Welcome back to another installment of Stream Gems! Today I am going to breakdown Mardu Pyromancer, Abzan Loam Pox, and Fae. I'll be talking a bit about what makes each deck powerful, and diving into some sideboarding suggestions for each archetype against some of the more common matchups in Modern.

First up we have one of the premier interactive decks in Modern currently:

Mardu Pyromancer | Modern | Jeff Hoogland

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Bedlam Reveler
• 4 Young Pyromancer

• Instants (9)
• 2 Fatal Push
• 3 Kolaghan's Command
• 4 Lightning Bolt

• Sorceries (20)
• 2 Dreadbore
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 3 Thoughtseize
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 4 Lingering Souls

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Blood Moon

• Lands (20)
• 1 Plains
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 2 Blood Crypt
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Marsh Flats

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 3 Ensnaring Bridge
• 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 3 Molten Rain
• 2 Wear // Tear

Buy This Deck Export text format

The main draw to playing this deck over the other selection of interactive decks in Modern is the prison elements it gets to leverage. While Blood Moon is lackluster at times, this deck gets to play out Blood Moon when it is an ace, and Faithless Looting it away when it is not. This deck also has access to other powerful prison cards Ensnaring Bridge and Leyline of the Void out of the sideboard.

Past the prison elements, Mardu Pyromancer tends to line up well against the other fair decks. This is because the card selection Faithless Looting provides combined with the card advantage from Bedlam Reveler and Kolaghan's Command are hard to keep up with.

You can find an archive of me playing Mardu Pyromancer on stream here and below you will find my sideboarding notes for this current iteration against some of the more popular decks in Modern.

VS Tron

In:

• 3 Molten Rain
• 2 Wear // Tear

Out:

• 3 Collective Brutality
• 2 Fatal Push

VS Humans

In:

• 3 Ensnaring Bridge
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 3 Thoughtseize
• 1 Blood Moon

VS Control

In:

• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 3 Molten Rain

Out:

VS Hollow One

In:

• 3 Ensnaring Bridge
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Wear // Tear

Out:

• 2 Fatal Push
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 3 Blood Moon

VS Burn

In:

• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

Out:

• 3 Thoughtseize

VS Mardu Pyromancer

In:

• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

Out:

• 3 Blood Moon
• 2 Fatal Push
• 2 Lightning Bolt

VS Robots

In:

• 2 Wear // Tear
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 3 Thoughtseize

VS Storm

In:

• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

Out:

• 3 Blood Moon
• 2 Kolaghan's Command
• 2 Dreadbore

Abzan Loam Pox | Modern | Jeff Hoogland

• Creatures (7)
• 3 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
• 4 Knight of the Reliquary

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Spells (24)
• 1 Darkblast
• 3 Nameless Inversion
• 2 Damnation
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 3 Raven's Crime
• 4 Life from the Loam
• 4 Lingering Souls
• 4 Smallpox

• Lands (26)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Scattered Groves
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Blooming Marsh
• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 2 Godless Shrine
• 2 Overgrown Tomb
• 3 Shambling Vent
• 4 Marsh Flats
• 4 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 1 Darkblast
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Golgari Charm
• 2 Kitchen Finks
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Wrath of God

Buy This Deck Export text format

This archetype is a bit of a grindy brew that, similar to Mardu Pyromancer, looks to leverage the graveyard to grind out card advantage. Our value engine is based around the card Life from the Loam. This helps us find various utility lands along with tools we can play from the graveyard like Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and Lingering Souls. The card advantage from Life from the Loam gives us the ability to break the parity of a powerful card like Smallpox as well.

You can find an archive of me playing Abzan Loam Pox on stream here and below you will find my sideboarding notes for this current iteration against some of the more popular decks in Modern.

VS Tron

In:

• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 2 Damnation
• 1 Darkblast
• 3 Nameless Inversion

VS Humans

In:

• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Darkblast
• 1 Wrath of God

Out:

• 3 Raven's Crime
• 1 Liliana of the Veil

VS Control

In:

• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

VS Hollow One

In:

• 1 Wrath of God
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse
• 2 Kitchen Finks
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb

Out:

• 1 Darkblast
• 3 Raven's Crime
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 1 Ghost Quarter

VS Burn

In:

• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 2 Kitchen Finks

Out:

• 2 Damnation
• 1 Darkblast
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Ghost Quarter

VS Mardu Pyromancer

In:

• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Darkblast
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb

Out:

• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

VS Robots

In:

• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Darkblast
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Golgari Charm
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse
• 1 Wrath of God
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 2 Liliana of the Veil
• 3 Raven's Crime
• 4 Smallpox

VS Storm

In:

• 1 Collective Brutality
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 2 Maelstrom Pulse

Out:

• 2 Damnation
• 1 Darkblast
• 3 Nameless Inversion

U/B Fae | Modern | Jeff Hoogland

• Creatures (12)
• 2 Mistbind Clique
• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Spellstutter Sprite
• 4 Vendilion Clique

• Instants (10)
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 1 Spell Snare
• 3 Cryptic Command
• 4 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Bitterblossom

• Lands (25)
• 2 Swamp
• 4 Island
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 2 Mutavault
• 2 Watery Grave
• 4 Creeping Tar Pit
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Secluded Glen

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Batterskull
• 2 Cast Down
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Damnation
• 3 Damping Sphere
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Dispel
• 2 Negate
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow

Buy This Deck Export text format

Faeries is a deck that is best described as a fan favorite. Whether it is the type of creatures, or the flashy playstyle - the fact remains that whenever I play this deck it has a positive response from viewers. While this deck dominated an entire Standard format, it has struggled for a while to really pick up steam in Modern with the variety of threats you find here.

That being said - in the last couple years the deck has gotten a variety of new tools in the form of Fatal Push and Collective Brutality that allow it to be more competitive than it likely has ever been. This deck looks to play efficient disruption and removal, while deploying threats to the board that provide further disruption like Spellstutter Sprite and Vendilion Clique.

You can find an archive of me playing Fae on stream here and below you will find my sideboarding notes for this current iteration against some of the more popular decks in Modern.

VS Tron

In:

• 3 Damping Sphere
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Negate
• 2 Cast Down

Out:

• 3 Collective Brutality
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Spell Snare
• 4 Fatal Push

VS Humans

In:

• 2 Cast Down
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Damnation

Out:

• 2 Thoughtseize
• 1 Spell Snare
• 2 Spellstutter Sprite

VS Control

In:

Out:

• 4 Fatal Push
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Collective Brutality

VS Hollow One

In:

• 2 Cast Down
• 2 Damnation
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 1 Spell Snare
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Inquisition of Kozilek

VS Burn

In:

• 2 Cast Down
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 2 Negate
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow

Out:

• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Bitterblossom
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Murderous Cut

VS Mardu Pyromancer

In:

• 2 Cast Down
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1 Collective Brutality
• 1 Negate

Out:

• 4 Fatal Push
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Murderous Cut

VS Robots

In:

• 2 Damnation
• 2 Cast Down
• 1 Collective Brutality

Out:

• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Inquisition of Kozilek

VS Storm

In:

• 3 Damping Sphere
• 2 Negate
• 1 Dispel

Out:

• 1 Dismember
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 3 Cryptic Command
• 1 Fatal Push