The "unwritten rule" of Modern is that it is supposed to be a turn four format. Decks that kill on turn four are fine, but decks that can kill turn three or earlier with any amount of regularity should be closely examined. While this hasn't really been followed much in recent years with cards like Vizier of Remedies, Neoform, and Baral, Chief of Compliance, it's still a reasonable approximation of the format.

So what if I told you Winota, Joiner of Forces, recently neutered in Standard and suspended in Historic, was the latest facilitator of turn three kills in Modern?

While Standard was all about putting Agent of Treachery onto the battlefield, Modern is all about killing your opponent as fast as possible, meaning Angrath's Marauders is the place to be. Revealing one Angrath's Marauders off Winota is powerful, revealing two or more is almost always game over as the effect is exponential.

The rest of the deck is a lot of very clever deck-building. Eldritch Evolution sacrificing Strangleroot Geist, Voice of Resurgence, or Seasoned Pyromancer doubles your copies of Winota, while Seasoned Pyromancer does basically everything you could want. And even aside from Winota we have a decent beatdown package and plenty of ways to ditch through Angrath's Marauders that are naturally drawn.

Time Stamps:

00:07:15 - Match 1

00:18:35 - Match 2

00:35:30 - Match 3

00:52:59 - Match 4

01:14:02 - Match 5

Naya Winota | Modern | Jim Davis

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Goblin Rabblemaster
• 3 Voice of Resurgence
• 4 Angrath's Marauders
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Seasoned Pyromancer
• 4 Strangleroot Geist
• 4 Winota, Joiner of Forces

• Instants (3)
• 3 Lightning Bolt

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Eldritch Evolution

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Smuggler's Copter

• Lands (22)
• 1 Snow-Covered Forest
• 1 Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 2 Stomping Ground
• 2 Temple Garden
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Path to Exile
• 2 Choke
• 2 Gaddock Teeg
• 2 Knight of Autumn
• 3 Avalanche Riders
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Buy This Deck Export text format

Well we started out great, but sometimes Modern is just Modern. Turn two kills, getting locked out by Blood Moon, and getting cheesed out by Bogles... sounds like a Modern League to me!

I definitely made some mistakes across those three losses that may have cost us, but the power level of the deck was on full display in the first two matches. Winota hits fast and hard, having many paths to multiple Winota triggers on turn three. I was also impressed with the flexibility of our sideboard, allowing us to bring in a number of cool hatebear-style options for various matchups.

If you like beating down and having access to obscenely powerful starts, don't be afraid to take those Winotas back out of your binder and sleeve them up!