With Born of the Gods swiftly approaching, Standard is sure to be shaken up soon. Theros has shown a surprising dominance of the format, and new cards for devotion decks will undoubtedly bring some major changes to the format. Therefore, I decided to turn away from Standard for the moment. Modern is a format that can be tough to get into on a budget, with most decks playing very expensive fetch lands and staples such as Tarmogoyf. However, there are some cheaper decks in the format that can still compete. Today, I'll be taking a look at one that can be built for less than the cost of two fetch lands.

"Soul Sisters"

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Ajani's Pridemate
• 4 Martyr of Sands
• 4 Serra Ascendant
• 4 Soul Warden
• 4 Soul's Attendant
• 4 Squadron Hawk

• Spells (14)
• 4 Spectral Procession
• 3 Oblivion Ring
• 4 Honor of the Pure
• 3 Chalice of Life

• Lands (22)
• 18 Plains
• 4 Ghost Quarter

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The Creatures

Although Ajani's Pridemate starts out as an unassuming Silvercoat Lion, it can quickly grow to absurd proportions with a Soul Warden on the battlefield. Every time a creature enters the battlefield, whether under your control or your opponent's, the Pridemate will gain another +1/+1 counter. After a few turns, it will probably be the largest creature on the battlefield.

Serra Ascendant is another creature that can be much larger than anything your opponent might have. So long has you keep your life total at or above 30, it puts Baneslayer Angel to shame with its lifelinking beatdown capabilities. Gaining 6 life per turn, it shouldn't be difficult to stay at the required life total once you start attacking.

Martyr of Sands is a great way to boost your life up above 30 right away. All it takes are four white cards in your hand, and you're good to go. It's best to use this as early as possible to gain the maximum amount of life out of it.

Squadron Hawk serves a similar function as Spectral Procession, but it has its own advantages and disadvantages. Obviously, it's much more mana-intensive, requiring 2 mana for each 1/1 creature you want to put on the battlefield. However, it does let you cast the creatures one at a time, helping you play around spells like Pyroclasm by holding something back for afterward. Most importantly, it puts three extra white cards in your hand for Martyr of Sands, making sure you can still gain large amounts of life later in the game.

The Spells

Spectral Procession dumps three Spirit tokens onto the battlefield at once, triggering any Soul Wardens or Soul's Attendants three times in the process. It also provides you with some evasive attackers. Although they're not very effective on their own, Honor of the Pure can turn them into serious threats.

Honor of the Pure lets your smaller creatures deal twice as much damage. Squadron Hawks and Spirit tokens turn into powerful aggressive attackers, and Soul Wardens and Soul's Attendants can no longer be killed by Orzhov Pontiff or Electrickery. In multiples, it can allow your creatures to dodge Pyroclasm, making it much harder for slower decks to stem the assault.

Oblivion Ring may not be as efficient as Path to Exile, but it's much easier on the wallet, and it has some advantages of its own—namely the ability to get rid of noncreature permanents. Being able to exile cards such as Birthing Pod and Karn Liberated can certainly come in handy at times.

Playtesting

Angel Pod – Game 1

My opponent cast Voice of Resurgence, and I gained 1 life. He passed back. I drew a Plains, played it, and cast my other Soul Warden, gaining 1. I ended my turn.

My opponent attacked with Voice of Resurgence, and I took the damage. He then cast Kitchen Finks, and we each gained 2 life. He passed the turn. I drew Serra Ascendant and cast Spectral Procession, gaining 6. I ended my turn.

My opponent attacked with Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks. I blocked the Finks with two tokens and Voice with one, taking no damage. Kitchen Finks came back with persist to give us both another 2 life, and my opponent cast a second Kitchen Finks to do it again before ending the turn. I drew Spectral Procession and cast Serra Ascendant, gaining 2. I then cast Chalice of Life and tapped it to go up to 35, transforming it into Chalice of Death. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast Deathrite Shaman and passed back. I drew a Plains and attacked with Serra Ascendant, dropping my opponent down to 20. I tapped Chalice of Death to take him to 15, and I then cast Spectral Procession and Squadron Hawk to gain another 8 life. I ended my turn.

My opponent attacked with both Kitchen Finks and Voice of Resurgence, and I took the damage, dropping to 44. He passed the turn, and I drew Ajani's Pridemate. I cast the Pridemate, gaining 2 life and putting two counters on it. I cast Squadron Hawk for another 2, and I then attacked for 10 with my flyers. My opponent blocked Serra Ascendant with Birds of Paradise, dropping to 11 while I put another counter on my Cat. I activated Chalice of Death and ended my turn.

He drew his card and conceded.

Game 2

My opponent cast a Spellskite, giving me 1 life before passing the turn. I drew Honor of the Pure. I cast Ajani's Pridemate, gaining a life and putting a counter on it. I then ended my turn.

My opponent cast Birds of Paradise, and I gained another life. He passed the turn. I drew Oblivion Ring and cast both Serra Ascendant and Squadron Hawk, bringing Ajani's Pridemate up to 6/6. I attacked with it, and my opponent took the damage. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Kitchen Finks to give everyone some life and then passed the turn. I drew another Serra Ascendant and cast it along with another Squadron Hawk. I attacked with Ajani's Pridemate and Squadron Hawk, and my opponent blocked the Pridemate with Kitchen Finks. Kitchen Finks came back to bring me to 29 and my opponent to 16. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast another Kitchen Finks, putting himself to 18 and me to 30. He passed the turn. I drew Soul's Attendant and attacked with everything but Soul Warden. My opponent blocked the Pridemate with the smaller Kitchen Finks, dropping to 4. I cast Oblivion Ring on Kitchen Finks, and my opponent paid 2 life to change the target to Spellskite. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Melira, Sylvok Outcast, but without the Spellskite, he was one creature or 1 mana short of casting Chord of Calling for Viscera Seer to complete the combo. He played his Temple Garden, paying 2 life to bring himself to 0 and end the game.

Wrap-Up

This deck can definitely win the game quickly once it gets rolling, and with the tremendous amount of life-gain it employs, aggro decks will have a very hard time beating you. Even combo decks such as storm can have a hard time dealing with an extra 10 or 15 life. If you're looking for an easy way to get into Modern, give this deck a try.