You can have whatever you want for breakfast, so long as it includes eggs, and the FDA (DCI) hasn’t inspected it yet. Eggs is a deck built around the powerful effect of recursively sacrificing artifacts that cantrip. Whether taking advantage of the dies triggers or just going infinite, people have found ways to win with the most insignificant of cards.
”The bright tunnel sometimes leads back to life.”-Second Sunrise
There is a phrase commonly applied to what happens when Timmy gets a little too into what they’re doing, “Durdling.”
What happens when the ability to durdle is refined down to a top tier deck? Well it didn’t start that way.
In the fall of 2001 Odyssey premiered and with two things were now available. A critical mass of artifacts that sacrifice to draw cards in the “Egggggs” Cycle. As well as a reason to run them, Nantuko Shrine
In in other formats the deck didn’t gain much traction outside of FNM level events. In Mirrodin the deck gained Disciple of the Vault, Second Sunrise, and Conjurer's Bauble to little immediate consequence. It wasn’t until October of 2006 that the deck started cooking with fire. Lotus Bloom and the associated rules change that cards without mana cost would have a CMC of 0.
Conceived by Sylvain Lauriol and played by most of the French players at Worlds that December Omelette aux Lotus was the buzz after Bastien Perez went undefeated on day one. "This might actually be the most skill-oriented combo deck in the entire history of magic."- Pierre Canali
Between 2007 and 2011 not much happened for the deck, extended had some tough competition.
In 2011 with the creation of modern brews began and in mid 2012 Faith's Reward was printed and the deck had finally come into its full. By October 2012 just 2 months after this version’s first tournament appearance Stanislav Cifka went 18-1 to win ProTour Return to Ravnica.
April 22nd 2013 just 5 months after Stanislav’s win the DCI announcement comes through that Second Sunrise is banned. The deck falls into obscurity and myth of how powerful it once was. Now running KCI it manages less than a dozen top 8’s in daily tournaments on MTGO and a single place in a World Cup qualifier over the next 4 years.
It wasn’t until January of 2017 that the deck became competitive again. Decks began by running Whir of Invention as an obvious inclusion and by April the power of Scrap Trawler was discovered. The deck now had consistency it craved and the power to go infinite.
In early 2018 a very specific rules interaction that made the deck require fewer pieces for its combo became widespread knowledge increasing the tournament presence of the deck.
When paying for the cost of Chromatic Sphere’s activated ability you can then choose to pay for it by activating the mana ability of KCI by sacrificing Myr Retriever, the Retriever’s triggered ability does not go on the stack until after the Sphere’s ability resolves. Allowing it to target itself where it normally couldn’t.
The power of the deck in the hands of a skilled player lead to an excess of high-profile finishes such as claiming 4 of the top 8 slots at GP Oakland 2019.
The day before the writing of this primer the DCI struck again. Banning the now crux card Krark-Clan Ironworks. The future of this deck remains uncertain, but below we will attempt to find where this deck should move onto.
”Deserted, but not uninhabited.”-Ghost Quarter
Eggs is a historically ridged deck as far as construction goes, you’ll have your necessary pieces of the combo and then 1-4 flex slots that even then don’t change that much. That said, the deck is currently undergoing a major transformation, so a lot of options are on the table.
We will need 25-35 artifacts, 15-20 lands, a recursion source or two, a slot dedicated to a win condition, and possibly some defensive spells. Wee will be focusing the discussion in on one particular build until others establish a bigger presence.
These will be the cards to power the deck.
Learning the timing on when to use your tutors and how far you’ll have to dig for a mass recursion is one of the key skills you’ll need to master to play this deck.
Typically, 4-9 recursive engine cards and 4-8 Tutors. The exact numbers will come down to how much you value speed verses consistency.
Open the Vaults (Run 2-4) : With Second Sunrise banned this is what we have left instead for redundancy. It doesn’t bring back everything, only artifacts and enchantments so pay attention to the mana you need off lands through fetches or quarters. The plus side is that it will bring back any artifacts you may have sacrificed on earlier turns of the game or if you need to restart your combo after failing to go off.
Roar of Reclamation (Run 0-4) : Can be run in place of Faith's Reward to have a build that recurs artifacts put into the graveyard through any means. It would be a more consistent build as you have the options to sacrifice eggs on earlier turns or come back from a turn where you don’t go off. The drawback of costing 5WW will probably slow down the starting turn by too much.
Tutors:
Whir of Invention (Run 4) : The main use of this card will be to, at the beginning of your combo turn, sacrifice Lotus Bloom to play Whir for 0 to tutor another Lotus onto the battlefield. Maintaining the same amount of mana until you cast either Faith's Reward or Open the Vaults where you will have 3 extra mana to work with. Later in the combo it will still most commonly be used for Lotuses but if mana is abundant would be used to find an Egg. Games 2/3 it can be used to find board cards if necessary.
