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Main » Articles » A Modern Deck for Everyone

A Modern Deck for Everyone

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on January 6, 2022
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

The Modern metagame has been constantly evolving despite the card pool remaining relatively constant. This is a nice change of pace as I still have whiplash from FIRE design.

Today I want to discuss the decks I like from various pillars of the format. Despite being a Grixis Dress Shadow stan I'm always building and learning new decks. Dress Shadow has many decisions each turn, but doesn't win an above-average amount; this type of game play isn't for everyone. Today I hope to have a cool deck for each of you.

Let's get started!

Grixis Dress Shadow

Grixis Dress Shadow | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I've dedicated many articles to Dress Shadow at this point so I'm going to talk about the deck more broadly. Check out my article archive for a more detailed breakdown.

Since I've last discussed Dress Shadow it has become one of the "best decks" in the format. The Magic Online hivemind has dissected each card choice and most players have decided this is the optimal maindeck for the current metagame.

Most of the sideboard has also been solidified:

The only deviation I have made was adding a third Terminate over the second Kolaghan's Command in the board. There isn't a correct answer here as I want three Terminate against Izzet Murktide and Amulet Titan while a third Command is fantastic against Hammertime. The rest of the sideboard is set in stone in terms of functionality.

Two other interesting options for the last sideboard slot is an Island or Pyrite Spellbomb. Island is a pain-free way to make Blue mana against Burn, but also comes in against Blood Moon. There are only a couple turns where you have an opportunity to play Blue spells against fast Red decks. I like Island more than Collective Brutality because it can be found with your seven Blue fetch lands meaning it's likely to have an impact in the game.

Pyrite Spellbomb is a cheaper answer to Sanctifier en-Vec against Hammertime compared to a second Engineered Explosives or fourth Dress Down.

Now that Shadow has joined the top tier and has a homogenized maindeck it's more difficult to gain an edge. Every grinder has extensive reps against the deck. At the same time, you're still faced with many decisions each turn. It's not a time I would jump on the Shadow bandwagon, but it's still a good choice with enough experience. If you like Lurrus decks, but are afraid of having too many decisions each turn I would recommend Rakdos.

I have found that as I continue to play Shadow there are fewer new decisions to make. This means there are opportunities to boil the deck down to heuristics so you can focus on the more unique plays and conserve brain power. I have an upcoming Modern 1K where I plan to take Shadow. Hopefully I'll be less tired during the event as seven rounds with Shadow can be quite exhausting- especially in paper.

The only major change in the metagame I've seen to adapt to a more respected Shadow deck is that Hammertime has been increasing the number of Sanctifier en-Vecs. Some Hammertime decks even play Sanctifier in the maindeck. Blood Moon also remains to be popular to fight greedier mana bases which hurts Shadow.

If you want to learn more about Grixis Shadow I would be following Corey Baumeister, Michael Rapp, and Adriano Sol on Twitter.

Hammertime

Hammertime | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

In case you were wondering where all the creature decks went in Modern, the answer is Fury. The creature decks held a special council and nominated Hammertime to be their delegate. I personally don't like the play patterns of Hammertime, but if you like solving puzzles against yourself then this is the deck to play.

I've seen some players pilot Hardened Scales, but Hammertime is the cream of the crop for artifact creature strategies. Scales is more complicated to play well, but is less powerful in the current metagame.

I found this list from Will Krueger's Twitter. He's the leading expert in the archetype and I would be afraid to deviate too far from what he thinks is best. Misplacedginger has also been streaming with Hammertime and is currently neck and neck with Aspiringspike in the Modern trophy race with the same list.

Hammertime is the type of deck that's hard to understand until you actually play it yourself. I was watching Will stream and the lines seemed hard to comprehend until I found some basic heuristics.

It's easy to think you have a good matchup against Hammertime because most Modern sideboard cards interact with artifacts or creatures. Hammertime is similar to Tron, Burn, and Dredge because their fast hands require you to have multiple pieces of relevant interaction in a short amount of time. This is why the third Kolaghan's Command is a serious consideration for me in the Shadow sideboard.

Hammertime can be forgiving at times because Sigarda's Aid and Colossus Hammer is such a powerful combo. It's not easy to pilot well because the average mana value of the deck is so low thanks to Lurrus. There are many decisions each turn.

This is a strong deck to play at local Modern events because more casual opponents won't play around your quick kills as often. Stronger players will spend more time shutting down your potential avenues to victory before going for the win.

A tricky part of Hammertime is knowing which hands to mulligan. This deck doesn't operate well in the first game with just lands and spells. Many hands are borderline and true mastery comes from knowing which to keep.

