Earlier, I argued Grief with Ephemerate is not as horrifying as people fear. I'll not be saying the same about Subtlety. The Blue incarnation is powerful and frightful, especially when combined with Living End. This article will feature Subtlety at its best, or worst, depending on your point of view. We will begin with an instant-speed Living End decklist, follow up with a strategy of As Foretold with Profane Tutor, and end with a critique of Subtlety's flavor and name.

Though Subtlety may defend control mages tapping out to play Jace, the Mind Sculptor, the incarnation seems to fulfill the darkest desires of necromancers. Before, the Living End archetype had a critical weakness. The cascade strategy prevents you from interacting on the first few turns of the game, as you need to exclude anything with a converted mana cost from your deck below three, other than your key spell. Unable to interact early, you can fall too far behind, or be powerless to stop the opponent's hate. That was, until now.

Subtlety These | Modern | AE Marling

• Lock pieces (3)
• 1 Archon of Emeria
• 1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Oh no (3)
• 1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1 Stormwing Entity
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Buy This Deck Export text format

Any of the above lock pieces will prevent you from cascading into Living End. In the Oh No! category you have cards that can kill you before you combo or go over the top of your army of the undead. Subtlety can give you the critical turn you need, washing countermeasure back to the top of the library. That last part is crucial. You do not want Heliod, Sun-Crowned going to your opponent's graveyard, to arise later to deny your dark dreams.

In testing against the Heliod Life decks, I realized Grief wasn't the incarnation for me. Faced with a hand of Spike Feeder plus their overbearing god, I saw discard would never suffice. The matchup is tough regardless, but I found I could buy myself a turn with Subtlety. Then when they attempt to replay their winning creature the next turn, I cackled as I cast Violent Outburst, cascaded into Living End at instant speed, and returned Subtlety to thwart their pathetic hopes again.

Instant End | Modern | AE Marling

• Creatures (28)
• 4 Brazen Borrower
• 4 Curator of Mysteries
• 4 Desert Cerodon
• 4 Shardless Agent
• 4 Striped Riverwinder
• 4 Subtlety
• 4 Windcaller Aven

• Instants (8)
• 4 Force of Negation
• 4 Violent Outburst

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Living End

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 As Foretold

• Lands (20)
• 3 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Ketria Triome
• 1 Steam Vents
• 2 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Botanical Sanctum
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Beast Within
• 2 Dead // Gone
• 3 Faerie Macabre
• 2 Gemstone Caverns
• 2 Ingot Chewer
• 4 Mystical Dispute

Buy This Deck Export text format

Shoutout to Shardless Agent, another addition from Modern Horizons 2. The Simic card allowed me to cut a color. We lose Wear // Tear but get better and less painful mana. That said, Subtlety is the true improvement, giving you both interaction and a 3/3 flier after you tear asunder the veil of death.

To find the space along with the other disruption, I cut Street Wraith. Our graveyard will fill up fast enough without it. We no longer have the ability to combo before turn three, giving us enough time to pay for better cycling threats that don't cost life. Remember, Subtlety is free to cast. If you prefer to hold tightly to the chillsome Street Wraith, you could consider cutting Windcaller Aven or perhaps moving Force of Negation to the sideboard.

Your opponent will more likely have non-creature spells you want to counter in games two and three, such as Relic of Progenitus. You're already playing a flexible answer to this maindeck with Brazen Borrower. If you fear artifact hate cards, which often come out of Lurrus decks, side in Ingot Chewer and Beast Within. If you suspect Leyline of the Void (from non-Lurrus decks), then stick with Beast Within. Your primary plan is destroy or bounce their hate piece, then cycle and Living End. Your backup plan is simply to use your namesake spell as a three-mana wrath, then start deploying fatties. Opposing Death's Shadow decks will often go low on life. You can steal wins with Brazen Barrower and hard-casting Subtlety.

Faerie Macabre is against other graveyard decks, of course, but also needed against Heliod. It's useful against Grief, but I wouldn't prioritize it for only that. Dead // Gone provides you with more security against faster decks that rely on creatures. Thanks to recent rules changes, this split card doesn't blockade your cascade. Cut Force of Negation against Leyline decks. After that, Windcaller Aven is your weakest cycler, though you'll still want it over the groundpounder Striped Riverwinder against Heliod.

Returning Subtlety from the grave at instant speed is so wicked it would make Griselbrand blush. I tried to do the same thing with Electrodominance. I failed. It felt like I was splashing a double Red card for worse results. While Violent Outburst into Living End is a one-card combo, lining up our sorcery with Electrodominance is diabolically difficult. Luckily, Modern Horizons 2 gives us some help.