Reshape (Run 1-3) :All the applications of Whir at one less mana, with the sacrificing of an artifact. Remember “in Modern two-mana Tinker for Black Lotus is a legal play.” You generally want to be sacrificing Elsewhere Flask or Chromatic Star so that you aren’t depriving yourself a draw off the eggs that cantrip from their abilities.
Tezzeret the Seeker (Run 0-1) :Tutors up any artifact in your deck by using his minus X=4. Can then be returned to the battlefield with Faith's Reward for repeatable tutor. Unlike our other tutors will not help us set up in the early turns and then on our combo turn requires us to at least have an investment of 2 since he can tutor for a Lotus Bloom.
Cantrips:
Serum Visions (Run 0-4) :Not an egg but will help with your early game setup and once you are in mid combo with extra mana. Run over eggs that cost mana because while both are mostly dead during the most fragile early combo iterations, this sets up better, where late combo where we are at our strongest already the bad eggs would be better. Obvious interaction is that during combo cast this before cracking your eggs to draw into the cards you scry from.
Sleight of Hand (Run 0-3) :Same story as Visions except the draw happens differently. Sometimes one is better than the other. In this deck you will more often want Visions.
Faithless Looting (Run 0-4) :The difference here is that Looting puts cards in a place where we already want them so they can be hit by Open the Vaults. The negative is needing R in the early game. Current Favorite.
Thoughtcast (Run 0-2) :A powerful draw effect, for a different deck most likely. Artifact aggro deck can cast this for U once they gave played out their hand to draw more steam. We are running spell based cantrips to improve our early game setup over artifact eggs. Thoughtcast would only really draw us cards cheaply once we are already ready to go off.
Ancient Stirrings (Run 0-4) :Unlike the KCI builds our artifacts are mostly interchangeable eggs. Unless you put in a colorless combo piece I wouldn’t run it over anything else.
Board the Weatherlight (Run 0) :Slightly more on color than Stirrings and digs one deeper. Can only find Legendary Lands instead of any land. Generally worse in most ways.
Crack an egg and watch the gears turn. These are the cards that draw you into the next, they occasionally color filter, or even win you the game. (Oh, wait that’ll be in the next section)
In most every incarnation of the deck you will run at least 16 after which they tend to start needing enablers to be playable.
Core:
Chromatic Star (Run 4) : The base of our deck. Play your eggs early while you can and avoid cracking them until the last possible moment.
Chromatic Sphere (Run 4) :The next best egg. You will get very, very familiar with cracking eggs. Note the difference between the two. This one only draws a card when you activate its ability, Star will draw a card however it goes to the graveyard.
Conjurer's Bauble (Run 4) : Not only is this an incredibly efficient 1 egg, but it is actually our combo piece. Early in the combo you will put back Faith's Rewards and Open the Vaults to improve your consistency. Late combo, when you have no cards in deck, you will stop sacrificing all other eggs that draw you cards. Then you will use a single Bauble to recycle a Faith's Reward for an infinite loop.
Elsewhere Flask (Run 4) : Here is where things get down to what we are given verses what we want. It does what we need it to though. Drawing a card, this time with the advantage of getting it on the front side for better early game setup. Secondly, it sacrifices itself without costing mana. You’ll find that nothing else quite meets those qualifications. As a small bonus it can mana fix your lands if you need that UUU for Whir, watch out though, as it can blank your Ghost Quarter.
Extras:
Mishra's Bauble (Run 0) :This is the cheapest egg, and while it can be played early to help draw into the combo, the turn we go off it does nothing since we don’t want our opponent to get another turn anyway. If for some reason you were unable to go off (maybe because one of your eggs doesn’t draw a card right away) it does a great job of rebuilding to help you win on your next turn.
Mind Stone (Run 0-2) :Can be used as early game ramp into other eggs. Since it’s draw affect cost mana it would drain one every iteration which can make all the difference when you are trying to go off. Once you use it for mana during a combo turn you are unlikely to be able to sacrifice it for any repeated value.
Kaleidostone (Run 0-4) :The best egg for our deck we aren’t running. It functions almost the same as Elsewhere Flask with the added benefit of better mana filtering. The startup cost is however one too high putting it just below the threshold of inclusion.
Courier's Capsule (Run 0-1) :Costing 1U per iteration is a steep price, with a sweet but passable payoff. A list or two once upon a time splashed one into the main.
Alchemist's Vial (Run 0-2) :The cost to sacrifice is detrimental to our combo plan but might serve to niftily delay our opponents from killing us an extra turn in the early game.
Nihil Spellbomb (Run 0-1) :Maindeck tutorable graveyard hate that can also serve to play into the combo. Probably belongs in the sideboard but let your meta decide. Easily the best of the modern spellbombs.
Sac-Outlet:
Grinding Station (Run 0-4) : A free sac-outlet that helps load up your graveyard for Vaults. Also serves as a primary win condition. If you want to run the eggs of the KCI days this is your best option.
Claws of Gix (Run 0) : Costing only 1 to play or sac this is our next best sac-outlet and it probably isn’t worth playing at all.
