PTQ Dragon’s Maze (Modern) 9/3/13 – Top 8 Decklists

Top 8 Decklists from the London Dragon's Maze PTQ (Modern format) held on 9th March 2013

To Valueland and Back Again

The banning of Bloodbraid Elf did not take me by surprise. The signs were all there - Jund decks occupying the majority of top 8 slots on the Magic Online PTQs, Modern Daily Events never fail to have one or more Jund going 4-0 and more importantly, Jund won 3 out of 4 of the last four Modern Grand Prix. Something will have to go from Jund (realise that it is was the only dominant standard archetype that do not have anything banned: Affinity lost its artifact lands, Faeries lost its Bitterblossom, Caw Blade lost its Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic). While there were arguments that Deathrite Shaman will get the banhammer instead, I was firmly on the side betting that Bloodbraid will get the ban. Here's why:

1. Both Deathrite Shaman and Bloodbraid Elf are awesome card advantage engines, but while the card advantage generated by Deathrite is incremental, Bloodbraid Elf's cascade is just, for a lack of better word, nigh unstoppable.
2. Deahtrite's ability requires skill and finesse to fully exploit. It allows the user so many different lines of play. On the other hand, cascade is pretty much cross your fingers for the best spell on the top…which leads to Bloodbraid mirrors being a game of luck rather than skill. With Modern being a format WoTC is pushing to become mainstream, I have hunch that they would want to reduce this sort of higher than usual luck-dependence variance.
3. From my own over 50 games against Jund in both playtesting and tournament environments, Jund only starts to feel unbeatable when their tap 4 for Bloodbraid. It would take 2 cards from my hand to handle that one spell, and sometimes even 3. That resource haemmorhage on my part gives Jund the edge in grinding the game away.

One Deck to Rule them All
I was in a dilemma in December as the Modern PTQ swung in. I played Storm since the inception of Modern in 2011. Storm wins on turn three 33% of the time and Game 1s are usually free wins. You never mana-screw in Storm. And hey, if Finkel the legend insist on not playing anything else in Modern but Storm, that is a good sign that Storm is the deck to play.

However the rise of Infect (now-defunct, but might see a resurgence post-BBE banning) makes Storm a less than ideal deck to run. Infect reliably wins on turn 3 or 4. Storm is minimally interactive barring the odd Grapeshot. That makes playing against Infect very die roll-dependent. Oh, I forgot to mention, Storm mirrors are die roll-dependent as well (worse for me, because I chose to play the Finkel/Ruel version that runs Pyromancer Ascension instead of Epic Experiment; Pyromancer Ascension is tonnes more consistent, but is a turn slower than Epic Experiment most of the time). All those die roll-dependent games get a bit tiring, because my results seems to correlate to the number of die rolls won against other Storm or Infect - both which were tremendously popular last year because they are dirt cheap to build.

More importantly, I am absolutely sick of playing against hate. Any noob (like me) could win with Storm in game 1, but it takes the likes of Finkel, Martell, Duke and Ruel to consistently plough through an armada of hate cards to win in games 2 and 3. Not to mention the local metagame in Dark Sphere and the PTQs, you get people running all sorts of non-mainstream Storm hate (I am looking at you Graeme Toms) which totally messes you up because there is only so much hate you can prepare for in your 15-card sideboard.

So I've decided to hang up the gauntlet of Storm which I have so fondly worn and won with for the last year and a half. But now what decks shall I play? Results from extensive testing (thanks Reza) puts Jund as the hands-down best deck of the format. Nothing even comes close to beating the Jund’s raw power and card advantage.

If I want to do well in the PTQs, there is no doubt that I will need to invest in Jund. This was in early 2013. I had some specs I could liquidate and I did saved part of my Christmas bonus. Card advantage is everything in 'fair' decks. Jund is powerful because it has the best card advantage in the format - Dark Confidant gives you two draw steps; Tarmogoyf is the best value to casting cost creature ever printed (2cc for 4/5 with the potential to grow into 6/7?!); Deathrite Shaman is a one CC planeswalker that could ramp, gain life or deal damage and also hoses graveyard decks; Liliana is probably the most powerful 3cc Planeswalker; and enough said about Bloodbraid Elf. All these, plus the ability to efficiently decimate your opponent's hand in the early game with the best Black discard spells.

