Modern has evolved into one of the most popular Magic formats in recent memory. People love their Modern! With the advent of MTG Arena, the incumbent forum for online play - Magic: The Gathering Online - has begun to find an identity as a hotspot for Modern technology development; and it is probably fair to say that War of the Spark has had a faster, more pervasive, impact on Modern than almost any single set before it.

The nearest term result?

Some decks - viable or looooong viable, format stalwarts even - have lost tremendous value as a result of shifts in the format or War of the Spark-driven innovations. At least for now? I'd recommend you don't play these two-and-a-half decks.

Deck #1: Living End

Living End | Modern | Michael Flores

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Fulminator Mage
• 3 Archfiend of Ifnir
• 4 Desert Cerodon
• 4 Faerie Macabre
• 4 Horror of the Broken Lands
• 4 Monstrous Carabid
• 4 Simian Spirit Guide
• 4 Street Wraith

• Instants (7)
• 3 Beast Within
• 4 Violent Outburst

• Sorceries (6)
• 3 Demonic Dread
• 3 Living End

• Lands (18)
• 1 Forest
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 3 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (6)
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Fulminator Mage
• 1 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Ricochet Trap
• 1 Shriekmaw

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Living End has had its ups - and pretty high ups, to be fair - in Modern. It was never really the most popular deck, or even the boogeyman graveyard deck, at any point. But it has always had a couple of things going for it.

The way this deck works is quite novel. You have a high number of creatures with cycling (or some other way to get into the graveyard while generating some value, like Fulminator Mage). You get them into the graveyard, either while drawing extra cards or chipping away at the opponent's resources.

At some point you have a decent amount of material in the graveyard and play either Violent Outburst or Demonic Dread.

Because there are no other legal cards in your deck, whichever one of these you play will cascade into Living End, sweep the opponent's side of the board, and return an outsized amount of power and toughness to yours.

So you spent your mana drawing extra cards, probably at a one-for-one basis (kind of like an Opt), and then spend a paltry three to get a ton of high toughness action... Possibly while destroying everything the opponent has been trying to do; possibly at instant speed.

When it works, this can look very impressive, and in one case, a Grand Prix Top 8 in Extended both put the strategy on the map and solidified a future influencer as an important deck designer.

Certainly in the abstract, Living End has a lot going for it. It has extraordinary consistency. Even one land and a cycling creature can get a hand's party going. Living End players tend to hit their land drops while actually moving their strategy forward.

While the deck doesn't even necessarily play a full set of any of its key cards - maybe seven of the eight possible cascade catalysts, maybe only three copies of its namesake - it can draw into them with high regularity because it sees so many extra cards.

Of course it has some drawbacks. When Dredge is popular in the format, the less popular Living End players can feel the brunt of graveyard hate that isn't actually aimed against them.

It has some weird cards, too. Main-deck Beast Within? You actually need a catch-all answer that doesn't fall under a Violent Outburst's cascade.

But what's changed? Why am I saying not to play Living End today?

Last week we argued that Teferi, Time Raveler might be the best card in Standard. It turns out that Teferi has a profound impact on Modern, too!

Each opponent can cast spells only any time they could cast a sorcery.

Because Teferi's static ability says that the opponent can only play a sorcery, that messes up all cascade cards! Even if you play a Demonic Dread on your main phase, the Demonic Dread is not itself playing the Living End it finds at sorcery speed.

Teferi, Time Raveler might not be aiming for Living End, but its mere presence in the format creates a profound disincentive to the sometimes-great / often-impressive Modern veteran.

Consider this take on Azorius Control from the recent MOCS:

Azorius Control | Modern | SEBASTIANPOZZO, 7-1 Modern Mocs

• Creatures (3)
• 3 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (10)
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 2 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 2 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (19)
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Logic Knot
• 1 Mana Leak
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 3 Cryptic Command
• 4 Opt
• 4 Path to Exile

• Sorceries (4)
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Wrath of God
• 2 Supreme Verdict

• Lands (24)
• 2 Plains
• 6 Island
• 2 Glacial Fortress
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Field of Ruin
• 4 Flooded Strand

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 2 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 2 Ceremonious Rejection
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Dispel
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 1 Stony Silence
• 1 Timely Reinforcements
• 2 Vendilion Clique

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SEBASTIANPOZZO plays not only a couple of copies of Teferi, Time Raveler main deck... But Narset, Parter of Veils as well!

That is a big problem for Street Wraith, Monstrous Carabid, or any cycling cards. If Narset is in play, you can basically never cycle on your own turn, and cycling only once on the opponent's turn. Forget about hitting land drops with your pathetic 18-land mana base. Poor Living End can no longer run through at a faster-than-average pace.

Recent innovations have given new, or at least different life to not just Living End, but decks like it.

Like Living End, Restore Balance has a powerful effect with no associated mana cost.

Players have branched out in both directions due to the printing of cards like As Foretold and Electrodominance.

