The Team Modern Super League begins today at 9 PM Eastern (GMT -4) on twitch.tv/magic. Zack Kanner also contributed to this post.
Week 1 of the Team Modern Super League pits the Play Design Team against Team Pamplemousse! The Play Design team has changed slightly since we last saw them, featuring a large lineup this season: Melissa DeTora, Paul Cheon, Donald Smith, Andrew Brown, Michael Hinderaker, Jadine Klomparens, Adam Prosak, and Michael Majors. Pamplemousse, on the other hand, returns all three of their players: Reid Duke, Gabriel Nassif, and Logan Nettles.
What Will The Teams Be Playing?
Team Pamplemousse
The five decks Team Pamplemousse chose to battle with this week are: Goryo’s Vengeance, Humans, U/W Control, Grixis Death’s Shadow, and Jund.
Goryo’s Vengeance seems a bit out of place here given how measured and balanced the rest of the decks are, but it might be a good way to attack the format of Team Modern Super League. Pamplemousse has chose to leave the new hotness, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar at home in favor of the tried and true build of Goryo’s Vengeance. Boasting positive matchups against Play Design’s R/G Valakut, Jund, and Dredge, it seems positioned to do well—assuming it can dodge Ad Nauseam and U/W Spirits.
Naturally, a team containing Reid Duke, Logan Nettles, and Gabriel Nassif will have Jund, Grixis Death’s Shadow, and U/W Control. These players are out to grind and their deck choices reflect that. Assuming their decks line up properly, Pamplemousse seems to be in a good place with Grixis Death’s Shadow checking Ad Nauseam, U/W Control checking Jund, with Jund checking UW Spirits. We will have to wait and see how both teams sequence their decks to see who really gets the edge!
Play Design Team
Play Design Team’s five decks are: Ad Nauseum, Dredge, Jund, U/W Spirits, and R/G Valakut.
They have two decks here that seem interesting that haven’t seen a lot of play lately but have a chance to be good in the format. The first one is the Ad Nauseam list—it sees play every once and a while but I think it is decently positioned in Modern right now. It has a decent Dredge, Phoenix, and Titan Shift match ups, all of which are pretty popular as of late. There isn’t much out of the ordinary with the list itself but I think this is a good choice for this week’s match up against Pamplemousse.
The second interesting list is U/W Spirits. Spirits has died down in popularity a bit but Play Design has figured it was a good call this week and, quite frankly, I don’t think they’re wrong. Granted, this isn’t the most popular tribal deck we’ve been seeing—that would be Humans—but it does have a bunch of disruptive elements backed up with solid pressure. In the maindeck, having cards like Mausoleum Wanderer and Spell Queller allows it to disrupt combo decks, while having Geist of Saint Traft and Drogskol Captain will put pressure and beat the slower midrange decks. White is known to have the best sideboard plans in Modern and having access to both Rest in Peace and Stony Silence really helps the deck.
Pamplemousse’s Decklists
Modern Goryo's Vengeance
Modern Humans
Creatures (37) 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Champion of the Parish 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 4 Kitesail Freebooter 4 Meddling Mage 4 Thalia’s Lieutenant 3 Phantasmal Image 4 Mantis Rider 4 Reflector Mage 2 Militia Bugler Artifacts (4) 4 Aether Vial | Lands (19) 4 Ancient Ziggurat 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Unclaimed Territory 4 Horizon Canopy 1 Plains 1 Island 1 Seachrome Coast Sideboard (15) 2 Gaddock Teeg 3 Damping Sphere 2 Deputy of Detention 2 Dismember 4 Auriok Champion 2 Sin Collector |
Modern U/W Control
Modern Grixis Death's Shadow
Creatures (15) 4 Death’s Shadow 4 Gurmag Angler 4 Street Wraith 3 Snapcaster Mage Spells (24) 2 Dismember 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Temur Battle Rage 4 Thought Scour 2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 4 Fatal Push 4 Thoughtseize 4 Stubborn Denial Artifacts (4) 4 Mishra’s Bauble | Lands (17) 1 Blood Crypt 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Swamp 4 Polluted Delta 3 Scalding Tarn 1 Steam Vents 1 Island 2 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 2 Collective Brutality 4 Surgical Extraction 1 Echoing Truth 2 Liliana, the Last Hope 2 Engineered Explosives 1 Kolaghan’s Command 1 Disdainful Stroke 2 Abrade |