I finally decided not to go into Jund because I thought it is highly likely that Bloodbraid Elf will be banned come the Banned and Restricted list update in February. Jund smacks of Caw Blade's level of dominance and something will very likely have to go. And did you hear, Jund finished second in the last Legacy GP? And it runs pretty much the same cards 60 cards in the mainboard with the addition of Hymn to Tourach, Wasteland, and Slyvan Library. Jund is Legacy viable for goodness sake! That us just asking for the banhammer. I do not want to invest heavily in a deck that has the banhammer hovering so close above it.

But if I do not play Jund in Modern, there is no other deck that could rival Jund's power level. There is no other that could equal Jund in card advantage. What a dilemma!

That is until the 12th and 13th January Magic Online PTQ results came out.

Jund did not win. A new deck won both PTQs. Both decks differ only by one card.

krazykirby4 (1st place, Magic Online PTQ, 13 January 2013)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Electrolyze
2 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
3 Remand
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
Sideboard
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Batterskull
2 Counterflux
1 Disenchant

2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pyroclasm
2 Rule of Law
2 Sowing Salt
2 Tempest of Light

largebrandon (a friend of not-so-sane kirby) won the 13th January PTQ with the nearly exact list, substituting the Sword for a 3rd Electrolyze.

Then GP Bilbao came about on the next weekend. Guess who won. The same deck again, this time piloted by Mitchell Manders, who dispatched Czech pro Lukas Jaklovsky running Jund.

Whoa.

I was very excited to see this deck because:
a. I do not need to buy 4 Tarmogoyfs to win in Modern.
b. It has Thundermaw Hellkite in it.

So I sleeved up this deck and gave it a shot. After about 30 matches, it dawned upon me: here is finally a deck that could match Jund on card advantage.

Let me dissect the deck:

UWR Valueland
I'd like to call this deck UWR Valueland because the central tenet of its strategy is to out-value your opponent Jund-style. Every card you play is extremely efficient, and many allows you to 2-for-1 your hapless opponent.

Electrolyze

The overlooked Electrolyze turns out to be very very good in Modern. You can kill one or often two creatures plus draw a card. Almost a mini Cryptic Command. Electrolyze is one of the pillar of this deck that allows you to 2-for-1 your opponents. It takes out Bobs, Bloodbraid Elf, Deathrite Shaman, Kitchen Finks, Noble Hierarch and on and on).

Lighthing Helix; Lightning Bolt; Path to Exile; Snapcaster Mage

All the most efficient removals and burn. Plus Snapcaster to rebuy them. Having a playset of Snapcaster Mages enables UWR Valueland to match the card advantage generated by Bloodbraid Elf. Cascade into Liliana? Fine, I'll Lightning Bolt her and Snapcaster and Bolt your Bloodbraid. Who's the daddy now?

And have you ever experienced the feeling of Snapcastering a Lightning Helix? You should do it at least once in your Magic life.

Vendilion Clique

One of the best blue creatures ever printed; good enough to see Legacy play. Its a solid beater with evasion plus the ability to take out your opponent's best card. A tremendously powerful card against combo decks as it sets them back AND gives you a clock (remember you have 8 burn spells in this deck plus the option to rebuy all of them with Snapcaster so the 3 damage per turn from Vendilion Clique is actually really good in this deck).

Geist of Saint Traft

You win most of the time if you managed to resolve this priestly saint on turn 3. The deck's plethora of removal allows Geist to get through multiple times. Not many creatures strike fear in player's heart like seeing your opponent resolve a Geist of Saint Traft.

