Mardu aggro has always existed, technically. Cards like Goblin Guide, Boros Charm, and Dark Confidant seem way too good not to work together. But the deck has always been missing something. Well, to put it more accurately, the deck has been missing Kytheon, Hero of Akros. With the powerful 1-drop planeswalker legal in Modern, this deck gains the reach, resiliency, and speed that really put it over the edge.
Creatures: Bloodsoaked Champion: A 1-mana 2/1 isn't a bad rate, and recursion is pretty powerful. This is a pretty powerful card against Pyroclasm and Chalice of the Void, which are two of the hardest cards for this deck to beat. It also has pretty great synergy with Champion of the Parish. This isn't necessarily a 4-of, but it slots well into most builds. Champion of the Parish: Lots of the aggressive 1-drops are humans, so Champion of the Parish is our Tarmogoyf. This card helps facilitate our late-game, as well as helping us make a fast clock early in the game. Dark Confidant: Drawing cards on a body. Being a Human for Champion of the Parish doesn't hurt either. Basically, this deck tends to run out of steam, and this is the best way to refuel. T1 Champion of the Parish into T2 Dark Confidant is also devastating. Death's Shadow: This deck plays a lot of fetchlands, Thoughtseize, and Dark Confidant, as well as almost never leaving up blockers. Death's Shadow opens up some of our most explosive draws, and gives us game G1 against Burn. Goblin Guide: Is Goblin Guide. There's not really any reason not to run 4. Grim Lavamancer: Repeated burn is good. We need a bit of late-game reach, and this card provides it. Kytheon, Hero of Akros: Kytheon is potentially a 4/4 swinging on T3. You can also leave him back to make invincible dudes, or use him to stop attacks to the face, or untap creatures to block against other aggro decks. Being legendary is a bit of a drawback, but all in all, Kytheon is a major powerhouse that definitely warrants inclusion in this deck. Mardu Shadowspear: Shadowspear isn't particularly powerful on its own, but is included in some lists for Champion of the Parish synergy and to dodge sorcery-speed sweepers. Soldier of the Pantheon: Being a 1-mana 2/1 Human isn't bad, and an occasionally relevant upside is good enough to warrant some Soldiers in the maindeck. However, this is definitely not a core card, and lists without Soldier can certainly be powerful. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: This deck plays a lot of creatures, so the drawback on Thalia isn't particularly relevant. We also don't like cards like Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods, both of which are bad against Thalia. Combining this with a relevant body, Thalia is a great card in this deck. Akroan Hoplite: Hoplite can grow, but is also very vulnerable to removal, and 2-drops in this deck have to be very good. Hoplite is playable, but probably not the best choice for this deck. Vexing Devil: Vexing Devil is probably the most debated card of all time. Run it if you want. Student of Warfare: Student can be very powerful in the late game, and having a T1 play that is relevant on T5 is one of the most powerful things a card can be. That said, losing a Student to AD after leveling it 7 times is very sad, and only leveling for white is a bit hard on the manabase. Figure of Destiny: Figure of Destiny is very similar to Student of Warfare. Certainly a playable card, but it's a big mana investment. However, being less restrictive on the mana is good. Isamaru, Hound of Konda: Isamaru just isn't quite powerful enough in today's meta. Zurgo Bellstriker: See above. Dash is relevant though. Accorder Paladin: Occasionally very good (especially at breaking boardstalls). However, it's pretty bad against Electrolyze. Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant: Not really what this deck wants to be doing, but they're pretty good against Burn. Possibly playable if your meta is majorly skewed.
Instants/Sorceries: Lightning Bolt: Is probably the best card in Modern. Any deck that can run Bolt should probably be running 4. Boros Charm: 4 points of burn is pretty good for 2 mana. Making things indestructible is good against sweepers. Double strike can be relevant against Leyline of Sanctity and with Champion of the Parish. Path to Exile: Path is good, creatures are scary. Putting away threats like Wurmcoil Engine or Vault Skirge is important, and Path gives us a way to do that. Thoughtseize: Thoughtseize lets us get rid of problems before they happen. Picking Pyroclasms out of Tron's hand is very useful. Synergy with Death's Shadow is also relevant. Inquisition of Kozilek: Better than Thoughtseize against Burn, but worse against pretty much everything else. Run only if your meta is burn-heavy. Bump in the Night: Burn spells are pretty good. Bump doesn't have any other utility, but if you find yourself running out of gas, this can help you get there. Foul-Tongue Shriek: Lifegain can be decent in races. However, often this card is just winmore.
Lands:
Fetchlands: Improve consistency and are good with Death's Shadow. Run 8-10.
