Given how aggressive Modern is, it’s always surprises me to see a deck with Tribal Flames in it, mostly because it reminds me that no one plays with Tribal Flames. Tribal Flames is a monstrously efficient card in a deck that’s looking to play four or more colors, particularly in conjunction with Snapcaster Mage. Having the ability to deal up to ten damage out of nowhere gives you the ability to steal a lot of games out from under opponents who play a little too cautiously and give you one turn too many. There have been a myriad of takes on Tribal Flames Zoo over the course of Modern’s history, but this one by RedNose47 is the most

">recent I’ve seen.

Tribal Zoo - Modern | RedNose47, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (22)
• 4 Tarmogoyf
• 4 Noble Hierarch
• 4 Wild Nacatl
• 3 Geist of Saint Traft
• 2 Grim Lavamancer
• 2 Qasali Pridemage
• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher

• Spells (13)
• 4 Tribal Flames
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Path to Exile
• 2 Lightning Helix

• Lands (21)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 2 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 1 Kitchen Finks
• 2 Natural State
• 1 Negate
• 1 Spellskite
• 1 Timely Reinforcements
• 2 Unified Will
• 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon

Buy This Deck

There’s a lot to like about this deck. Wild Nacatl and Noble Hierarch are two of the best one-drops in the format, and each lets you get off to aggressive starts that can leave your opponent reeling. Particularly powerful is the curve of Noble Hierarch into Geist of Saint Traft, as your Geist is likely to be able to attack freely, particularly if you can stack up another exalted trigger courtesy of Qasali Pridemage.

Beyond that, at each slot along the curve you’re playing some of the beefiest creatures you can find in the format. This gives you a consistent game plan that’s hard to really disrupt; unlike many of the other aggro decks in the format, there will be relatively few games where you really don’t get to play.

It’s also worth noting that this deck goes a little bigger than many other Modern decks. Many decks, like Jund and Abzan, top out at three mana with the likes of Liliana of the Veil and Lingering Souls. RedNose47 goes up to four mana, with Tamiyo, Field Researcher and Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Snapcaster Mage is also functionally a four-drop most of the time. The extra power you get by going up to these splashy, four cost spells is critical in powering through board stalls and making sure you can win attrition games against other fair creature decks.

The downside of playing so many colors is that you’re going to get punished. Whether its Blood Moon, mistakes in sequencing the Ravnica dual lands you search for, or just having to take a little too much pain for untapped lands, you will get severely punished for the mana in this deck if you aren’t careful and precise in your sequencing.

As long as you can master the mana, this is a deck that has a lot of potential to make waves in Modern.