Metalwork Colossus (Run 0) : A free sac-outlet that first must be put into the graveyard and then has some pretty intense timing restrictions. Not runnable unless your combo innately involves a discard outlet and even then, seems questionable.
Thopter Foundry (Run 0-2) : Advantages include infinite life and infinite 1/1s. Disadvantages include requiring two colored mana to play, a mana to sacrifice, infinite life being irrelevant if you are winning, and needing a way to not draw out on your next turn in order to win with infinite 1/1s. Has very positive interactions with Sword of the Meek for times when you aren’t going off.
Time Sieve (Run 0-4) : Makes Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek worth running, lets you untap your lands and draw a card. A different strategy and win condition but takes up a lot more slots in the deck than our current combo.
Things that require Sac-Outlets:
Terrarion (Run 0-4) :It does everything we want. Except it comes into play tapped.
Ichor Wellspring(Run 0-4) :The most powerful draw egg for its cost.
Scrap Trawler (Run 0-2) :Powerful recursion engine, however the current build does not generate much mana with each iteration so Reward and Vaults function as ways around needing more than 6 mana.
Myr Retriever(Run 0) :Incredible value for recurring artifacts. In the current build would only get back a standard egg, so might as well be an egg that could sac itself.
Every deck needs land, we just so happen to be lucky enough not to need very many. Decks have historically run between 16-21 lands and enough other mana producers to explain the difference.
I’ve gone infinite without hitting a single land drop until turn 4.
Who needs lands when you have fast mana.
Fast Mana:
Mox Opal (Run 4) : Early game this ramps us, late game it becomes part of the combo. Take advantage of its Legendary Status during your combo turn to loop them for an extra mana each iteration, sacrificing the tapped one for the newly entered untapped one. Remember that if multiple enter play at the same time you won’t have an opportunity to tap either before sending one to the graveyard.
Lotus Bloom (Run 4) :Cast this on turn 1 for an additional three colored mana on turn 4. Tutor it with Reshape or Whir of Invention to get your combo started or add to the existing loop. This is the card that allows this deck to work. If drawn on any turn but turn one you might as well play it incase you have the opportunity to wait that long to go off. If you are running Looting or another discard source you can pitch it freely to later bring back with Vaults
Fetch and Mana Lands:
Ghost Quarter (Run 4) : Target a land you have already tapped for mana, to get a new basic land untapped. You will net the same amount as if you had tapped the ghost quarter for mana. Then in conjunction with Faith's Reward both the destroyed lands and Ghost Quarter will come back untapped. Thinning your deck and producing mana with each iteration.
Oneoffourfetches (Run 3-4) :An old and mostly debunked expression amongst magic players is, “Thin to win.” Running fetches to reduce your odds of drawing a land generally isn’t worth the life. In an average deck that wins or loses on turn 6 you will have seen 5 additional cards after your initial 7. Reducing the 53 card pile you draw from into a 52 card pile won’t affect your draws in a significant way. Eggs on the other hand intends to see every card in the deck and drawing any other card over a land can make the difference between winning or not. When cracked on a combo turn you can recur it for additional mana production and thinning as long as your life total or basic land count allows. Choose which fetch based on color splashes, and if you don’t have any non-blue cards except Reward or Vaults consider running one of each to confuse your opponents and increase your resilience to hate cards.
Island (Run 7-9) :This deck usually uses two colors and between 8 ChromaticFilters, Land Type Changing, Moxen, and Black Lotuses you find what you need pretty well. During combo your artifacts will be producing W]/ana]foRyoURWHitESPEllS,WHEREaSEaRlyGamEyoURtUtoRSWant[mana]U.
Other Basics (Run 0-2) :If you are running a second color this is half of the way you will be casting those spells. Shocks of any Island[c/c] including [c=Hallowed Fountain]Color may also be included for the same reason. You will often be running only one slot for your splash land so the choice between a basic or a shock depends on how much damage you are willing to take in order to more consistently have UUU for Whir of Invention
Spire of Industry (Run 1-4) :If your list is splashing for several colored effects this is your tri-land of choice.
Effect Lands:
Darksteel Citadel (Run 0-4) : If you are running main deck free sac-outlets this land will produce a mana per iteration.
Inventors' Fair (Run 0-1) : Late game when you haven’t gone off yet will find you an artifact, better if you are running artifacts outside of just eggs. If we need this we have already most likely lost.
Phyrexia's Core (Run 0-1) : A sac-outlet that only works once a turn. Generally, not worth a slot.
Academy Ruins (Run 0-2) : A way to not draw out if needed, if we need this we already lost. Has some specific applications in a few unique builds.
So we have the pieces for an infinite loop that produces infinite mana. We have all the options in the world, so many possible wincons, so easy to use once the loop is achieved. It actually means we are probably running the weakest of those win conditions because it plays better before we go off.
Win Conditions:
Pyrite Spellbomb (Run 1) : Looped infinitely with Faith's Reward will steadily kill a player form any life total. Early game can serve to remove a creature or draw a card furthering the early game plan. The only reason to run any other win condition is because of your opponent’s hate cards. Cannot win against infinite life since Bauble puts Faith's Reward into an unknown zone even if it is the only card in your deck. This mean you must play out each iterations. Easily outclasses every other original spellbomb for egg purposes.
