Dominaria has been legal on MTGO for a couple of weeks now, but it was only legal in paper for the first time just last weekend. Modern is an ever changing landscape -- especially when potentially impactful cards get released. Today, I would like to highlights some of the interesting technology that came out of the SCG Open weekend in Atlanta, as well as the Modern Challenge on Magic Online.

First up, a card that was not really on my radar from Dominaria seems to be having at least a small impact, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Coming in first in the Challenge event was this take on Esper Control:

Esper Control -- Modern | MentalMisstep

• Creatures (4)
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 3 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Instants (17)
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Opt
• 2 Logic Knot
• 2 Mana Leak
• 3 Fatal Push
• 3 Gifts Ungiven
• 4 Path to Exile

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Unburial Rites
• 1 Wrath of God
• 2 Lingering Souls
• 4 Serum Visions

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (24)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Celestial Colonnade
• 1 Creeping Tar Pit
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Field of Ruin
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1 Negate
• 2 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 2 Timely Reinforcements

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Many people, myself included, thought non-Jace Blue planeswalkers would be mostly pushed out of Modern with the return of the Mind Sculptor, but it is looking like we were wrong. While Teferi, Hero of Dominaria's card advantage is not quite as powerful as Brainstorming every turn, the fact that he increases in loyalty while drawing cards is a big deal.

The five-mana cost in Teferi's corner is kind of deceiving since he untaps two lands with his plus ability. This allows us to deploy a source of card advantage, while also continuing to interact with the board. This means we can continue to generate tempo for the rest of the game in an archetype that often plays a fair deal of tempo negative cards. It is much easier to sweep the board and then have more interaction up on the opponent's turn when two of our lands are resetting.

There are also a couple of Damping Spheres hiding in this sideboard, but honestly I am not sure if I am a fan of them here. This deck really lacks the closing power to leverage the few extra turns Sphere will give you on average.

It was not just the Modern Challenge where Teferi popped up. Finishing in the Top 32 of the team open was Jeskai mastermind Ben Nickolich, who was playing a grand total of zero Jace, the Mind Sculptor, but still had room for a Teferi:

Jeskai Control -- Modern | Benjamin Nickolich

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

• Instants (22)
• 1 Negate
• 1 Secure the Wastes
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 2 Electrolyze
• 3 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Lightning Helix
• 3 Logic Knot
• 4 Cryptic Command
• 4 Path to Exile

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Supreme Verdict
• 4 Serum Visions

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (24)
• 1 Plains
• 3 Island
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Spirebluff Canal
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Baneslayer Angel
• 2 Runed Halo
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 1 Dispel
• 2 Negate
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 1 Wear
• 2 Vendilion Clique
• 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

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While Jace is absent, there are a whooping 3 copies of Search for Azcanta in addition to the Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to generate card advantage for Nickolich.

While this next list is not playing Teferi, it is within a few cards of the Jeskai Nahiri list I posted last week that I said I felt was well positioned. This finished in the Top 32 of the Modern challenge:

Jeskai Nahiri -- Modern | RABIDBUFFALO

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 4 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Gideon of the Trials
• 3 Nahiri, the Harbinger

• Instants (18)
• 1 Mana Leak
• 2 Cryptic Command
• 2 Logic Knot
• 2 Spell Snare
• 3 Lightning Helix
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Path to Exile

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 4 Serum Visions

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (24)
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 3 Island
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Celestial Purge
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 1 Negate
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 1 Stony Silence
• 1 Vendilion Clique
• 2 Wear // Tear

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Their sideboard is a few cards off of what I had posted and their main deck is exactly one card (turning the 4th Nahiri into a 3rd counter spell). I'm unsure how I feel about trimming our combo enabler, but I am a fan of the addition of Vendilion Clique to the sideboard. This is a card that both provides disruption and pressure against combo decks.

Up next we have a slightly aggressive midrange deck that seems reasonable for trying to leverage the power of Damping Sphere to slow down the more degenerate decks in the format:

Grixis Pyormancer -- Modern | Logan Pressley

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Hazoret the Fervent
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Bedlam Reveler
• 4 Young Pyromancer

• Instants (16)
• 1 Opt
• 1 Terminate
• 3 Fatal Push
• 3 Kolaghan's Command
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Thought Scour

• Sorceries (14)
• 1 Dreadbore
• 2 Collective Brutality
• 3 Thoughtseize
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek

• Lands (20)
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Spirebluff Canal
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Blood Crypt
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Bloodstained Mire

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 2 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Ensnaring Bridge
• 1 Grim Lavamancer
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Terminate
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Liliana, the Last Hope
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Thoughtseize

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Much like Jund (or ), this style of Grixis deck is exactly the type of home I'd expect to see Damping Sphere in. The deck can have aggressive draws, but generally will be 2-3 turns too slow to close the game before a deck like Tron can go over the top of them. Damping Sphere allows an avenue to gain time in a game, giving the midrange player a real chance.

Past just leveraging Damping Sphere in the sideboard, I like the core idea of this deck a lot. Faithless Looting plus Thought Scour should enable you to churn through your deck fairly quickly to find whatever answer you need for a given situation.

