MTG Salvation

I saw a legacy deck on an starcitygames.com legacy open stream, called mono blue martyr. Here's the link to the legacy thread for those interested.

Now a lot of his deck is modern legal, so I thought I'd give it a try in modern, of course we lose things like daze and force of will, but it's still a fine deck.

Here's the list I'm currently working with:



The plan is, counter everything, draw your deck, get in small chips of damage here and there, bounce everything that made it through your counters, then kill in one shot.
Now it sounds easy and straightforward, but this is actually a hard deck to pilot, and i'm still learning all the interactions.

This deck is ridiculously good against control, midrange, and combo decks. Essentially everything that isn't zoo or affinity. I haven't tested against pod, but that seems like a good matchup on paper.

The legacy version wins through nivmagus elemental eating all the copies of a flusterstorm, unfortunately we don't have flusterstorm or a good equivalent. I did try to play nivmagus with gigadrowse, but it's just not great since gigadrowse really isn't good on it's own, and nivmagus isn't good without gigadrowse. I did have Skaab Ruinator in here over the aether adepts as a finisher, but decided to play the adepts because it can bounce problem creatures and it costs 3. Since it costs 3 not only do you get a great curve allowing you to go voidmage prodigy into adept but adept gives you a 4-of 3 drop that's pitchable to disrupting shoal.

Sage of epityr allows us to stack our deck, draw what you want, then crack a misty rainforest and shuffle it up, for extra value you can bounce it with adepts, snag, or snap if you don't need to bounce other creatures. I did have puresight merrow over this for awhile, but I like the sage because he's a one drop, which allows you to keep vial on 1, and he allows you to look at 4 cards in one shot.

What do you guys think of this? Am I missing anything important?
With the journey into nyx spoiler season started, I can see a card that will be at least tested in dakra mystic.

It's a really cool idea. I've always thought Martyr of Frost was underrated. the curve is honestly low enough where you don't even really NEED Aether Vial

I don't like Sky Hussar, but I understand you do need some type of advantage. However, I really don't like having to tap 2 guys, during our upkeep to draw a card, when it's already going to be painfully slow for us to win.

Is the curve really too low for Mana Leak?

Quote from Honor Basquiat

It's a really cool idea. I've always thought Martyr of Frost was underrated. the curve is honestly low enough where you don't even really NEED Aether Vial

I don't like Sky Hussar, but I understand you do need some type of advantage. However, I really don't like having to tap 2 guys, during our upkeep to draw a card, when it's already going to be painfully slow for us to win.

Is the curve really too low for Mana Leak?

This deck obviously doesn't need aether vial to play out creatures, but that's not what it's there for. It's there to let you keep up mana for Voidmage Prodigy or Martyr of Frost. It also lets you get insane value off of surprising an opponent with prodigy when they thought that they had a window to resolve their big threat, or you can bounce stuff at instant speed with aether adept.

We need a lot of resources for this deck, hussar lets us draw 2 cards a turn. Generally the way the games end is that you end up getting enough mana to play hussar, untap your massive army and kill in one massive shot. Hussar is very important to this decks game plan. You can't look at it like a typical creature deck, it's a control deck, and hussar is our main source of card advantage.

We just don't need mana leak. We have 4 familiars, 4 cursecatchers, 4 martyrs, and 4 prodigys, that's a lot of counters as it is. There really isn't anything worth cutting for leak anyway, and it costs 2 to activate martyrs and prodigys, so mana leak is not more efficient than those creatures, and in fact mana leak is usually much worse than activating a martyr. I did have spell snare in here for awhile but I realized that I needed more bounce effects.

To give you an idea of how this works, here's the "nut".

T1 - vial
T2 - voidmage, have cursecatcher in hand to protect it, then just vial in catcher if opponent doesn't try to kill the voidmage.
T3 - vial in sage of epityr on your upkeep, stack the top of your deck, forecast hussar, draw a card (should be a third land to play another 1 drop) and now you're set.

You will have your opponent locked out on turn 3 forward now, you have 3 wizards (probably way more in your hand too) to sac to voidmage, and you can just sit back building up your board. It will be especially hard for your opponent to win when you get 4 lands, since you can use voidmage multiple times.

The only big problem with this is that it can't beat one drop zoo, unless you can get a shackles down turn 3, and I haven't tested against affinity yet, but that seems like a horrible matchup as well.

With the minor wizard tribal going on in this deck, could Cosi's Trickster find a home here? Also I saw someone play a deck like this that ran Wingcrafter

Hey Immapwner, anyone else who has been playing this deck. Hatch's deck interested me too and I had happened onto a more mana-heavy deck.



Stonybrook Schoolmaster seems like a weird addition being unpitchable, but the synergy between it and Mothdust Changeling, Sky Hussar, and Voidmage Apprentice feels worthwhile. Voidmage Apprentice, Schoolmaster, and one of the tappers forms a soft lock of sorts.