Modern Jund
Creatures (19) 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Scavenging Ooze 4 Liliana of the Veil 4 Dark Confidant 4 Bloodbraid Elf Spells (17) 2 Maelstrom Pulse 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Kolaghan’s Command 3 Thoughtseize 1 Fatal Push 1 Abrupt Decay | Lands (24) 2 Blooming Marsh 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 4 Bloodstained Mire 2 Overgrown Tomb 3 Raging Ravine 1 Stomping Ground 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Swamp 1 Mountain 1 Forest Sideboard (15) 3 Fulminator Mage 3 Ancient Grudge 2 Collective Brutality 1 Engineered Explosives 4 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 1 Fatal Push |
Play Design Team’s Decklists
Modern Ad Nauseam
Creatures (5) 4 Simian Spirit Guide 1 Laboratory Maniac Spells (22) 4 Ad Nauseam 4 Angel’s Grace 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 3 Spoils of the Vault 1 Lightning Storm 2 Pact of Negation Enchantments (4) 4 Phyrexian Unlife Artifacts (8) 4 Pentad Prism 4 Lotus Bloom | Lands (21) 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Seachrome Coast 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Gemstone Mine 1 Island 1 Plains 3 Temple of Deceit 2 Temple of Enlightenment 1 City of Brass Sideboard (15) 2 Hurkyl’s Recall 4 Leyline of Sanctity 1 Bontu’s Last Reckoning 1 Supreme Verdict 2 Inferno Titan 1 Echoing Truth 3 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Slaughter Pact |
Modern Dredge
Creatures (17) 4 Prized Amalgam 4 Bloodghast 4 Narcomoeba 1 Golgari Thug 4 Stinkweed Imp Spells (20) 4 Creeping Chill 4 Cathartic Reunion 4 Faithless Looting 2 Conflagrate 2 Darkblast 4 Life from the Loam Artifacts (4) 4 Shriekhorn | Lands (19) 4 Copperline Gorge 2 Arid Mesa 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Ghost Quarter 2 Blood Crypt 2 Stomping Ground 2 Bloodstained Mire 2 Wooded Foothills 2 Mountain 1 Gemstone Mine Sideboard (15) 1 Blast Zone 1 Assassin’s Trophy 1 Alpine Moon 4 Nature’s Claim 3 Lightning Axe 3 Ancient Grudge 2 Leyline of the Void |
Modern Jund
Creatures (15) 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Dark Confidant 4 Bloodbraid Elf 3 Scavenging Ooze Spells (15) 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Assassin’s Trophy 2 Kolaghan’s Command Planeswalkers (5) 4 Liliana of the Veil 1 Liliana, the Last Hope | Lands (25) 2 Treetop Village 2 Raging Ravine 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Twilight Mire 2 Swamp 2 Forest 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Blood Crypt 1 Stomping Ground 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Wooded Foothills 2 Bloodstained Mire SIdeboard (15) 3 Fulminator Mage 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Fatal Push 1 Kolaghan’s Command 2 Collective Brutality 2 Engineered Explosives 1 Duress |
Modern U/W Spirits
Creatures (30) 4 Mausoleum Wanderer 4 Drogskol Captain 4 Spell Queller 4 Supreme Phantom 4 Rattlechains 2 Selfless Spirit 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 2 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Remorseful Cleric Spells (4) 4 Path to Exile Artifacts (4) 4 Aether Vial | Lands (22) 1 Celestial Colonnade 4 Mutavault 4 Flooded Strand 2 Hallowed Fountain 4 Seachrome Coast 2 Moorland Haunt 3 Island 2 Plains Sideboard (15) 1 Remorseful Cleric 2 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade 3 Deputy of Detention 2 Unified Will 1 Ceremonious Rejection 1 Damping Sphere 3 Rest in Peace 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Vendilion Clique |
R/G Valakut
Creatures (8) 4 Primeval Titan 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder Spells (18) 1 Sweltering Suns 1 Anger of the Gods 2 Explore 2 Summoner’s Pact 2 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss 4 Search for Tomorrow 3 Farseek 3 Lightning Bolt Enchantments (2) 2 Khalni Heart Expedition Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance | Lands (31) 3 Cinder Glade 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Verdant Catacombs 4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 4 Scapeshift 4 Stomping Ground 4 Wooded Foothills 2 Windswept Heath 6 Mountain 2 Forest Sideboard (15) 2 Damping Sphere 2 Tireless Tracker 1 Anger of the Gods 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Beast Within 2 Obstinate Baloth 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Shatterstorm 1 Reclamation Sage |