Silence (Run 0-4) : This is our most powerful defensive option, once it resolved you are in the clear to go off. Sunrise decks ran two, current builds are more mana hungry and people often choose to exclude this safety net.
Backup options: Placed here rather than sideboard for better decision making.
Implement of Combustion : Very similar to the Spellbomb except it draws off R and can’t hit creatures. The only reason to run 1 in the board is if your opponent already knows to name Pyrite Spellbomb with Meddling Mage. Probably better off with a more versatile backup.
Blind Obedience : Can buy you time in the early game and win with untargeted life lost. This is the favored backup wincondition. Cannot win against infinite life
Laboratory Maniac : The fragility of being a creature is mostly negated by your ability to draw a card as many time as is needed to trigger his win. The only playable option that can win against infinite life. Note:Chromatic Sphere’s draw is part of a mana ability and cannot be responded to.
Banefire : Can let you win uncounterably much earlier on in your combo than any other win condition. Particularly relevant if playing on MTGO.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn : Be careful to have an extra card in your Library if you intend to cast him. Generally you would rather a wincon that you are guaranteed to be able to use if you combo out. Sometime casting him requires drawing all of your cards.
Grapeshot : Many of the same advantages as Banefire, can be played earlier for multiple creature removal if necessary.
Codex Shredder : Sets up an infinite combo with Faith's Reward if you have enough mana. You can deal infinite damage since the combo no longer interacts with an unknown zone.
Research // Development : If you would rather not guess how your opponent is going to try and stop your win condition just play a Wish Instead. Find whichever win they weren’t expecting.
Aetherflux Reservoir : Another storm based win condition, this time it’s an artifact which is worse since it can be hit by the hate they bring in for your artifacts and doesn’t do anything to help your combo during early turns anyway.
Sai, Master Thopterist : Like Emrakul will win through damage. Unlike Emrakul it doesn’t give you an extra turn to attempt to do so with. Will kill an opponent from higher than 15 but requires enablement to do so. Does produce blockers mid-game if you need them.
All together, what does the deck look like?
This deck is in a very heavy time of flux so please recommend your lists and ideas. We will rebuild, how is the question.
Feel free to post or recommend lists for the Primer.
”When the vaults are empty, everyone is rich.”-Open the Vaults
In this section we can compile sideboard strategies for specific matchups. Due to the varying nature of the modern what to run will depend entirely on your meta.
I hope that this part will be a community project, gathering play data and experience in how to react to each situation. Currently we have a lot of information throughout this thread. Now let’s gather it all together so that it can be of use to us.
The point of a sideboard is to shore up the decks weaknesses against common problem it will face in the current meta.
Let’s see what we’ve got.
This section will be filled in with community input, thank you for your patience as data comes in.
"Take a quiet moment to reflect on your sins."-Silence
Updated Last: Incoming Results will go here.
If I miss anything please feel free to message me about it.
Thank you for your contributions. This is still a very young primer and I would appreciate input and patience. Feel free to message me about technical errors, bad links, typos, and the like. If it is a large theoretical discussion on what belongs in the deck, that is a discussion for this thread.
Sources include but are not limited to: Stanislav Cifka, Nate Heiss, Redit user PrometeusGod, and Hanno Terbuyken. As well as Salvation users: Izzetmage, Aazadan, and you.
I don't think lowering the curve is the solution for this deck. We're not an aggro deck and we don't have the resources to play a grindy midrange battle.
We're essentially a Prison-style deck that uses Stone Rain/Molten Rain/Blood Moon to stall our opponents out and crush them with big threats. As I mentioned in my previous post, BBE has a roughly 40% of hitting a dud card with 10 ramp cards vs. 18 or so non-ramp cards with 3 CMC or less (the actual percentage is going to fluctuate based on your list/what you've already drawn, obviously). I can't help but think that slot could be better filled by something else, even if we haven't figured out what it is yet.
I've actually been against BB Elf, a 3/2 Haste just doesn't add to what we want to do. It's very good, no question, but it doesn't progress our game plan.
I haven't posted much recently because I'm not really running Ponza. I cut the LD.
I've found that LD isn't where you want to be against many decks in modern and that Blood Moon had dropped below the 60% threshold of games where I want it in. Fundamentally changing the game plan with Goyfs might be the direction to go in, but I doubt it. We'd be like Jund except removing lands instead of relevant things.
In many matches I found myself wishing I could just draw another bomb. Boarding out Blood Moon for more creature density. So I built a deck around it.
Summoning Trap At instant speed is incredible against the Control and Creature Tempo matchups. It's Trap cost is incredible, but it's just a bonus, this car dis good enough on it's own once you have more creature density.
The Madcap plan's primary weakness is that it is easy to board against, with diversified threats this isn't a problem anymore. And it really is the turntwo dream.