Puresight Merrow is another way to take advantage of the tappers, especially Mothdust Changeling because it effectively grants {U}: Scry 1

Mothdust Changeling is a Schoolmaster and Puresight Merrow enabler while being a faerie for Spellstutter Sprite and a Wizard for Voidmage Apprentice.

Meddling Mage is a concession to combo and to Supreme Verdict. There might be better options for the spot, but it's good all things considered.

I agree that the aggro decks are among our toughest. I don't think there's a good maindeck way of fixing that though.

Okay, I just went and watched Hatch's match against MUD, and I'm sold. That deck is awesome. I'm going to try to come up with a list myself, but I really want something like it to be viable in Modern.

EDIT: What about Hidden Strings as a Nivmagus enabler? It's slower, but then again so is Modern. For anyone interested, AJ Sacher has a video playing this deck in Modern on Twitch. I forget if linking to another website is against the rules, but I can post a link if it's okay.

Here are my 2 cents. You need a way to get damage through and unfortunately you can't do the fancy free spell tricks the legacy deck pulled so whether the deck is viable is very dependant on a way to win. Lucky for everyone I have an inflated ego erm I mean an answer: Disciple of Deceit. It doesn't have the magic 4 toughness but in conjunction with hussar/mothdust changeling it's a free tutor in a deck filled with 1 and 2 drops and also a good way to get creatures in the yard for a Skaab Ruinator, or it can be ditched to itself/disrupting shoals. It will allow the pilot to reliable get martyrs/spellstutters and ditch extra vials etc. Once you have exaused your opponents rescources you can go find a 2 card combo to finish the game. One possibility would be to ditch a sky hussar to go find a single Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and then vial in kiki and combo off with a second hussar.

Edit: after play testing the deck I'm not convinced it has enough control in the early game without force of will. I did like running street wraith as a 1-2 of because it can either cycle or be turned into a sky hussar by disciple so that you can get your engines running. The kiki-jiki Idea I put out their seems like garbage because I realized how important vial on 1-2 is. Something like a 1 of bitter blossom or pack rat might get the job done? other wise a well protected ruinator seems like the best option

Check out blue man group, it plays like this deck, until it does a random blowout with an eldrazi monument, slate of ancestry, or wurmcoil engine.

This is truly a hilarious deck. My god voidmage prodigy is just a middle finger. However, I've noticed that the deck dies pretty quickly to early removal.
I've won without dropping games vs u/x tron/tron anything, but tempo is really hard.

The Legacy deck uses Nivmagus Elemental, and you should be as well. Of course, it had Force of Will, and, more importantly, Flusterstorm, but if you want to try this anyway than Nivmagus is a must.

I also think V. Clique is pretty important here.

Here's the list I'm running which has made the most sense to me.

Maindeck


Sideboard


I run the 8 Ninja of the Deep Hours/Sky Hussar engine with 16 1 drops to ensure I get the card advantage going. I run Wingcrafter, which has currently been over-performing lately with the Ninja of the Deep Hours engine, allowing less Snapbacks and Vapor snags to be played, giving me better card quality. The amount of one drops lets the ninja engine keep getting in while dropping in 1's for the Sky Hussar engine, giving more and more ammo. This lets me drop the Æther Vial reliance and lets me run hard counters. I dropped the wizard tribal altogether, giving me access to stronger spells and dropping my double reliance on Voidmage Prodigy with Æther Vials. This also lets me up my land count, enabling access to stronger spells like Cryptic Command.

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Here's the list I'm running which has made the most sense to me.

Maindeck

Anubis647's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 18 Island Creatures 4 Cursecatcher 4 Martyr of Frost 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Sky Hussar 4 Judge's Familiar 4 Wingcrafter	Spells 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Vapor Snag 4 Disrupting Shoal 4 Mana Leak 2 Cryptic Command 2 Snapback

Sideboard

Anubis647's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Hurkyl's Recall 3 Steel Sabotage 4 Hibernation 2 Vedalken Shackles 2 Negate

I run the 8 Ninja/Hussar engine with 16 1 drops to ensure I get the card advantage going. I run Wingcrafter, which has currently been over-performing lately with the ninja engine, allowing less Snapbacks and Vapor snags to be played, giving me better card quality. The amount of one drops lets the ninja engine keep getting in while dropping in 1's for the Sky Hussar engine, giving more and more ammo. This lets me drop the Aether Vial reliance and lets me run hard counters. I dropped the wizard tribal altogether, giving me access to stronger spells and dropping my double reliance on Voidmage Prodigy with Aether Vials. This also lets me up my land count, enabling access to stronger spells like Cryptic Command.