Shocklands: Same as above. Run 4-6. Cavern of Souls: Cavern on Human (or occasionally on Avatar) is powerful. Cavern is a potential 1-of. Blackcleave Cliffs: Not good with Death's Shadow, but makes our manabase less painful, and is overall very powerful.
Basics: Run 1-2 to beat Blood Moon
This is the list that this primer is based on. I've been working on it for a long time, but, since I'm only one person, I can't test it as much as I would like. It goldfishes quickly and consistently, and is decently resilient.
So I've been proxying this deck to test with some friends (I don't have the cards yet, unfortunately), and it's been pretty good. So far, I think the following:
The Grixis Control matchup is very dependent on how early the opponent can start racing. Electrolyze is pretty rare, so we have the advantage of being faster and going wide around spot removal. This deck does have problems against Anger of the Gods out of the board, and Bloom Moon can also occasionally screw us over. Overall, I like this matchup. I'd say it's about 55/45 in our favor
Splinter Twin is a very interesting matchup. The non-UR versions seem like good matchups, although again Anger from the board is rough and probably puts us at a slight disadvantage post-board. Basically, these decks are less combo-oriented, so we have a better chance of going wide. The straight UR version is pretty rough, because they can force out an early combo and can play more Cryptic Commands, which are very good against us. I think that the non-UR versions feel about 55-45 again, with the UR version being about 40-60 in their favor.
Jund is a good matchup. Their spot removal is pretty cheap, so that is a way they can win the game, but going wide is pretty good here, and Bob becomes a very bad card. We're also decent against Liliana of the Veil because we have lots of redundancy. YET AGAIN, Anger out of the board is rough. I'd put this matchup at about 60-40 for us, although the games are never really close. If the Jund deck draws a ton of spot removal, they can normally deal with our swarming, and we end up basically helpless. If they draw their more midrangey spells and Bobs, then they end up dead very quickly.
Affinity is rough. They're very similar to us, except their haymakers are cards like Cranial Plating, which outshines anything we can do. Postboard we have things to do, but I still don't necessarily like the matchup (although Stony Silence is a real beating here). I would put this at about 40-60 against us.
Burn is interesting. We can basically only win G1 with Death's Shadow racing. G2, we bring in Firewalkers and we have two options. Option 1 is go suicidal with Death's Shadow and be faster, which works occasionally. Option 2 is to go grindy with Firewalkers, which obsoletes a lot of their spells and gives us lots of damage. Either option works, and the decision is really based on your opening hand. I would say that this matchup is about 50-50, although I think it's actually a bit in their favor.
The only other MU I've been able to test is Infect, which is very good for us. We have lots of spot removal, lots of blockers, and lots of pressure, which makes it difficult for Infect to do much of anything. They can definitely steal wins on the back of Blighted Agent, but beyond that, we tend to win a lot here. I'd put it at 65-35 in our favor.
I'm thinking of sideboarding 2-3 Burrenton Forge Tenders, because I can't think of any other way to deal with Anger and Pyroclasm short of Boros Charm. What do you guys think?
So I cut the Leyline of Punishments in my SB for Burrenton Forge-Tenders, which was definitely right. I've been able to beat red board sweepers on multiple occasions, which is a lot better than before. I've been testing the Tron MU, which is a lot better with Forge-Tenders, but still rough. Path is an all-star, because it beats Wurmcoil. I think it's about 40-60 against, maybe worse.
I've also tested against Merfolk, which is generally pretty close. I'd put the MU at about 50-50, although it feels slightly better.
Also, I've reevaluated the Jund MU at 50-50, because Anger is a monster play, and I think that the earlier results were sort of flukey.
A lot of people would say that this sort of deck is just a "Bad burn deck". What, in your experiences, would be the difference between playing this and playing that?
I'm not trying to put you down; I particularily love swinging than mindlessly burning (Though I love comboing the most) and am curious as to why you chose to play this over Burn.
This does actually end up just being "bad burn" a lot of the time. For me, there are two big pluses:
This deck doesn't run out of gas as much. Burn tends to die to lifegain in any form. Their plan against lifegain is basically Skullcrack/Atarka's Command, meaning they are essentially playing Lightning Strikes in order to not die to hate. Hate against this deck also exists, but it's possible to play around, and easier to beat if it resolves.
It's also more fun to play. Burn often ends up being mindless and decisionless, with damage maximization being occasionally difficult, but largely unimportant. Maximizing damage in this deck is more important and often more rewarding.
There are some other things as well, but these are the two big ones.
I've never actually tried Xathrid Necromancer. It seems very workable to me, although it might require a slightly higher land count. The big turn-off to me is that it doesn't help against Anger of the Gods, which is where I really want an effect like that.
