scene adapts to it. Thragtusk and Jace certainly are not threats that the metagame came well equipped for.
While I am sure that he knew what he was doing, I would probably cut the Golgari Charm for the 4th Abrupt Decay, cut a couple Inquisitions of Kozilek for Thouhgtseizes, and replace Maelstrom Pulse with Sultai Charm. I also want to find a way to fit in some Tectonic Edges. The deck is pretty weak to opposing manlands, especially if they have evasion.
I think in a deck like his that can dig like no other, the Maelstrom Pulse is a little better than the charm. My reasoning is that Pulse answers things he might not otherwise be able to (Karn for example) and acts as a 3rd wrath against armies of Souls tokens. Charm's pretty bad for creature removal, the enchantment/artifact removal is good, and his deck really doesn't need the digging; it's already very consistent.
While I am sure that he knew what he was doing, I would probably cut the Golgari Charm for the 4th Abrupt Decay, cut a couple Inquisitions of Kozilek for Thouhgtseizes, and replace Maelstrom Pulse with Sultai Charm. I also want to find a way to fit in some Tectonic Edges. The deck is pretty weak to opposing manlands, especially if they have evasion.
I think in a deck like his that can dig like no other, the Maelstrom Pulse is a little better than the charm. My reasoning is that Pulse answers things he might not otherwise be able to (Karn for example) and acts as a 3rd wrath against armies of Souls tokens. Charm's pretty bad for creature removal, the enchantment/artifact removal is good, and his deck really doesn't need the digging; it's already very consistent.
Sultai Charm is actually very good creature removal. It hits every creature in Modern that Maelstrom Pulse hits except for Siege Rhino, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Loxodon Smiter, Qasali Pridemage, and Voice of Resurgence. However, unlike Maelstrom Pulse, it can hit some manlands (Inkmoth Nexus, Treetop Village, Blinkmoth Nexus), which are really strong against the deck. It also is instant speed, which makes it better against Blood Moon, Cranial Plating, and Splinter Twin. It also can cycle against decks like WUR Control, though those are admittedly rare. Maelstrom Pulse probably was better in this case because of Lingering Souls, but overall I think that Sultai Charm is better.
sultai charm can't hit inkmoth--it's an artifact creature, which is colorless. See apostle's blessing.
Also, I hesitate to call this sultai control. mainboard discard, goyfs, mana leaks... By most of the standards of the existant control threads, this is a midrange deck, not a control deck. Not to belittle his finish, but semantics MATTER.
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Semantics matter, but the definition of Control within the context of Modern certainly is poorly defined, just look at the threads for the last week.
As to this deck, watching most of the games (I may have caught them all actually) on the stream, it certainly played like control. He leaned heavy on his counters, and board wipes, while when he felt he could/needed to, wasnt afraid to actually apply pressure, which is the primary failing of traditional Control, an ability to step on the gas.
Tasigur was great value, as was Ashiok (who won him the Infect match up he had in at least one game), and of course Goyf was solid. The Inquisition's saved him a lot of life as well, and pulled the cards he would have wanted to pull in every game I saw, so for this meta it was the right call over Thoughtseize for sure.
If only Tarmogoyf wouldn't cost me $800 I would play this in paper. Oh well, I guess I'll be trying this out online for the next week or so. I think having a 4th Abrupt Decay main is a good idea...but if your expecting a lot of Lingering Soul then I can see having a Golgari Charm.
#reprinttarmogoyfagain
sultai charm can't hit inkmoth--it's an artifact creature, which is colorless. See apostle's blessing.
The "destroy target artifact or enchantment" mode of Sultai Charm kills Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus.
Also, I hesitate to call this sultai control. mainboard discard, goyfs, mana leaks... By most of the standards of the existant control threads, this is a midrange deck, not a control deck. Not to belittle his finish, but semantics MATTER.
His deck is as much of a Control deck as Eternal Command was, so I think that it should count.