To shift gears completely from more controlling decks, up next we have a couple of decks that are looking to go really fast:

Ramunap Red -- Modern | Ingjoker

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Ash Zealot
• 4 Bomat Courier
• 4 Earthshaker Khenra
• 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
• 4 Goblin Guide
• 4 Grim Lavamancer

• Instants (14)
• 2 Searing Blood
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Incinerate
• 4 Lightning Bolt

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Rift Bolt

• Lands (18)
• 13 Mountain
• 1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 4 Ramunap Ruins

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage
• 4 Roast
• 4 Smash to Smithereens
• 3 Torpor Orb

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This is a more streamlined build of the Mono-Red deck we saw at the SCG Open a few weeks back. It has cut all of the three-mana cards to play a lower curve. The only thing I would change in this deck off the bat is the lack of fetch lands. Not playing fetch lands in your four Grim Lavamancer deck seems like a mistake -- especially in something as aggressive as this.

I'd also like to mention I love the clean sideboard here. Lots of four-ofs that come in for very obvious problem solving. Clean and not susceptible to overboarding like these decks sometimes tend to be.

Then we have an archetype that I have had a lot of fun playing with. I am excited to still see this deck putting up results here and there in a world where Damping Sphere exists:

Jeskai Ascendancy Combo -- Modern | Urbanpope

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Fatestitcher
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid

• Instants (14)
• 2 Cerulean Wisps
• 2 Noxious Revival
• 2 Silence
• 4 Manamorphose
• 4 Opt

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Nagging Thoughts
• 2 Ideas Unbound
• 4 Glittering Wish
• 4 Serum Visions
• 4 Sleight of Hand

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Jeskai Ascendancy

• Lands (16)
• 1 Island
• 1 Botanical Sanctum
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Seachrome Coast
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 3 Mana Confluence
• 4 Misty Rainforest

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Jeskai Ascendancy
• 2 Silence
• 1 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Fiery Justice
• 1 Flesh // Blood
• 4 Leyline of Sanctity
• 1 Maelstrom Pulse
• 2 Path to Exile
• 1 Reborn Hope
• 1 Scarscale Ritual

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The thing of biggest interest to me in this list is the inclusion of four Fatestitcher. This makes the archetype a little more susceptible to graveyard hate, but also gives you the ability to play through removal and counterspells a bit better.

Ideas Unbound is not a card I have tested much with, but it seems powerful at the right timings.

It wouldn't be a Hoogland Modern round up if I did not point out some of the sweet mana dork decks that have popped up. First off, we have an interesting take on Hatebears that cuts the terrible cards for more reasonable ones:

Abzan Blink -- Modern | Antoine57437

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Fiend Hunter
• 2 Selfless Spirit
• 3 Eternal Witness
• 3 Scavenging Ooze
• 4 Flickerwisp
• 4 Knight of the Reliquary
• 4 Noble Hierarch
• 4 Tidehollow Sculler
• 4 Wasteland Strangler

• Instants (4)
• 4 Collected Company

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Aether Vial

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Plains
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 2 Temple Garden
• 2 Verdant Catacombs
• 3 Marsh Flats
• 4 Windswept Heath

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
• 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 4 Fulminator Mage
• 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 3 Phyrexian Revoker
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 2 Spellskite
• 1 Worship

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This deck leverages the power of Wasteland Strangler in conjunction with temporary exile effects like Tidehollow Sculler and Flickerwisp to generate some powerful card advantage against other creature based decks in the format.

Finally, I'd like to close out highlighting a list from the Top 8 of the classic at the open this weekend. If you are interested in finding a good home for Shalai, Voice of Plenty this might just be it:

Saheeli Evolution -- Modern | Jay Lansdaal

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Magus of the Moon
• 1 Noble Hierarch
• 1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 1 Thragtusk
• 2 Felidar Guardian
• 2 Reflector Mage
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Lotus Cobra
• 4 Renegade Rallier
• 4 Voice of Resurgence

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Saheeli Rai

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Eldritch Evolution

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Oath of Nissa

• Lands (22)
• 2 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Horizon Canopy
• 3 Flooded Strand
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 1 Lone Missionary
• 1 Obstinate Baloth
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Reflector Mage
• 1 Sun Titan
• 2 Blood Moon
• 2 Stony Silence
• 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 2 Unified Will
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

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Fairly close to the Lotus Saheeli lists I have worked on in the past, I like a lot of the things this deck is doing. Most notably, I like the inclusion of a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to enable more combo lines. This generally uncastable goblin probably is not too hard to get into play thanks to the powerful fixing Lotus Cobra can provide alongside fetch lands.

One decision I found a bit odd about this specific configuration though was the inclusion of Blood Moon in the sideboard. With Damping Sphere being a card now, I think I would much rather play that to have an additional hedge against decks like Storm. Storm and Tron are traditionally the hardest matchups for a deck like this, so having a card that is good in both of these places sounds powerful.

Wrapping Up

Modern is still my favorite Constructed format. There is always lots to play with and new things to test and discover. What cards and decks are you enjoying and finding powerful with the release on Dominaria? Let me know in a comment below!

Cheers,

--Jeff Hoogland