Ever since Splinter Twin made itself out to be the top tier strategy in Modern, players have been looking for new ways to hybridize combo and control decks. Sometimes, that takes the form of Scapeshift decks. Other times, it's slotting Through the Breach or Nahiri, the Harbinger into Jeskai Control. However, with the rise of Spreading Seas as critical mana disruption in the format, perhaps it's time for our combo-control deck to be built with Spreading Seas in mind:
Jeskai Saheeli - Modern | JanH, 5-0 Modern League
- Creatures (11)
- 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
- 2 Wall of Omens
- 4 Felidar Guardian
- 4 Snapcaster Mage
- Planeswalkers (5)
- 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
- 4 Saheeli Rai
- Instants (14)
- 2 Lightning Helix
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Path to Exile
- 4 Remand
- Sorceries (4)
- 4 Serum Visions
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Spreading Seas
On the whole, this deck should look very familiar. Largely, this is just another Jeskai Control deck. You're still dependent on the core of Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, and Lightning Helix to give you a strong gameplan against aggressive creature decks. You've got Remand and Spreading Seas to help disrupt the big mana decks. Unfortunately, due to the deck being three colors, it's not particularly reasonable to fit any copies of Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin into the mana base.
The key here is that this deck is built to take advantage of the combo between Felidar Guardian and Saheeli Rai. Rather than playing Restoration Angels to go with your Wall of Omens, you can use Felidar Guardian to reset Spreading Seas to hit more pertinent lands, untap a land to keep a key piece up disruption up, or flicker a Snapcaster Mage to rebuy a Lightning Bolt.
The utility that this provides is that you have the ability to win the game out of nowhere with Saheeli Rai. Additionally, you have the option of playing a card like Sun Titan at the top of your curve, which can also combo with multiple copies of Saheeli Rai to let you attack with infinite Sun Titans.
If you're looking for a more proactive version of control for your metagame, this could be a great variant to try out. Saheeli Rai isn't a great card on its own, but it gives you the ability to actually end games, rather than sitting back on Search for Azcanta and Cryptic Commands. Additionally, the ability to just win the game on turn four against faster combo decks in the format shouldn't be underestimated.