Do you just use incremental damage to win? I think the thing missing from the Modern version is either

A. A way to get a big Nivmagus Elemental

or

B. Some other low mana finisher. Maybe Jace's Phantasm like some people have suggested or some similar creature.

Quote from Anubis647

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Here's the list I'm running which has made the most sense to me.

Maindeck

MyEyesAreBlind's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 18 Island Creatures 4 Cursecatcher 4 Martyr of Frost 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Sky Hussar 4 Judge's Familiar 4 Wingcrafter	Spells 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Vapor Snag 4 Disrupting Shoal 4 Mana Leak 2 Cryptic Command 2 Snapback

Sideboard

MyEyesAreBlind's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Hurkyl's Recall 3 Steel Sabotage 4 Hibernation 2 Vedalken Shackles 2 Negate

I run the 8 Ninja/Hussar engine with 16 1 drops to ensure I get the card advantage going. I run Wingcrafter, which has currently been over-performing lately with the ninja engine, allowing less Snapbacks and Vapor snags to be played, giving me better card quality. The amount of one drops lets the ninja engine keep getting in while dropping in 1's for the Sky Hussar engine, giving more and more ammo. This lets me drop the Aether Vial reliance and lets me run hard counters. I dropped the wizard tribal altogether, giving me access to stronger spells and dropping my double reliance on Voidmage Prodigy with Aether Vials. This also lets me up my land count, enabling access to stronger spells like Cryptic Command.

Do you just use incremental damage to win? I think the thing missing from the Modern version is either

A. A way to get a big Nivmagus Elemental

or

B. Some other low mana finisher. Maybe Jace's Phantasm like some people have suggested or some similar creature.

Yes, there is no need to get large amounts of damage in when Wingcrafter gets in Ninja of the Deep Hours and everything else into the air.

Having a double reliance on Nivmagus Elemental dumping my hard earned card advantage does not seem like a good way to go when Abrupt Decay exists in this format.

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Quote from Anubis647

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Here's the list I'm running which has made the most sense to me.

Maindeck

Anubis647's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 18 Island Creatures 4 Cursecatcher 4 Martyr of Frost 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Sky Hussar 4 Judge's Familiar 4 Wingcrafter	Spells 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Vapor Snag 4 Disrupting Shoal 4 Mana Leak 2 Cryptic Command 2 Snapback

Sideboard

Anubis647's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Hurkyl's Recall 3 Steel Sabotage 4 Hibernation 2 Vedalken Shackles 2 Negate

I run the 8 Ninja/Hussar engine with 16 1 drops to ensure I get the card advantage going. I run Wingcrafter, which has currently been over-performing lately with the ninja engine, allowing less Snapbacks and Vapor snags to be played, giving me better card quality. The amount of one drops lets the ninja engine keep getting in while dropping in 1's for the Sky Hussar engine, giving more and more ammo. This lets me drop the Aether Vial reliance and lets me run hard counters. I dropped the wizard tribal altogether, giving me access to stronger spells and dropping my double reliance on Voidmage Prodigy with Aether Vials. This also lets me up my land count, enabling access to stronger spells like Cryptic Command.

Do you just use incremental damage to win? I think the thing missing from the Modern version is either

A. A way to get a big Nivmagus Elemental

or

B. Some other low mana finisher. Maybe Jace's Phantasm like some people have suggested or some similar creature.

Yes, there is no need to get large amounts of damage in when Wingcrafter gets in Ninja of the Deep Hours and everything else into the air.

Having a double reliance on Nivmagus Elemental dumping my hard earned card advantage does not seem like a good way to go when Abrupt Decay exists in this format.

Yeah, the Elemental seems fragile with all of the removal in the format. What led you to choose Mana Leak over the other popular counter spells?

Quote from Anubis647

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Quote from Anubis647

Quote from MyEyesAreBlind

Here's the list I'm running which has made the most sense to me.

Maindeck

MyEyesAreBlind's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 18 Island Creatures 4 Cursecatcher 4 Martyr of Frost 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Sky Hussar 4 Judge's Familiar 4 Wingcrafter	Spells 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Vapor Snag 4 Disrupting Shoal 4 Mana Leak 2 Cryptic Command 2 Snapback

Sideboard

MyEyesAreBlind's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Hurkyl's Recall 3 Steel Sabotage 4 Hibernation 2 Vedalken Shackles 2 Negate

I run the 8 Ninja/Hussar engine with 16 1 drops to ensure I get the card advantage going. I run Wingcrafter, which has currently been over-performing lately with the ninja engine, allowing less Snapbacks and Vapor snags to be played, giving me better card quality. The amount of one drops lets the ninja engine keep getting in while dropping in 1's for the Sky Hussar engine, giving more and more ammo. This lets me drop the Aether Vial reliance and lets me run hard counters. I dropped the wizard tribal altogether, giving me access to stronger spells and dropping my double reliance on Voidmage Prodigy with Aether Vials. This also lets me up my land count, enabling access to stronger spells like Cryptic Command.