Don't you feel like you have not enough black sources and green sources? According to Frank Karsten article, we need 14 sources black and red T1 for cycling and 11 green for T3 Violent Outburst. Your list seems to be 2B and 2G short, does cyclers make up for the colored sources? Haven't tried lower sources configuration and I already hate the basic forest as it is, even if i know thats the necessary evil. In theory Street Wraith probably counts as colour source tho. When do you bring Dark Dwellers in?
Occasionally my colors pick which cyclers I play and the order, but I can't think of an occasion where turn one R or B was a problem, the only thing I've ever run into and rarely is wanting BB on turn 2 and not having it. As for turn 3 I have run into being short a G rarely, but I probably could do with two more fetches and two less fast lands. I always lean into basics in light of Moon, Path, and Stripmine.
Goblin Dark-Dwellers came about because in my matches against counterspell decks it was always about counting how many Living End I had. Effectively adding 2 extra copies of Living End and being able to cast a cascade spell from the yard if necessary. I add him in when I am expecting slower games but no Leyline.
4-0 Saturday
Round 1- Bye
Round 2- Spirts. Hard games all around, won easier in game 3 because they Quellered the Violent Outburst instead of the Living End, I had a followup cascade spell on my turn that I didn't have to use.
Round 3- RW Prison. Explosive turn 2 and 4 Living Ends. They didn't see Chalice game 1 and I had Ingot Chewer in my opening hand game 2.
Round 4- Tron. Game 1 was turn 2 Fulminator into turn 3 Living End. Game 2 was Turn 3/4/5 Fulminators
3-0-1 Today
Round 1- Tron. Easy win.
Round 2- Dredge. I win a long game one thanks to my mainboard Faeries. Game 2 he Leylines from his opening hand and eventually wins with 4 cards in his library off of a Conflagrate for exactly lethal. Time is called before game 3 even starts. Tie.
Round 3- Harden Scales Affinity. Easily sweep game 1 thanks to Faerie Macabre. Game 2 he blocks with enough thopter tokens to go to 1 and cracks back with enough damage that his Walking Ballista at 6 can close the game. Game 3 Early Ingot Chewer plus Faerie Macabre do their jobs.
Round 4- UW Control. Game 1 he casts an EOT Terminus off an Opt with 2 walkers in play, I scoop. Games 2 I keep him under 3 lands the entire game with Fulminator Mage and Avalanche Riders. Game 3 we both have decent games but a surprise 4th attempt at Living End with Goblin Dark-Dwellers did the trick taking him down from 5 lands to 3 in the process.
Card Choices: I tend to playtest more at my LGS instead of going with tried and true.
I'm a big fan of Faeries main and would be hard pressed to change that in this meta. Jund Charm plays out well in several match-ups, old its an old tech, but now serves to kill a Meddling Mage and graveyard hate is relevant these days. Avalanche Riders for the control match-ups, especially Tron, Valakut, and UW
I board in the Ingot Chewer against burn, the lifegain route never seems consistent enough so instead I race them with my cheapest plays.
I will probably add at least 1 Expansion // Explosion to my board.
This deck is a variant on Death's Shadow decks. It varies significantly from the thread on Cragganwick Cremator Toolbox decks in: colors, cards, and game plan.
This deck provides significant reach to close a game a traditional Death's Shadow might struggle with.
When discarded to The CrematorDeath's Shadow counts as it's full power. Ghalta is as often cast as discarded with both Shadow and Goyf providing large bodies for cost reduction. Eldritch Evolution could not ask for better two drops than Snap and Goyf. Bolt->Snap->Bolt is a great play before or after a big discard.
Most decks utilizing Cragganwick Cremator have to work to reduce the number of cards in their hand since the discard is random, this deck is usually close to empty handed. In a pinch discarding a Goyf for an aditional 5 damage on top of The Cremator's 5/4 body is still very good.
In Gauntlet play-testing it performs above that of traditional Death Shadow in most match-ups.
Tron is a strong matchup. If they are used to playing against Ponza it is only a good matchup.
UWx normally is a good matchup that turns into a great matchup with sideboard (I've run Boil, Choke, and Thrun at times) A few card choices on their end can swing it closer to even such as: Spreading Seas and Wrath over Verdict.
They've basically promised that they will never print 3cmc LD ever again so no chance we'll see something even better.
Wheel helps our opponents get back in the game more than it helps us win. I get that you're looking for steam, but I don't think this is it.
I've been toying with the idea of 22 lands and 2 birds, with the intent to usually cut them for sideboard cards. Be faster when you don't know what's up and hit harder once you do. Haven't run it yet because I'm trying something new every week.
@Joban8: I wouldn't because we have no way of finding it a 1 of stands more chance of hurting us than helping. Besides I feel the control matchup is favorable anyway.
@Weakatchu: I haven't tried it but I've been thinking about the blue splash. I already run Mistys and if I ever go back to a 4 GDD list then I will for sure give it a full try. I'm not super optimistic about it, and think it will likely be ok, but not quite good enough in the end. I've been thinking about running my Blue Moon list based around this though. What other blue would be worth running in Ponza?
