Author’s note: This was recorded on 6/12 and was intended to go up on the site on 6/14. Due to technical difficulties and an early flight to GP Vegas it didn’t go up. Then it should have gone up last week on 6/21 but Spirit Airlines is the worst and I was trapped in Cleveland, Ohio without a laptop. So here on 6/28 is the final week of league videos. Next week is the final Modern Hero report where I talk about how the deck performed at GP Vegas. Thanks for sticking with me.
Welcome back to Modern Hero, the column where I take a budget list and slowly tweak it over time, spending $20 a week on new additions, and record the results in MTGO Leagues. If you aren’t up to date, feel free to hit the archives—
Deciding on a Deck
GB Elves Week One
GB Elves Week Two
GB Elves Week Three
GB Elves Week Four
GB Elves Week Five
GB Elves Week Six
GB Elves Week Seven
GB Elves Week Eight
GB Elves Week Nine
As this was the final week to tweak the deck before GP Vegas, I went a little over budget to make sure that I had solidified the white splash in the sideboard. I spent $27.52 on one copy of Rest in Peace, one Selfless Spirit, one Elvish Champion, and one Kitchen Finks. In order to add these cards to the sideboard I took out one Fracturing Gust, one Fatal Push, one Thoughtseize, and one Yixlid Jailer.
Essentially, I wanted to have the majority of my sideboard slots occupied by creatures I could Collected Company/Chord of Calling into. Rest in Peace is obviously a departure from this creature based strategy but every single week I was consistently losing to a graveyard based deck—Storm, Dredge, and Living End—and Rest in Peace seemed to be the best option to fight these decks without splurging on Leyline of the Void which is more than twice as expensive. Since I’m talking about the sideboard, let’s examine the completed board with a brief rationale for each card’s inclusion:
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender: A hedge against Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods that can be easily Chorded into. Totally reasonable against Burn to protect Ezuri/Elvish Archdruid and to block all of their creatures.
3 Rest in Peace: Seriously, I’m so sick of losing to Dredge, Storm, and Living End. These are all bad match-ups made at least serviceable by the presence of graveyard hate. Also has potential against decks that use the graveyard as a resource (Goyf/Snapcaster decks).
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric: Another card against Storm, KCI, and passable against Ad Nauseam.
1 Elvish Champion: A trump in the mirror match and something I want in the grindier green based match-ups (Jund/Abzan).
2 Kitchen Finks: I don’t want to lose to Burn.
1 Fatal Push: Lot of utility even if we can’t reliably turn on Revolt like some of the other decks in the format. Kills Death’s Shadow, Goyf, all creatures in Burn and Storm, most of the hatebears, and can break up the Counters Company combo.
1 Fracturing Gust: I think this is the best sideboard option against Affinity given that you can instant speed wipe their board.
1 Reclamation Sage: Affinity, Lantern, Eldrazi Tron’s Chalice of the Void.
2 Scavenging Ooze: Eats graveyards and helps out in the grindier match-ups where you want a bigger threat that can shrink their Goyfs and turn off Delirium.
1 Selfless Spirit: Stops Wrath and Pyroclasm effects.
1 Thoughtseize: For control and combo decks.
Since I’m looking at this in retrospect, I really wish I would have cut a few of the redundant cards and played more spot removal either in the form of Path to Exile, Abrupt Decay, or Dismember. They all have their pros and cons but like, how can this deck ever beat Counters Company?
Here is the list for reference going into the week ten league:
MH Elves Week Nine
In terms of Magic, Shawn Massak is a Modern enthusiast, with a penchant for tier two decks, counterspells, and pre Eighth Edition frames. In terms of life, Shawn lives in Brighton, MA where he works as an employment director for people with disabilities, plays guitar in an indie-pop band, and spends his free time reading comics, cursing capitalism, complaining about pro-wrestling, and wishing his apartment allowed dogs as pets.