Hey, all!

I’ve been testing Modern, Standard, and Draft for the last couple of weeks. It has been crazy. I now have a Modern deck I like for the Star City Games Invitational on Friday. Luckily, I had a competitive event where I could test it out last Saturday, and I split the finals. There were six rounds of Swiss, and I took down Infect, Tron, Burn, and Affinity.

What is it, you say?

Bushwhacker ? Modern | Kyle Boggemes

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Vexing Devil
• 4 Burning-Tree Emissary
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
• 4 Goblin Guide
• 4 Kird Ape
• 4 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 4 Wild Nacatl

• Spells (12)
• 2 Mutagenic Growth
• 4 Atarka's Command
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 2 Rancor

• Lands (18)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Dryad Arbor
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Stomping Ground
• 3 Arid Mesa
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Grafdigger's Cage
• 3 Tin Street Hooligan
• 2 Forked Bolt
• 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 2 Vexing Devil
• 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
• 2 Spellskite
• 1 Electrickery

Buy This Deck

This doesn’t seem to be the type of deck I would typically be excited about, but here we are. I love Ancestral Vision, but I want to smash face until the metagame calms down.

Let’s start with an explanation of the spells. Rancor is a recent addition because I want to make sure I’m not slowed down by tokens and Kitchen Finks. I also don’t mind having more spells that cost 1 green because I can double-spell easily with Burning-Tree Emissary. Be careful about running it into opposing Spellskites, as it can be redirected. I have Mutagenic Growth to protect the 2-toughness creatures from Lightning Bolt in response to Rancor being enchanted.

Mutagenic Growth costs 0 mana, which is good considering there are only eighteen lands. Phyrexian-mana spells are key because I can surge Goblin Bushwhacker without 3 mana or Burning-Tree Emissary.

Vexing Devil is a creature that continues to impress me. I played only three at the tournament, but I want to add a fourth now.

There are a ton of tricks with this sneaky little Devil:

• A 4/3 body is vulnerable to Lightning Bolt, so it can be protected by Mutagenic Growth.
• Even if the opponent opts to take 4 damage, it will evolve Experiment One.
• When you cast the Devil, hold your third land that can be used to surge Bushwhacker. Give your opponent less information about that combo when that player decides to take 4 damage.
• I sideboard extra copies in against combo decks because they can’t interact with creatures very well. If the goal is to deal 20 damage as quickly as possible, paying 1 red mana for 4 damage is pretty good.

Dryad Arbor is a great eighteenth land because it makes my third land more useful. I can crack Windswept Heath and Wooded Foothills for the Arbor, which makes my pump spells better. There are some cool tricks you can do with Dryad Arbor in this deck:

• I can leave up a fetch land to fetch the Arbor to sacrifice to Liliana of the Veil.
• A Blood Moon in play causes Dryad Arbor to be a green 1/1 creature that adds red mana.
• A Spreading Seas causes Dryad Arbor to be a 1/1 Island Dryad that is colorless.
• The 1/1 gains haste with Reckless Bushwhacker so you can attack for an extra 2 damage out of nowhere.

• If you pump Experiment One, it makes it more difficult to evolve. It makes a good Rancor target once it’s a 3/3 because I can remove counters to regenerate in response to removal.
• Kird Ape is great to use to evolve because it checks power or toughness.

There are some interesting sideboard choice as well:

Grafdigger's Cage is primarily for Collected Company decks. It shuts down Collected Company, Chord of Calling, Kitchen Finks’s persist, and Murderous Redcap’s persist. This means the opponent can’t combo-kill you, and the most annoying spells are taken care of. I like the Cage against Elves because those decks also play Chord and Collected Company. Consider ’boarding out your Dryad Arbor in this matchup because the Cage prevents it from being found with your green fetch lands.

Grishoalbrand is another deck that doesn’t want to see this artifact in play. It’s a deck that can win quickly, so I want a very cheap answer to the deck’s primary combo. When designing the sideboard, it’s important to take the Burning-Tree Emissary ability into account. I prefer to have plenty of spells that can be cast off a red and/or a green mana.

Despite the Cage shutting off Snapcaster Mage’s ability, I won’t ’board this in unless there are more interactions. Since this deck is extremely proactive, I don’t want to draw a card that doesn’t deal damage to the face unless it’s game-breaking. With that being said, I wouldn’t mind it when I can also shut off Jace, Telepath Unbound and Goblin Dark-Dwellers.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben seems to be a weird addition because it isn’t green or red, so I’m essentially splashing it. I might consider ’boarding this in more matchups when I’m on the play to knock the opponent off balance. The main reason it’s in the ’board is for Living End. I would be surprised if the opponent can survive until turn five to cast the namesake card when all the player does is cycle beforehand. It also performs a similar role as Burrenton Forge-Tender against Anger of the Gods; this deck sometimes just needs a single extra turn to deal 20 damage.

Burrenton Forge-Tender is my anti-sweeper card that can also be ’boarded in against Burn. It’s actually not amazing against Burn, and that’s why I cut it down to one copy. My main plan against Burn is to fetch basic lands, and this spell requires me to find Sacred Foundry or Temple Garden. I can sacrifice it to stop a burn spell but take 2 damage in the process from the shock land. It also can’t be cast off Burning-Tree Emissary, which is awkward. Overall, I would say the one copy has earned a place, but no more.