Do you just use incremental damage to win? I think the thing missing from the Modern version is either

A. A way to get a big Nivmagus Elemental

or

B. Some other low mana finisher. Maybe Jace's Phantasm like some people have suggested or some similar creature.

Yes, there is no need to get large amounts of damage in when Wingcrafter gets in Ninja of the Deep Hours and everything else into the air.

Having a double reliance on Nivmagus Elemental dumping my hard earned card advantage does not seem like a good way to go when Abrupt Decay exists in this format.

Yeah, the Elemental seems fragile with all of the removal in the format. What led you to choose Mana Leak over the other popular counter spells?

I'm kind of partial between Mana Leak and Spell Pierce since the creature set up is really the most important part, but I figured the most commonly expected good draws are one drops into Ninja of the Deep Hours or one drops into the Sky Hussar engine, and I don't have the mana to spare in the Ninja of the Deep Hours set up for Spell Pierce, much less for Mana Leak, while I do with the Sky Hussar setup for either, but getting in another 1 drop after you have the Sky Hussar setup isn't ALL that important, so all I get out of Mana Leak is plus, correct?

Furthermore, if am using Mana Leak and I have a ninja setup on board, I have the luxury of being mana efficient by dropping in Wingcrafter and still keeping mana open for Mana Leak, yeah?

The main point of running Mana Leak over Spell Pierce is one, about keeping my engines live, and two, being mana efficient when I have the luxury and not overextending. The flexibility of hitting creatures is also an important factor, although not as important as the first two.

I don't have time to check the thread between classes, but has anyone looked into Trinket Mage for sideboard possibilities?

I really like the deck but I share the concern of other players (who have tested it on who haven't) about its inability to close out games. Would a white splash for Figure of Destiny be a thing? That also opens up for cute things like Ranger of Eos and Proclamation of Rebirth though a bit costly. I know that it puts a dent to the blue card count for Martyr and Shoal but might still work with the right balance.

Quote from Badabingbadabum

I really like the deck but I share the concern of other players (who have tested it on who haven't) about its inability to close out games. Would a white splash for Figure of Destiny be a thing? That also opens up for cute things like Ranger of Eos and Proclamation of Rebirth though a bit costly. I know that it puts a dent to the blue card count for Martyr and Shoal but might still work with the right balance.

Figure of Destiny takes too much white mana for a splash.

Are you attacking my linguistics or is it an actual concern? Mystic Gate can go a long way. Cryptic and Figure pushes the mana base but not necessarily out of order. Alternatively Student of Warfare might be easier on the mana since you can split up the cost throughout multiple turns.

Grand Architect?

Edit: Would FoD have the same weaknesses as Nivmagus Elemental as far as removal? I too have thought about Ranger/Lark shenanigans with this deck but I think it might hurt the consistency too much. What about something like Lighthouse Chronologist? Same removal weakness but it is on-color and helps you bury your opponent in CA if it comes online.

Quote from Valanarch

Quote from Badabingbadabum

I really like the deck but I share the concern of other players (who have tested it on who haven't) about its inability to close out games. Would a white splash for Figure of Destiny be a thing? That also opens up for cute things like Ranger of Eos and Proclamation of Rebirth though a bit costly. I know that it puts a dent to the blue card count for Martyr and Shoal but might still work with the right balance.

Figure of Destiny takes too much white mana for a splash.

Quote from Badabingbadabum

Are you attacking my linguistics or is it an actual concern? Mystic Gate can go a long way. Cryptic and Figure pushes the mana base but not necessarily out of order. Alternatively Student of Warfare might be easier on the mana since you can split up the cost throughout multiple turns.

The most effective Figure of Destiny and Student of Warfare want to be cast on Turn 1 and pumped on Turn 2.

Mystic Gate does not go a long way because you can't cast your 1-drops with only it. You basically need 4 Hallowed Fountain, 4 Seachrome Coast, 4+ fetchlands, throw Adarkar Wastes in there if you want...

Quote from Badabingbadabum

Are you attacking my linguistics or is it an actual concern? Mystic Gate can go a long way. Cryptic and Figure pushes the mana base but not necessarily out of order. Alternatively Student of Warfare might be easier on the mana since you can split up the cost throughout multiple turns.

It is an actual concern. With a mere splash you are not going to get to the 5 white mana needed to get it to its final form.

Faeries anyone?

White splash for Pride of the Clouds as a finisher?

With Wingcrafter giving your non-flyers flying, and eight 1-drop flyers, it should be pretty big.

Also possibly Moorland Haunt for grindy games.