Aven Mindcensor

Great mainboard hose to the other popular tier 1 decks - Scapeshift and Pod. Great against Pod in response to Birthing Pod's activation which requires sacrificing a creature. Not to mention, almost every Modern deck runs plenty of fetchlands, making a well-timed Aven Mindcensor a Stone Rain with a 2/1 flying body.

Thundermaw Hellkite

Surprisingly Thundermaw Hellkite proved to be least useful. The dragon is extremely powerful when it resolves, but alas, it's prohibitive mana cost makes it good only in long games. I am seriously considering replacing dear ol' Hellkite with Restoration Angel. *sad face*

Celestial Colonnade

Probably the best manland. A body that does not die to Lightning Bolt, coupled with evasion and vigilance which allows you to keep Path to Exile mana open. The heavenly Colonnade is one of the main finishers of this deck.

UWR Valueland's Game Plan

UWR Valueland plays like Jund. Indeed, its game plan is so similar I consider it the 'other axis' of Jund. Both Jund and UWR Midrange plays the grind; they both gradually runs your opponent out of gas as you 2-for-1 them through the game, and moves in for the kill when your opponent runs out of steam.

One thing to keep in mind when choosing this deck - games will be grindy, there will be no free wins, every game will have to be fought in what I think is Magic at its most beautiful - the epic battle for incremental board position and wise resource management. This is what makes Jund a solid deck: Jund has a decent matchup against all archetypes in the metagame and no bad matchups. UWR Midrange is the same.

UWR Midrange keeps your opponent's board clean with the suite of highly efficient removals, and out-value opponents as Remand and Electrolyze replenish themselves and sometimes Electrolyze even takes out more than one of your opponent's creatures, making it a 3-for-1. Go to valueland as you rebuy removals with Snapcaster Mage. Wreck that perfectly sculpted combo hand with Vendilion Clique.

While you are keeping your opponent's board clean and honest, sneak in damage using any of your 9 flash creatures. Yes, all your flashers are fragile. Don't worry, you just need them to connect once or twice.

Once the board is clean and your opponent is out of gas, do them in by dealing the last 10 damage with Celestial Colonnade plus burn.

Or alternatively, you can play the tempo game that is the hallmark of Delver awesomeness with an early Geist of Saint Traft backed by removals and a counter suite and burn for the finish.

Future Sight

In a chat with Marco Orsini-Jones in during the Milton Keynes PTQ, Marco mentioned how Restoration Angel proves to be a problem for Jund and suggests replacing Aven Mindcensor with Restoration Angels. Restoration Angel's booty of 4 could not be removed with Lightning Bolt and survives blocking every creature in Jund except Tarmogoyf (after all who survives blocking the great Goyf?). Also, Inquisition of Kozilek does not takes out Restoration Angel. Michael Hetrick made top 8 in last weekend's Magic Online PTQ with a list that ran Restoration Angels instead of Aven Mindcensor and Thundermaw Hellkite

I certainly agree that Restoration Angel is the way forward. However, I am getting attached to having Aven Mindcensors in the mainboard because it hoses Scapeshift and Pod, which will likely increase in popularity post-banning. Not to mention the occasional stone rain that comes with it. I think I will probably remove my dear ol' Hellkite to fit in a Restoration Angel or two. Another synergy that Restoration Angel has is that she saves your Geist of Saint Traft (besides going even more to valueland as you rebuy Snapcasters and Vendillion Cliques).

If you are looking for a deck to invest into for the Modern season, I would highly recommend UWR Valueland. In my opinion, UWR Valueland has the potential to replace Jund as the best deck and new bad boy (or girl…) of the format due to the tremendous card advantage it could generate. What I have written above mostly corresponds to the pre-banning metagame as my match analysis and data comes from that time. My point is, if UWR Valueland could match Jund in card advantage when Jund still have Bloodbraid Elf, imagine the wreck it could do in a world without Bloodbraid Elf.

Tune in soon for a matchup analysis of UWR Valueland vs the Modern metagame.

Guo Heng
@theguoheng