Ashiok probably just unnecessary. Doesn't impact immediately, can easily whiff, and is generally just a bad topdeck. Would rather have a 3rd Cryptic and a 6th discard in those slots I think. Other than that list is solid; I have been testing it since the tournament and it's very fun.
Gerald said in an interview he would cut a land...so thats 1 spot for something...
I love BUG (back in day BUG..deathrite,delver,goyf,bob..aka: money.dec, was such a fun and punishing deck to play)...
I like his brew and think most every numbers are very good...I don't remember seeing him cast Damnation, so I'm not entry sure its right for MB..but Like someone else said..he just won with it and carved thru 800pp...so theres that.
I feel like i'm looking at modern's take on legacy's "team america" or "BUG Control"
Just put tombstalker in Tasigur's place and you've got almost the same deck. Plus flying 5/5s are better than 4/5 ground forces.
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Gerald said in an interview he would cut a land...so thats 1 spot for something...
and he say that ashiok/jace overperformed, so maybe x1 another PW?
to all the people how dont understand ashiok:
the card is great, the odd part is that is a PW that is mainly a threat, a cheap fast one. Its force the opponent to do something right away, because ashiok becomes exponentially better with each turn.
TO the person who say that ashiok is a bad top deck, what? depends on board state, but in a stall board state (lets say x4 tarmo in each side of the table) is awesome and the best top deck i believe (maybe cryptic command is better).
yeah, ashiok dont do much when you have nothing and something big is beating you, yeah you want damnation at that point (or maelstrom pulse, snap, cryptic, etc), but in this deck you have a LOT of other elements to deal with opponent cards.
Funny how there was a thread not a long time ago where somebody asked why Sultai wasn't a thing is Modern and now this deck won a tournament.
Will definitely build this and try it out myself.
Finally a UB/x deck. Faeries turned out to be a bit disappointing to me so I hope this fares better.
I'm not sure if you are referring to the one I made, but yeah, I been jamming BUG decks in every format for a bit now. I actually played a similar list at my Friday local FNM and made top 4, but the deck was not very good, it was 49 of Gerard's 60.
The mana base I ran was a hot mess though, so I had to cut Cryptic, which was a big mistake.
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Everyone thought it was going to be Twin, Abzan, Affinity, or Burn. Gerrard Fabiano proved them wrong. Against all odds, Fabiano took down the first SCG Open in Baltimore with his BUG control deck, showing Modern that brewing and innovation is still very much alive in a supposedly "stagnant"/"solved" metagame. Here is his 75 that brought him the gold:
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Thragtusk
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
Planeswalkers:
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Instants:
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Golgari Charm
2 Cryptic Command
3 Mana Leak
Sorceries:
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Thoughtseize
2 Damnation
1 Compulsive Research
4 Serum Visions
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Sunken Ruins
2 Breeding Pool
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Watery Grave
2 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Island
1 Forest
2 Feed the Clan
2 Spellskite
1 Nature's Claim
3 Disfigure
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Thoughtseize
1 Damnation
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
A lot of users have questions BUG in the past, and continue to question it even with Gerrard's finish. Does Sultai have what it takes to be viable in Modern? What improvements will we need to make to the deck? Although the SCG Baltimore finish was awesome, there's a long way to go before this deck can truly be considered a contender. What is it going to need to get there?
I also feel like the sideboard is a little scattered and could be tightened up a bit. I don't know that 3 Disfigure is needed in this current meta. I'm a massive fan of Night of Souls' Betryal and I think I might run 2-3 in the side.
Of course I didn't just do amazing things with a homebrew deck like this, so whose to say I know what I'm talking about.
Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
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Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Part of made this deck look so powerful is that it has a great Twin matchup, so it can afford to run more powerful sorcery-speed action such as wraths and planeswalkers. In gameplay it certainly looked like more than a flash in the pan, and I'll be curious to see how the midrange scene adapts to it. Thragtusk and Jace certainly are not threats that the metagame came well equipped for.