@KenCarson: I too came from LivingEnd for about the same reasons. I like a lot of the choices you made in building the deck. Trinisphere should not be underrated. I personally ended up cutting it a meta choice but it's waiting in the wings. One note about your deck is that most people here go up to 22 lands then they cut Birds.
Dragonlord Atarka immediately struck me as bad, and worse than Bogardan Hellkite instinctively. But cost 1 less and we don't need the flash. It's huge body is a plus as well. ETB damage is similar to Titan's plus the first attack. I don't love this list, but I might try the dragon.
Been away from Modern traveling with work. Should be able to make it to my LGS this week and play.
I like LenX's opinions on a lot of cards. Most creatures are traps that 'Aren't Bad' for us but also completely off track. Also As a fellow Manamorphose lover good to know that I shouldn't try it.
There is a phrase commonly applied to what happens when Timmy gets a little too into what they’re doing, “Durdling.”
What happens when the ability to durdle is refined down to a top tier deck? Well it didn’t start that way.
In the fall of 2001 Odyssey premiered and with two things were now available. A critical mass of artifacts that sacrifice to draw cards in the “Egggggs” Cycle. As well as a reason to run them, Nantuko Shrine
4 Darkwater Egg
4 Skycloud Egg
4 Mossfire Egg
4 Shadowblood Egg
4 Sungrass Egg
4 Nantuko Shrine
Instants & Sorceries
2 Circular Logic
4 Moment's Peace
4 Obsessive Search
4 Peek
4 Words of Wisdom
8 Forest
10 Island
In in other formats the deck didn’t gain much traction outside of FNM level events. In Mirrodin the deck gained Disciple of the Vault, Second Sunrise, and Conjurer's Bauble to little immediate consequence. It wasn’t until October of 2006 that the deck started cooking with fire. Lotus Bloom and the associated rules change that cards without mana cost would have a CMC of 0.
Conceived by Sylvain Lauriol and played by most of the French players at Worlds that December Omelette aux Lotus was the buzz after Bastien Perez went undefeated on day one. "This might actually be the most skill-oriented combo deck in the entire history of magic."- Pierre Canali
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Conjurer's Bauble
3 Darkwater Egg
4 Lotus Bloom
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Skycloud Egg
3 Sungrass Egg
Instants & Sorceries (13)
2 Cunning Wish
2 Mystical Teachings
1 Orim's Chant
4 Reshape
4 Second Sunrise
4 Archaeological Dig
3 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Ghost Quarter
5 Island
2 Plains
2 Seat of the Synod
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Angel's Grace
1 Brain Freeze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Orim's Chant
1 Pithing Needle
1 Reclaim
1 Seedtime
1 Spoils of the Vault
1 Stifle
1 Trinket Mage
1 Wipe Away
Between 2007 and 2011 not much happened for the deck, extended had some tough competition.
In 2011 with the creation of modern brews began and in mid 2012 Faith's Reward was printed and the deck had finally come into its full. By October 2012 just 2 months after this version’s first tournament appearance Stanislav Cifka went 18-1 to win ProTour Return to Ravnica.
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Conjurer's Bauble
4 Elsewhere Flask
4 Lotus Bloom
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
Instants & Sorceries (22)
4 Faith's Reward
4 Second Sunrise
2 Silence
1 Gitaxian Probe
4 Reshape
4 Serum Visions
3 Sleight of Hand
7 Island
1 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Pithing Needle
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Echoing Truth
2 Silence
1 Grapeshot
April 22nd 2013 just 5 months after Stanislav’s win the DCI announcement comes through that Second Sunrise is banned. The deck falls into obscurity and myth of how powerful it once was. Now running KCI it manages less than a dozen top 8’s in daily tournaments on MTGO and a single place in a World Cup qualifier over the next 4 years.
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
1 Codex Shredder
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Krark-Clan Ironworks
3 Lotus Bloom
4 Mox Opal
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Terrarion
2 Edge of Autumn
4 Faith's Reward
2 Open the Vaults
4 Reshape
Lands (19)
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Flooded Strand
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Island
3 Plains
2 Radiant Fountain
1 Banefire
1 Codex Shredder
4 Defense Grid
4 Echoing Truth
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Tormod's Crypt
It wasn’t until January of 2017 that the deck became competitive again. Decks began by running Whir of Invention as an obvious inclusion and by April the power of Scrap Trawler was discovered. The deck now had consistency it craved and the power to go infinite.
In early 2018 a very specific rules interaction that made the deck require fewer pieces for its combo became widespread knowledge increasing the tournament presence of the deck.
The power of the deck in the hands of a skilled player lead to an excess of high-profile finishes such as claiming 4 of the top 8 slots at GP Oakland 2019.
