Primeval Titan has the reputation of being one of the most powerful tutors in Modern. Add to that the fact that Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle makes it effectively a two-turn clock on its own (one if you add haste into the mix), and you’ve got the recipe for a format-defining card. The problem has always been finding the right ways to fight against the decks in the format against which a turn four Primeval Titan isn’t good enough. Some builds opt for cards like Through the Breach, others lean on Slagstorm and Obstinate Baloth. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options:

Titanshift - Modern |VladPL, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (13)
• 2 Platinum Emperion
• 3 Simian Spirit Guide
• 4 Primeval Titan
• 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

• Instants (10)
• 3 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Summoner's Pact
• 4 Through the Breach

• Sorceries (12)
• 1 Scapeshift
• 3 Farseek
• 4 Madcap Experiment
• 4 Search for Tomorrow

• Lands (25)
• 2 Bloodstained Mire
• 2 Cinder Glade
• 2 Forest
• 7 Mountain
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Anger of the Gods
• 2 Crumble to Dust
• 2 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 3 Leyline of Sanctity
• 2 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Sudden Shock
• 1 Tireless Tracker

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Adding Through the Breach and Summoner's Pact to the mix gives you the ability to race with almost anything in the format. Particularly when you consider small amounts of interaction like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Lightning Bolt.

But none of these things really help you in the matchups against which Valakut decks struggle the most — namely ones where you life total is under severe duress from the very beginning of the game. Decks like Burn are more than capable of consistently outracing the Primeval Titan decks of the format, and just a single copy of Thragtusk or Obstinate Baloth just doesn’t get the job done. Even cards like Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine, though devastating if you get to start attacking, are just a little too slow.

Enter Madcap Experiment. This card is an easy way to cheat Platinum Emperion into play as early as turn three. This plan wasn’t reliable when the second best removal spell in the format was Path to Exile. Now that players have started shifting toward Fatal Push, suddenly Platinum Emperion is a much better plan against the field, as there are decks like Burn and Death's Shadow that just can’t beat the card before sideboarding.

The Madcap Experiment package is relatively lean, and can be fit into all manner of decks from Valakut to Storm. The plan certainly seems to fit naturally into this shell, but given how well-positioned Platinum Emperion appears to be against the format, perhaps it’s time to start exploring all of these options to find out what the best home is.