Spellskite and Melira, Sylvok Outcast are primarily for Infect. I can cast both of these creatures off Burning-Tree Emissary, so they’re both winners. Since Melira is a legend, I only want one. It’s also possible I die from regular damage, as Become Immense is still scary. I found that most Infect players don’t ’board in Twisted Image because they’re under so much pressure. They don’t have time to hedge against Spellskite when I’m threatening turn-three kills, and there are no other good targets for Twisted Image. Remember that Atarka's Command, Rancor, and Mutagenic Growth on Spellskite will save it from Twisted Image. Dismember is also a removal spell to watch out for, but I don’t expect Infect players to leave it in, as it costs 4 life. Overall, I think Infect is a great matchup, but those players can still kill just as quickly. Spellskite is allowed to attack, which helps with Reckless Bushwhacker, Ghor-Clan Rampager, and Atarka's Command.

Since this is a Naya deck, there are a ton of great sideboard options. Here are some of the ones that didn’t make the cut but that could in the future:

Destructive Revelry — It’s worse against Affinity, but it can kill annoying stuff like Ghostly Prison and Worship.

Dismember — It doesn’t kill Wurmcoil Engine, but it can be cast off Burning-Tree Emissary. The 4 life can hurt against Affinity because your lands hurt a lot.

Path to Exile — I talked to my opponents after matches, and they were all concerned with Path to Exile. I don’t think it’s very good in this deck because it doesn’t deal damage to the face and it costs white mana. If you want to play Path, you could make room for one in the ’board.

Stony Silence — This is worse than Tin Street Hooligan, it costs white mana, and it doesn’t attack.

Phyrexian Unlife — This is the best anti-Burn sideboard card. It’s a tad narrow for me, but it’s still an option. 3 mana is a lot, so proceed with caution.

Deflecting Palm — This is great against Infect and Burn, but I don’t play enough lands to be this reactive.

Molten Rain — Paying 3 mana is too much for what is effectively a seventeen-land deck. This effect is better than Blood Moon because your Kird Apes and Wild Nacatls need to stay big.

Skullcrack — I can see playing one of these in the ’board against white control decks. It also stops Fog effects, which can be annoying.

How the Heck Do You Sideboard?

I asked myself the same question as I was preparing for this event. Stu Parnes is the main champion of this deck in Ann Arbor, and I am completely out of my element with Goblin Guide; I was very lost when Round 1 began. After a couple of hours, I got the hang of it.

The first thing to point out is that the deck is very streamlined. There are forty-two spells, and they are all capable of dealing damage to the opponent. Some of these spells can be ’boarded out, and others are staples.

Reckless Bushwhacker is ’boarded out in some quantity when you add removal spells like Forked Bolt and Electrickery. This is because there will be fewer creatures to play early, and you may need to take early turns off to interact with scary early creatures. This is what typically happens against Infect, Elves, and Affinity. I also like Bushwhacker less when the opponent has Spell Snare for Burning-Tree Emissary. It’s okay to ’board out the flagship card because this deck has plenty of nut draws without it. I only had two or three games in six rounds in which I had the nut draw.

Ghor-Clan Rampager is another card I want to ’board out against decks that need to be interacted with early. Against Infect, I don’t want to tap out for 4 damage to the face on my turn or I might die soon after. Rampager is best against decks like Collected Company and cards like Tarmogoyf.

Mutagenic Growth is bad against decks with spot removal like Path to Exile. It still deals 2 damage for free, which is nice, but we can have spells that are more high-impact like Vexing Devil.

Rancor actually becomes better post-’board in matchups in which you want mana available early to interact. I still want to hit hard, so spending only a green mana to lay on the beats is where I want to be. This way, I can use the color of mana I don’t use to cast Forked Bolt and Lightning Bolt to be proactive and leave up removal spells on the same turn.

I was ’boarding out Dryad Arbor in some cases, but I think that might have been a mistake. It seemed that, against Tron, I didn’t want another creature that died to Kozilek's Return. What I failed to realize is that I can pump Dryad Arbor in the face of an Oblivion Stone. With that being said, remember about the Grafdigger's Cage interaction.

Cards I Don’t Want to Sideboard Out

• Wild Nacatl
• Kird Ape
• Goblin Guide
• Atarka's Command
• Lightning Bolt
• Experiment One
• Burning-Tree Emissary

These spells are powerful and versatile enough so I want to draw these against any opponent.

Where’s the Tarmogoyf!?

Don’t get me wrong, ’Goyf is a good man and thorough. I can’t be paying that much mana for a 3-power creature. There aren’t any sorceries, and Rancor isn’t good at going to the graveyard. This means I need the right matchup to make ’Goyf bigger than a 3/4. ’Goyf doesn’t even have haste, and it’s not a guarantee it’s always big. If there are a lot of Zoo decks, I might revise my opinion because the big creatures rule the land in that matchup.

Conclusion

So there you have it! This deck is super-fun and can beat any deck due to the sheer speed and consistency. Remember that I hate decks like this, and yet, I’m singing its praises. I think that says a lot. There’s a ninety-five-percent chance I play this at the Star City Games Invitational on Friday.

Wish me luck!

-Kyle