It can be tempting to jump on the Hammertime bandwagon, but you must be prepared for games where the opponent can have Fury, Solitude, or Force of Vigor in hand. Jamming a turn three kill is the easy part, but respecting the mountain of interaction isn't for the faint of heart.

An Azorius Hammer deck has been popping up on Magic Online that shifts away from Lurrus in exchange for playing more powerful cards such as Kaldra Compleat and Sword of Fire and Ice. The curve is higher which means you have fewer decisions each turn, but still has explosive draws with Sigarda's Aid. This deck is very intriguing and I think it will evolve in the coming weeks:

Azorius Hammertime | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

My early impression of the deck is that Sword of Fire and Ice is the best equipment that Lurrus prevents you from playing. Nettlecyst is likely not worth the slot. Blacksmith's Skill looks weird, but plays out better than expected.

There's also no reason that Black isn't in the mix for the second color because Hammertime can play a symmetrical mana base. Black has the most synergy overall because of Cranial Plating.

Temur Rhinos

Temur Rhinos | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I continue to like this version of Temur Rhinos with interaction in the flex slots. Other options for the non-core cards include Blood Moon, Eldrazi, and Karn, the Great Creator. D00mwake is a good resource for Rhino decks as he experiments with Temur and Four-Color versions on his stream.

Temur Rhinos is a great deck to get your feet wet in Modern as it's both powerful and doesn't require as much background knowledge of the format. The deck is extremely forgiving as it's hard to go wrong with slamming 10 power on the third turn.

Cascade decks have been on the decline lately thanks to Teferi, Time Raveler. Now that Four-Color MoneyPile (Yorion) has outclassed Azorius Control in the arms race there are fewer copies of Teferi in the format. An eighty-card deck effectively plays three copies of Teferi. Azorius Control was also the primary user of maindeck Chalice of the Void.

The two copies of Thrun in the sideboard can be Weather the Storm at your LGS because Burn is more popular than Teferi, Time Raveler decks due to cost and they're more punishing. Blood Moon can be another option, but I haven't been a fan. Mystical Dispute is yet another 3-drop against big mana decks.

A major downside of playing Rhinos is there are many matchups that are dependent on the die roll. For this reason I would bring Rhinos to an event if I'm feeling tired, but it will impact my win percentage. It's good to have a deck you feel comfortable piloting when you feel fresh or burned out.

I do appreciate having time between rounds in paper events and Rhinos allows for this because it doesn't seek to drag the game out or play time-intensive cards such as Thoughtseize.

Bant Control (Yorion)

Bant Control (Yorion) | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I have been playing Four-Color Moneypile recently; it has been a lot of fun getting so much value. If you're used to having Lurrus as a companion then Yorion in a shell with Abundant Growth and Spreading Seas is a good replacement.

Over the last few weeks Four-Color Moneypile has gained in popularity. This causes a shift in the metagame where it doesn't make as much sense to play a midrange deck because Yorion piles are better at going over the top. The best way to fight Moneypile is with linear decks.

I still like Moneypile, but the deck plays out better on MODO than paper. Linear decks being rougher matchups can be a burden when they are cheaper to build. Since I have a good chance of outplaying my opponents I don't want to have bad matchups against forgiving decks.

Aspiringspike's Bant Yorion deck is a good next step in the metagame because it still has the ability to grind, but has more counters to fight linear opponents. It's essentially splitting the difference between Azorius Control and Moneypile.

RIW teammates, Raja Sulaiman and Zach Allen, were fans of Azorius Control with Yorion. Omen of the Sea played out well in the deck and the Green splash is making room for more efficient cycling permanents.

Cutting Red means you're losing the ability to play Omnath, but Jace does a good job holding down the fort. Wrenn and Six and Expressive Iteration are also losses without Red, but Counterspell and Archmage's Charm encourage you to play at instant speed. This is why the Bant version naturally leans toward a play pattern closer to Azorius Control instead of Moneypile.

Bant Control has the unfortunate attribute in paper of taking a long time simply because it plays a whopping sixteen fetch lands. Red's last contribution to Moneypile was Fury; another route to a quick victory. Supreme Verdict is another way to clear multiple creatures, but isn't able to double as a clock.

Even though Bant takes longer to win compared to Moneypile there is a point in the game where the opponent is essentially dead, known as garbage time. To save time on the clock, in paper and MODO, don't worry about optimizing your plays and worry about taking actions that close the game.

That's all I have for today. Modern continues to be great and there's a deck out there for everyone.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

TAGS articles, constructed, analysis, modern, decklist, kyle boggemes, 01062022

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