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I think in a deck like his that can dig like no other, the Maelstrom Pulse is a little better than the charm. My reasoning is that Pulse answers things he might not otherwise be able to (Karn for example) and acts as a 3rd wrath against armies of Souls tokens. Charm's pretty bad for creature removal, the enchantment/artifact removal is good, and his deck really doesn't need the digging; it's already very consistent.
Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
Gay and Proud
#MakeAmericaGreatAgain
Sultai Charm is actually very good creature removal. It hits every creature in Modern that Maelstrom Pulse hits except for Siege Rhino, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Loxodon Smiter, Qasali Pridemage, and Voice of Resurgence. However, unlike Maelstrom Pulse, it can hit some manlands (Inkmoth Nexus, Treetop Village, Blinkmoth Nexus), which are really strong against the deck. It also is instant speed, which makes it better against Blood Moon, Cranial Plating, and Splinter Twin. It also can cycle against decks like WUR Control, though those are admittedly rare. Maelstrom Pulse probably was better in this case because of Lingering Souls, but overall I think that Sultai Charm is better.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Also, I hesitate to call this sultai control. mainboard discard, goyfs, mana leaks... By most of the standards of the existant control threads, this is a midrange deck, not a control deck. Not to belittle his finish, but semantics MATTER.
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
As to this deck, watching most of the games (I may have caught them all actually) on the stream, it certainly played like control. He leaned heavy on his counters, and board wipes, while when he felt he could/needed to, wasnt afraid to actually apply pressure, which is the primary failing of traditional Control, an ability to step on the gas.
Tasigur was great value, as was Ashiok (who won him the Infect match up he had in at least one game), and of course Goyf was solid. The Inquisition's saved him a lot of life as well, and pulled the cards he would have wanted to pull in every game I saw, so for this meta it was the right call over Thoughtseize for sure.
Spirits
#reprinttarmogoyfagain
The "destroy target artifact or enchantment" mode of Sultai Charm kills Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus.
His deck is as much of a Control deck as Eternal Command was, so I think that it should count.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I love BUG (back in day BUG..deathrite,delver,goyf,bob..aka: money.dec, was such a fun and punishing deck to play)...
I like his brew and think most every numbers are very good...I don't remember seeing him cast Damnation, so I'm not entry sure its right for MB..but Like someone else said..he just won with it and carved thru 800pp...so theres that.
Just put tombstalker in Tasigur's place and you've got almost the same deck. Plus flying 5/5s are better than 4/5 ground forces.
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[I]Some call it dig through time, when really your digging through CRAP!
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Damnation saw a lot of play as well in the earlier rounds, I'd keep it if I was going to run this.
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Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
Gay and Proud
#MakeAmericaGreatAgain
and he say that ashiok/jace overperformed, so maybe x1 another PW?
to all the people how dont understand ashiok:
the card is great, the odd part is that is a PW that is mainly a threat, a cheap fast one. Its force the opponent to do something right away, because ashiok becomes exponentially better with each turn.
TO the person who say that ashiok is a bad top deck, what? depends on board state, but in a stall board state (lets say x4 tarmo in each side of the table) is awesome and the best top deck i believe (maybe cryptic command is better).
yeah, ashiok dont do much when you have nothing and something big is beating you, yeah you want damnation at that point (or maelstrom pulse, snap, cryptic, etc), but in this deck you have a LOT of other elements to deal with opponent cards.
Will definitely build this and try it out myself.
Finally a UB/x deck. Faeries turned out to be a bit disappointing to me so I hope this fares better.
I'm not sure if you are referring to the one I made, but yeah, I been jamming BUG decks in every format for a bit now. I actually played a similar list at my Friday local FNM and made top 4, but the deck was not very good, it was 49 of Gerard's 60.
The mana base I ran was a hot mess though, so I had to cut Cryptic, which was a big mistake.
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order