2 Buried Ruin
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Forest
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Inventors' Fair
1 Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
Creatures (7)
1 Myr Retriever
2 Sai, Master Thopterist
4 Scrap Trawler
Instants & Sorceries (4)
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Krark-Clan Ironworks
4 Mind Stone
1 Mishra's Bauble
4 Mox Opal
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Spine of Ish Sah
3 Terrarion
1 Delay
1 Firespout
2 Galvanic Blast
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Nature's Claim
1 Negate
1 Sai, Master Thopterist
1 Swan Song
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Wurmcoil Engine
The day before the writing of this primer the DCI struck again. Banning the now crux card Krark-Clan Ironworks. The future of this deck remains uncertain, but below we will attempt to find where this deck should move onto.
In this section we can compile sideboard strategies for specific matchups. Due to the varying nature of the modern what to run will depend entirely on your meta.
I hope that this part will be a community project, gathering play data and experience in how to react to each situation. Currently we have a lot of information throughout this thread. Now let’s gather it all together so that it can be of use to us.
Updated Last:
Incoming Results will go here.
If I miss anything please feel free to message me about it.
I'll make the primer for the Post banning eggs unless someone has a thread they would rather be the main.
I was a longtime old-school eggs player even before Faith's Reward was printed.
Like storm, eggs can have its most important cards banned and still recover. It'll be tier 3 for a little, but it'll come back.
I've actually been against BB Elf, a 3/2 Haste just doesn't add to what we want to do. It's very good, no question, but it doesn't progress our game plan.
I haven't posted much recently because I'm not really running Ponza. I cut the LD.
I've found that LD isn't where you want to be against many decks in modern and that Blood Moon had dropped below the 60% threshold of games where I want it in. Fundamentally changing the game plan with Goyfs might be the direction to go in, but I doubt it. We'd be like Jund except removing lands instead of relevant things.
4x Arbor Elf
1x Dragonlord Atarka
4x Inferno Titan
2x Platinum Emperion
2x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
3x Stormbreath Dragon
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Madcap Experiment
4x Summoning Trap
Enchantments & Planeswalkers(10)
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4x Overgrowth
4x Utopia Sprawl
3x Cinder Glade
7x Forest
4x Mountain
2x Stomping Ground
2x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
In many matches I found myself wishing I could just draw another bomb. Boarding out Blood Moon for more creature density. So I built a deck around it.
Summoning Trap At instant speed is incredible against the Control and Creature Tempo matchups. It's Trap cost is incredible, but it's just a bonus, this car dis good enough on it's own once you have more creature density.
The Madcap plan's primary weakness is that it is easy to board against, with diversified threats this isn't a problem anymore. And it really is the turn two dream.
Occasionally my colors pick which cyclers I play and the order, but I can't think of an occasion where turn one R or B was a problem, the only thing I've ever run into and rarely is wanting BB on turn 2 and not having it. As for turn 3 I have run into being short a G rarely, but I probably could do with two more fetches and two less fast lands. I always lean into basics in light of Moon, Path, and Stripmine.
Goblin Dark-Dwellers came about because in my matches against counterspell decks it was always about counting how many Living End I had. Effectively adding 2 extra copies of Living End and being able to cast a cascade spell from the yard if necessary. I add him in when I am expecting slower games but no Leyline.
3x Archfiend of Ifnir
4x Desert Cerodon
3x Faerie Macabre
4x Fulminator Mage
4x Horror of the Broken Lands
4x Monstrous Carabid
1x Shriekmaw
3x Simian Spirit Guide
4x Street Wraith
Instant & Sorcery (11)
1x Beast Within
3x Demonic Dread
3x Living End
4x Violent Outburst
3x Blackcleave Cliffs
2x Blood Crypt
3x Copperline Gorge
2x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Stomping Ground
4x Swamp
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Archfiend of Ifnir
3x Avalanche Riders
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Faerie Macabre
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
4x Ingot Chewer
3x Jund Charm
4-0 Saturday
Round 1- Bye
Round 2- Spirts. Hard games all around, won easier in game 3 because they Quellered the Violent Outburst instead of the Living End, I had a followup cascade spell on my turn that I didn't have to use.
Round 3- RW Prison. Explosive turn 2 and 4 Living Ends. They didn't see Chalice game 1 and I had Ingot Chewer in my opening hand game 2.
Round 4- Tron. Game 1 was turn 2 Fulminator into turn 3 Living End. Game 2 was Turn 3/4/5 Fulminators
3-0-1 Today
Round 1- Tron. Easy win.
Round 2- Dredge. I win a long game one thanks to my mainboard Faeries. Game 2 he Leylines from his opening hand and eventually wins with 4 cards in his library off of a Conflagrate for exactly lethal. Time is called before game 3 even starts. Tie.
Round 3- Harden Scales Affinity. Easily sweep game 1 thanks to Faerie Macabre. Game 2 he blocks with enough thopter tokens to go to 1 and cracks back with enough damage that his Walking Ballista at 6 can close the game. Game 3 Early Ingot Chewer plus Faerie Macabre do their jobs.
Round 4- UW Control. Game 1 he casts an EOT Terminus off an Opt with 2 walkers in play, I scoop. Games 2 I keep him under 3 lands the entire game with Fulminator Mage and Avalanche Riders. Game 3 we both have decent games but a surprise 4th attempt at Living End with Goblin Dark-Dwellers did the trick taking him down from 5 lands to 3 in the process.