As Foretold | Modern | AE Marling

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Faerie Macabre
• 1 Grief
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 3 Architects of Will
• 3 Striped Riverwinder
• 4 Curator of Mysteries
• 4 Horror of the Broken Lands
• 4 Street Wraith
• 4 Subtlety

• Instants (2)
• 1 Jwari Disruption
• 1 Spell Pierce

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Yahenni's Expertise
• 4 Living End
• 4 Profane Tutor

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 As Foretold

• Lands (19)
• 1 Swamp
• 3 Island
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 4 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 River of Tears

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Ancestral Vision
• 2 Faerie Macabre
• 2 Gemstone Caverns
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 3 Stern Dismissal
• 1 Vampiric Link

Buy This Deck Export text format

I discovered greater success cutting Electrodominance and dedicating myself more fully to demons. Previously, As Foretold decks had to rely on Ancestral Vision. That card comes off suspend turn five, far too late to save you, and if you cheat it onto the stack turn three with As Foretold you still may whiff on finding Living End. Profane Tutor avoids both problems. Cast it on turn two, and you'll have whatever combo piece you're missing turn four. That hopefully will be fast enough, with a little help from our new friend Subtlety.

With a full playset of tutors we of course want some one-of's. We have a singleton Grief, if we suspect our opponent has Counterspell. Spell Pierce is another option, and unlike the cascade deck, we can include it in our library without our evil scheme falling to pieces. Shriekmaw can engulf a hate bear, while Brazan Borrower can push away any black creature or artifact. We even have a Faerie Macabre main. I wouldn't expect to search for Jwari Disruption, but I like having one Force Spike to put the fear into my foe, or to discard to Subtlety. If you think of other good aces, let me know with a comment.

In the sideboard, we'll reach to Spell Pierce to ward away turn-one artifact hate, when we're on the play. Stern Dismissal can slow down Prowess decks, bounce back hate bears, or rid you of a Leyline of the Void. Ancestral Vision comes in against control and discard-heavy decks like Death's Shadow or Jund. Vampiric Link is against Burn and other fast aggro. Find room for these by taking out the maindeck singletons you don't need. Beyond that your first cuts will often be Street Wraith's.

I've always wanted to invoke the end times with As Foretold, as I named the card. At last, I feel I have it in a potent strategy. Regretfully, I'm less thrilled about the name of Subtlety. And it's not just me.

By Any Other Name

"That's not subtle," is what pros and other Magic personalities say of the card, often with their first breath. Those familiar with the game understand that losing a turn worth of tempo to a free spell feels like getting sucker punched. If you cast the elemental for full price, the card resembles the mechanics of Voracious Greatshark. There's nothing subtle about a shark attack or this card. Just ask anyone. To name just one specific example, Pro Tour Hall of Famer Patrick Chapin said on his Top Level Podcast, "This card is the opposite of subtle."

Patrick Chapin then tried to explain the disconnect, suggesting it's the way of a Blue mage to say one thing and mean another. It could be control players like to think they're being subtle when they're really just domineering. Though you could interpret the name as deliberately ironic, I do not believe the rest of the card's flavor supports this view. The art is neither whimsical nor ridiculous, nothing to suggest a wink and a nod.

Instead, we have what looks like a freak wave on the left-hand version of the card with full art. The incarnation is leaping over the normal range of the sea to ruin our day. I was once caught on the shore by a powerful wave that almost towed me out into dangerous waters, and while fighting for breath, scraping against rocks and barnacles, tumbling head over feet, I never once thought, "This is subtle." The right-hand card with the normal frame appears to be an elemental version of a rogue wave. These have been known to come out of nowhere, hit boats broadside, and capsize them. This art is a great match for the card's mechanics but a terrible one for its name.

Better art could bridge the disparity. Imagine something inexpiable in the sky, a phenomenon reaching down to whisk a person away within the folds of their cloak of ether. Or, we could illustrate an overconfident figure about to make a grave mistake, perhaps walking onto the elemental that is mimicking the side of a cliff. Pushing further into the realm of the ridiculous would play up the name's irony.

Many other options would be less wince-worthy, and I believe Wizards of the Coast owes us another printing with new art. Until then, I will have to delve into Alter Sleeves. Otherwise, I'll get real tired of every opponent groaning and saying, "That's not subtle." And it's not as if there were no better options. Here are three card names I thought up quickly:

• Seasickness
• Mystery
• Surprise

That's right: this critical card could've been named Surprise. Then I could have had the fun of saying I defeated my enemy thanks to the element of Surprise. Instead, we have so-called Subtlety.

There are over twenty thousand cards in Magic. This is the best one with the worst name.