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Mardu Aggro
Mardu aggro has always existed, technically. Cards like Goblin Guide, Boros Charm, and Dark Confidant seem way too good not to work together. But the deck has always been missing something. Well, to put it more accurately, the deck has been missing Kytheon, Hero of Akros. With the powerful 1-drop planeswalker legal in Modern, this deck gains the reach, resiliency, and speed that really put it over the edge.
Creatures:
Bloodsoaked Champion: A 1-mana 2/1 isn't a bad rate, and recursion is pretty powerful. This is a pretty powerful card against Pyroclasm and Chalice of the Void, which are two of the hardest cards for this deck to beat. It also has pretty great synergy with Champion of the Parish. This isn't necessarily a 4-of, but it slots well into most builds.
Champion of the Parish: Lots of the aggressive 1-drops are humans, so Champion of the Parish is our Tarmogoyf. This card helps facilitate our late-game, as well as helping us make a fast clock early in the game.
Dark Confidant: Drawing cards on a body. Being a Human for Champion of the Parish doesn't hurt either. Basically, this deck tends to run out of steam, and this is the best way to refuel. T1 Champion of the Parish into T2 Dark Confidant is also devastating.
Death's Shadow: This deck plays a lot of fetchlands, Thoughtseize, and Dark Confidant, as well as almost never leaving up blockers. Death's Shadow opens up some of our most explosive draws, and gives us game G1 against Burn.
Goblin Guide: Is Goblin Guide. There's not really any reason not to run 4.
Grim Lavamancer: Repeated burn is good. We need a bit of late-game reach, and this card provides it.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros: Kytheon is potentially a 4/4 swinging on T3. You can also leave him back to make invincible dudes, or use him to stop attacks to the face, or untap creatures to block against other aggro decks. Being legendary is a bit of a drawback, but all in all, Kytheon is a major powerhouse that definitely warrants inclusion in this deck.
Mardu Shadowspear: Shadowspear isn't particularly powerful on its own, but is included in some lists for Champion of the Parish synergy and to dodge sorcery-speed sweepers.
Soldier of the Pantheon: Being a 1-mana 2/1 Human isn't bad, and an occasionally relevant upside is good enough to warrant some Soldiers in the maindeck. However, this is definitely not a core card, and lists without Soldier can certainly be powerful.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: This deck plays a lot of creatures, so the drawback on Thalia isn't particularly relevant. We also don't like cards like Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods, both of which are bad against Thalia. Combining this with a relevant body, Thalia is a great card in this deck.
Akroan Hoplite: Hoplite can grow, but is also very vulnerable to removal, and 2-drops in this deck have to be very good. Hoplite is playable, but probably not the best choice for this deck.
Vexing Devil: Vexing Devil is probably the most debated card of all time. Run it if you want.
Student of Warfare: Student can be very powerful in the late game, and having a T1 play that is relevant on T5 is one of the most powerful things a card can be. That said, losing a Student to AD after leveling it 7 times is very sad, and only leveling for white is a bit hard on the manabase.
Figure of Destiny: Figure of Destiny is very similar to Student of Warfare. Certainly a playable card, but it's a big mana investment. However, being less restrictive on the mana is good.
Isamaru, Hound of Konda: Isamaru just isn't quite powerful enough in today's meta.
Zurgo Bellstriker: See above. Dash is relevant though.
Accorder Paladin: Occasionally very good (especially at breaking boardstalls). However, it's pretty bad against Electrolyze.
Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant: Not really what this deck wants to be doing, but they're pretty good against Burn. Possibly playable if your meta is majorly skewed.
Instants/Sorceries:
Lightning Bolt: Is probably the best card in Modern. Any deck that can run Bolt should probably be running 4.
Boros Charm: 4 points of burn is pretty good for 2 mana. Making things indestructible is good against sweepers. Double strike can be relevant against Leyline of Sanctity and with Champion of the Parish.
Path to Exile: Path is good, creatures are scary. Putting away threats like Wurmcoil Engine or Vault Skirge is important, and Path gives us a way to do that.
Thoughtseize: Thoughtseize lets us get rid of problems before they happen. Picking Pyroclasms out of Tron's hand is very useful. Synergy with Death's Shadow is also relevant.
Inquisition of Kozilek: Better than Thoughtseize against Burn, but worse against pretty much everything else. Run only if your meta is burn-heavy.
Bump in the Night: Burn spells are pretty good. Bump doesn't have any other utility, but if you find yourself running out of gas, this can help you get there.