Card Choices: I tend to playtest more at my LGS instead of going with tried and true.
I'm a big fan of Faeries main and would be hard pressed to change that in this meta.
Jund Charm plays out well in several match-ups, old its an old tech, but now serves to kill a Meddling Mage and graveyard hate is relevant these days.
Avalanche Riders for the control match-ups, especially Tron, Valakut, and UW
I board in the Ingot Chewer against burn, the lifegain route never seems consistent enough so instead I race them with my cheapest plays.
I will probably add at least 1 Expansion // Explosion to my board.
4x Cragganwick Cremator
4x Death's Shadow
3x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Street Wraith
3x Tarmogoyf
4x Mishra's Bauble
Sorcery (13)
2x Collective Brutality
4x Eldritch Evolution
3x Faithless Looting
4x Thoughtseize
Instant (4)
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Blood Crypt
3x Bloodstained Mire
1x Breeding Pool
1x Forest
2x Overgrown Tomb
4x Polluted Delta
4x Verdant Catacombs
This deck provides significant reach to close a game a traditional Death's Shadow might struggle with.
When discarded to The Cremator Death's Shadow counts as it's full power.
Ghalta is as often cast as discarded with both Shadow and Goyf providing large bodies for cost reduction.
Eldritch Evolution could not ask for better two drops than Snap and Goyf.
Bolt->Snap->Bolt is a great play before or after a big discard.
Most decks utilizing Cragganwick Cremator have to work to reduce the number of cards in their hand since the discard is random, this deck is usually close to empty handed. In a pinch discarding a Goyf for an aditional 5 damage on top of The Cremator's 5/4 body is still very good.
In Gauntlet play-testing it performs above that of traditional Death Shadow in most match-ups.
UWx normally is a good matchup that turns into a great matchup with sideboard (I've run Boil, Choke, and Thrun at times) A few card choices on their end can swing it closer to even such as: Spreading Seas and Wrath over Verdict.
I'm proud of Luis and everyone who helped invent the deck.
Any thoughts on what to say about Tireless Tracker, your personal inclusions, or other things you consider fundamental nowadays?
Wheel helps our opponents get back in the game more than it helps us win. I get that you're looking for steam, but I don't think this is it.
I've been toying with the idea of 22 lands and 2 birds, with the intent to usually cut them for sideboard cards. Be faster when you don't know what's up and hit harder once you do. Haven't run it yet because I'm trying something new every week.
@Weakatchu: I haven't tried it but I've been thinking about the blue splash. I already run Mistys and if I ever go back to a 4 GDD list then I will for sure give it a full try. I'm not super optimistic about it, and think it will likely be ok, but not quite good enough in the end. I've been thinking about running my Blue Moon list based around this though. What other blue would be worth running in Ponza?
@KenCarson: I too came from LivingEnd for about the same reasons. I like a lot of the choices you made in building the deck. Trinisphere should not be underrated. I personally ended up cutting it a meta choice but it's waiting in the wings. One note about your deck is that most people here go up to 22 lands then they cut Birds.
4x Arbor Elf
2x Birds of Paradise
1x Dragonlord Atarka
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
2x Inferno Titan
3x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
Instants & Sorceries(13)
1x Beast Within
1x Lightning Bolt
2x Mizzium Mortars
4x Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4x Stone Rain
1x Sweltering Suns
1x Chandra, Flamecaller
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4x Blood Moon
4x Utopia Sprawl
Land (21)
1x Cinder Glade
9x Forest
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
2x Stomping Ground
4x Wooded Foothills
2x Anger of the Gods
1x Boil
1x Choke
2x Faerie Macabre
2x Fracturing Gust
3x Kitchen Finks
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Thragtusk
2x Thrun, the Last Troll
Went 4-0
Bye 0-0
Skred Red 2-0
Griselbrand Reanimator 2-1
UW Control 2-0
Didn't see Dragonlord Atarka once so no further testing there. I really liked my mixed removal package.
8 Forest
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
CREATURES
1 Acidic Slime
4 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Dragonlord Atarka
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Inferno Titan
2 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Thragtusk
4 Tireless Tracker
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Crumble to Dust
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4 Stone Rain
OTHER SPELLS
4 Blood Moon
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Hellkite Tyrant
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Primal Command
1 Thragtusk
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Dragonlord Atarka immediately struck me as bad, and worse than Bogardan Hellkite instinctively. But cost 1 less and we don't need the flash. It's huge body is a plus as well. ETB damage is similar to Titan's plus the first attack. I don't love this list, but I might try the dragon.
Been away from Modern traveling with work. Should be able to make it to my LGS this week and play.
I like LenX's opinions on a lot of cards. Most creatures are traps that 'Aren't Bad' for us but also completely off track. Also As a fellow Manamorphose lover good to know that I shouldn't try it.
I was just making a stab at Coldsnap.