One of the Standard decks that I remember most fondly is Lorwyn era Five-Color Control. This is a deck that utilized the combination of lands like Vivid Creek and Reflecting Pool alongside Sunken Ruin and company to cast the most absurd combination of spells I’ve ever seen. The deck was able to consistently cast Esper Charm, Cryptic Command, Cloudthresher, and Cruel Ultimatum all on curve. It was a crazy mana base that let you do almost anything, and led to some particularly interesting deck-building choices throughout its tenure in Standard. When you can cast literally anything, you can beat any deck in the format if you really want to. So what happens if we try to explore that kind of space in Modern?

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Five-Color Control ? Modern | SaffronOlive

• Creatures (8)
• 1 Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 1 Thragtusk
• 3 Snapcaster Mage

• Instants (11)
• 1 Kolaghan's Command
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 2 Cryptic Command
• 2 Fatal Push
• 3 Path to Exile

• Sorceries (11)
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Cruel Ultimatum
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Lingering Souls
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 3 Ancestral Vision
• 3 Thoughtseize

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Maelstrom Nexus

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 Coalition Relic

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Cascading Cataracts
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Foothills
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 2 Relic of Progenitus
• 1 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Stony Silence
• 2 Fulminator Mage
• 1 Maelstrom Pulse
• 2 Timely Reinforcements
• 2 Leyline of Sanctity
• 1 Supreme Verdict

Buy This Deck

The crux of this deck is the inclusion of Maelstrom Nexus. The goal is to leverage your efficient removal to bide time until you can resolve a Nexus. Nexus is an absolutely absurd card, particularly in a deck packed with cheap instants and Ancestral Vision. The dream is that you can cast an expensive spell on your own turn and cascade into a powerful value play, and then follow up on your opponent’s turn by casting a one-mana spell that is guaranteed to cascade into Ancestral Vision. Cascade is a really exciting mechanic, and it only gets better when you can give it to all of your spells instead of just a handful. It’s also worth noting that cascade increases your consistency in a way, giving you more chances to find the powerful singletons that can swing a matchup.

There’s certainly something to be said for being able to play all the best cards in the format. In Modern, there’s even lots of ways to do it, since you can still build that classic Reflecting Pool mana base or lean more toward this style of fetch/shock mana base. Blood Moon isn’t quite as popular in Modern as it has been, given just how fast the Death's Shadow decks can get on the board. If you’re looking to play a wacky combination of your favorite cards, this is certainly a great way to try to do it.