Foul-Tongue Shriek: Lifegain can be decent in races. However, often this card is just winmore.
Lands:
Fetchlands: Improve consistency and are good with Death's Shadow. Run 8-10.
Shocklands: Same as above. Run 4-6.
Cavern of Souls: Cavern on Human (or occasionally on Avatar) is powerful. Cavern is a potential 1-of.
Blackcleave Cliffs: Not good with Death's Shadow, but makes our manabase less painful, and is overall very powerful.
Basics: Run 1-2 to beat Blood Moon
4 Arid Mesa
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Godless Shrine
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Sacred Foundry
Instants/Sorceries:
2 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Thoughtseize
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Dark Confidant
3 Death's Shadow
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
2 Mardu Shadowspear
3 Soldier of the Pantheon
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Leyline of Punishment
2 Lightning Helix
1 Path to Exile
1 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
3 Wear / Tear
This is the list that this primer is based on. I've been working on it for a long time, but, since I'm only one person, I can't test it as much as I would like. It goldfishes quickly and consistently, and is decently resilient.
The Grixis Control matchup is very dependent on how early the opponent can start racing. Electrolyze is pretty rare, so we have the advantage of being faster and going wide around spot removal. This deck does have problems against Anger of the Gods out of the board, and Bloom Moon can also occasionally screw us over. Overall, I like this matchup. I'd say it's about 55/45 in our favor
Splinter Twin is a very interesting matchup. The non-UR versions seem like good matchups, although again Anger from the board is rough and probably puts us at a slight disadvantage post-board. Basically, these decks are less combo-oriented, so we have a better chance of going wide. The straight UR version is pretty rough, because they can force out an early combo and can play more Cryptic Commands, which are very good against us. I think that the non-UR versions feel about 55-45 again, with the UR version being about 40-60 in their favor.
Jund is a good matchup. Their spot removal is pretty cheap, so that is a way they can win the game, but going wide is pretty good here, and Bob becomes a very bad card. We're also decent against Liliana of the Veil because we have lots of redundancy. YET AGAIN, Anger out of the board is rough. I'd put this matchup at about 60-40 for us, although the games are never really close. If the Jund deck draws a ton of spot removal, they can normally deal with our swarming, and we end up basically helpless. If they draw their more midrangey spells and Bobs, then they end up dead very quickly.
Affinity is rough. They're very similar to us, except their haymakers are cards like Cranial Plating, which outshines anything we can do. Postboard we have things to do, but I still don't necessarily like the matchup (although Stony Silence is a real beating here). I would put this at about 40-60 against us.
Burn is interesting. We can basically only win G1 with Death's Shadow racing. G2, we bring in Firewalkers and we have two options. Option 1 is go suicidal with Death's Shadow and be faster, which works occasionally. Option 2 is to go grindy with Firewalkers, which obsoletes a lot of their spells and gives us lots of damage. Either option works, and the decision is really based on your opening hand. I would say that this matchup is about 50-50, although I think it's actually a bit in their favor.
The only other MU I've been able to test is Infect, which is very good for us. We have lots of spot removal, lots of blockers, and lots of pressure, which makes it difficult for Infect to do much of anything. They can definitely steal wins on the back of Blighted Agent, but beyond that, we tend to win a lot here. I'd put it at 65-35 in our favor.
I'm thinking of sideboarding 2-3 Burrenton Forge Tenders, because I can't think of any other way to deal with Anger and Pyroclasm short of Boros Charm. What do you guys think?
I've also tested against Merfolk, which is generally pretty close. I'd put the MU at about 50-50, although it feels slightly better.
Also, I've reevaluated the Jund MU at 50-50, because Anger is a monster play, and I think that the earlier results were sort of flukey.
I'd love to get some input on the deck.
I'm not trying to put you down; I particularily love swinging than mindlessly burning (Though I love comboing the most) and am curious as to why you chose to play this over Burn.
Also, have you tried Xathrid Necromancer?
This deck doesn't run out of gas as much. Burn tends to die to lifegain in any form. Their plan against lifegain is basically Skullcrack/Atarka's Command, meaning they are essentially playing Lightning Strikes in order to not die to hate. Hate against this deck also exists, but it's possible to play around, and easier to beat if it resolves.
It's also more fun to play. Burn often ends up being mindless and decisionless, with damage maximization being occasionally difficult, but largely unimportant. Maximizing damage in this deck is more important and often more rewarding.
There are some other things as well, but these are the two big ones.
I've never actually tried Xathrid Necromancer. It seems very workable to me, although it might require a slightly higher land count. The big turn-off to me is that it doesn't help against Anger of the Gods, which is where I really want an effect like that.