The former, in particular, has given life to more conventional setups that try to break Ancestral Vision (once banned in Modern) or even Greater Gargadon. All these associated strategies have similar liabilities in this new War of the Spark-informed era. While they may not be as unambiguously nerfed as cascade-for-Living End, the fact that you no longer have the option of simply unsuspending Ancestral Vision on upkeep because you can't cast that sorcery then with Teferi in play is a meaningful drain on the deck's baseline incentive.

My recommendation would be less hard against the As Foretold builds than traditional Living End, but for...

With Narset on the battlefield, you basically just have to put two cards back. Yeah. It sucks. Not enough to render Jace unplayable - not like traditional Living End, it's not that bad - but enough that it's worth mentioning.

People are just playing these Planeswalkers main deck these days. Pick something that isn't so woefully and obviously exposed. For instance certainly don't pick...

Deck #2: Arcbound Anything

"But wait," the well-meaning questioner might begin. "Didn't hilarious hero to the people Matt Sperling just make Top 8 with his trusty Affinity deck just last month?"

He did!

Affinty | Modern | Matthew Sperling, Top 8 Mythic Championship II

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Master of Etherium
• 2 Memnite
• 4 Arcbound Ravager
• 4 Ornithopter
• 4 Signal Pest
• 4 Steel Overseer
• 4 Vault Skirge

• Instants (4)
• 4 Galvanic Blast

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Experimental Frenzy

• Artifacts (14)
• 2 Welding Jar
• 4 Cranial Plating
• 4 Mox Opal
• 4 Springleaf Drum

• Lands (17)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Spire of Industry
• 4 Blinkmoth Nexus
• 4 Darksteel Citadel
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Experimental Frenzy
• 2 Etched Champion
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 1 Karn, Scion of Urza
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Dispatch
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 1 Relic of Progenitus

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Matt didn't just make Top 8... He very nearly won the Mythic Championship with Arcbound Ravager and company!

But even though it was less than a month ago Mythic Championship II: London was a pre-War of the Spark event. Because War of the Spark wasn't legal yet, the widespread adoption of Karn, the Great Creator would not have impacted Matt's success at that point.

Like both Narset and Teferi above, Karn, the Great Creator has a powerful static ability that impacts some opposing decks. It's a Stony Silence-like effect that you would normally bring in against decks like Affinity, Hardened Scales, or (RIP) KCI... But steals disproportionate value from these archetypes due to main-deck inclusion in decks people were already playing.

Many of Affinity's main deck cards simply don't do anything if Karn is in play. Arcbound Ravager is just a 1/1 for two. Cranial Plating won't be jumping through any exciting mid-combat / post-blockers hoops.

At the wrong time Mox Opal and Darksteel Citadel won't even tap for mana any more. The effects are widespread and devastating for Affinity and its cousins... And it's probably only going to get worse.

If you are on Affinity, Karn, the Great Creator can shoot down your Darksteel Citadels while gaining loyalty. A 0/0 creature is not long for this world... Or the Planes of Dominia for that matter.

Now people aren't running Karn, the Great Creator just to get a little free advantage over Affinity players.

Amulet Titan | Modern | INSTANTDEATH929, 5-3 Modern Mocs

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 4 Primeval Titan
• 4 Sakura-Tribe Scout

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Karn, the Great Creator

• Instants (5)
• 1 Pact of Negation
• 4 Summoner's Pact

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Ancient Stirrings

• Artifacts (7)
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 2 Coalition Relic
• 4 Amulet of Vigor

• Lands (28)
• 4 Forest
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Kabira Crossroads
• 1 Khalni Garden
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1 Vesuva
• 3 Tolaria West
• 4 Gemstone Mine
• 4 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 4 Simic Growth Chamber

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Liquimetal Coating
• 1 Mycosynth Lattice
• 2 Negate
• 3 Path to Exile
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Ramunap Excavator
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Walking Ballista
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine

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Karn can create card advantage on demand. You can play it and cash in two loyalty for a free card out of your sideboard. You'll retain Karn, of course.

If that card is a Liquimetal Coating you can start executing the opponent's lands (or at least turning them off, on upkeep, say). You can also do stuff like turn off an opposing Planeswalker or other key (normally non-artifact) permanent with an activated ability.

But that's still not why people are flocking to Karn, the Great Creator in droves. INSTANTDEATH929 played Karn in a Primeval Titan deck, but he's also recently been seen in Tron. This, I fear, is only the beginning.

Remember what we said about Jace, the Mind Sculptor? Karn can draw an extra card the turn it comes out (kind of like Jace), but without getting on the wrong side of Narset. More importantly, you can fetch a sideboard artifact in particular...

This card kind of does everything once you have Karn in play. Because it turns everything into artifacts, Mycosynth Lattice turns off all the opponent's lands the second it resolves! The one-two punch here can't really be exaggerated. First off, you turn off the opponent's lands in a one-sided Armageddon. Then afterwards, Karn can turn the Lattice into a 6/6 you you can start attacking with it.

So how are things going to get worse before they get better? Today Karn, the Great Creator is played "only" in decks like Tron or Amulet Titan. It's not actually Green, though. Being a colorless card, Karn can be appropriately played in other decks. This would be a much worse world for Affinity to exist in... It would be much, much better for Azorius though!

LOVE

MIKE