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

Creatures (14)
Simian Spirit Guide
Griselbrand
Worldspine Wurm
Borborygmos Enraged

Spells (27)
Faithless Looting
Cathartic Reunion
Collective Brutality
Manamorphose
Desperate Ritual
Night’s Whisper
Goryo’s Vengeance
Through the Breach
Nourishing Shoal
Lands (19)
Blackcleave Cliffs
Temple of Malice
Bloodstained Mire
Blood Crypt
Mountain
Swamp

Sideboard (15)
Fatal Push
Lightning Axe
Abrade
Pyroclasm
Anger of the Gods
Thoughtseize
Chalice of the Void
Blood Moon
Shattering Spree
Engineered Explosives
Collective Brutality

Modern Humans

Creatures (37)
Noble Hierarch
Champion of the Parish
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Kitesail Freebooter
Meddling Mage
Thalia’s Lieutenant
Phantasmal Image
Mantis Rider
Reflector Mage
Militia Bugler

Artifacts (4)
Aether Vial
Lands (19)
Ancient Ziggurat
Cavern of Souls
Unclaimed Territory
Horizon Canopy
Plains
Island
Seachrome Coast

Sideboard (15)
Gaddock Teeg
Damping Sphere
Deputy of Detention
Dismember
Auriok Champion
Sin Collector

Modern U/W Control

Creatures (7)
Snapcaster Mage
Wall of Omens
Vendilion Clique
Fblthp, the Lost

Spells (22)
Logic Knot
Cryptic Command
Detention Sphere
Path to Exile
Surgical Extraction
Opt
Dovin’s Veto
Oust
Supreme Verdict
Wrath of God
Hieroglyphic Illumination
Serum Visions

Planeswalkers (7)
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Narset, Parter of Veils
Teferi, Time Raveler
Lands (24)
Celestial Colonnade
Field of Ruin
Island
Hallowed Fountain
Glacial Fortress
Polluted Delta
Plains
Flooded Strand

Sideboard (15)
Celestial Purge
Disdainful Stroke
Rest in Peace
Lyra Dawnbringer
Vendilion Clique
Restoration Angel
Stony Silence
Timely Reinforcements
Teferi, Time Raveler
Surgical Extraction

Modern Grixis Death's Shadow

Creatures (15)
Death’s Shadow
Gurmag Angler
Street Wraith
Snapcaster Mage

Spells (24)
Dismember
Inquisition of Kozilek
Temur Battle Rage
Thought Scour
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
Fatal Push
Thoughtseize
Stubborn Denial

Artifacts (4)
Mishra’s Bauble
Lands (17)
Blood Crypt
Bloodstained Mire
Swamp
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Steam Vents
Island
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)
Collective Brutality
Surgical Extraction
Echoing Truth
Liliana, the Last Hope
Engineered Explosives
Kolaghan’s Command
Disdainful Stroke
Abrade

Modern Jund

Creatures (19)
Tarmogoyf
Scavenging Ooze
Liliana of the Veil
Dark Confidant
Bloodbraid Elf

Spells (17)
Maelstrom Pulse
Lightning Bolt
Inquisition of Kozilek
Kolaghan’s Command
Thoughtseize
Fatal Push
Abrupt Decay
Lands (24)
Blooming Marsh
Blackcleave Cliffs
Blood Crypt
Bloodstained Mire
Overgrown Tomb
Raging Ravine
Stomping Ground
Verdant Catacombs
Swamp
Mountain
Forest

Sideboard (15)
Fulminator Mage
Ancient Grudge
Collective Brutality
Engineered Explosives
Nihil Spellbomb
Liliana, the Last Hope
Fatal Push

Play Design Team’s Decklists

Modern Ad Nauseam

Creatures (5)
Simian Spirit Guide
Laboratory Maniac

Spells (22)
Ad Nauseam
Angel’s Grace
Serum Visions
Sleight of Hand
Spoils of the Vault
Lightning Storm
Pact of Negation

Enchantments (4)
Phyrexian Unlife

Artifacts (8)
Pentad Prism
Lotus Bloom
Lands (21)
Darkslick Shores
Seachrome Coast
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Gemstone Mine
Island
Plains
Temple of Deceit
Temple of Enlightenment
City of Brass

Sideboard (15)
Hurkyl’s Recall
Leyline of Sanctity
Bontu’s Last Reckoning
Supreme Verdict
Inferno Titan
Echoing Truth
Teferi, Time Raveler
Slaughter Pact

Modern Dredge

Creatures (17)
Prized Amalgam
Bloodghast
Narcomoeba
Golgari Thug
Stinkweed Imp

Spells (20)
Creeping Chill
Cathartic Reunion
Faithless Looting
Conflagrate
Darkblast
Life from the Loam

Artifacts (4)
Shriekhorn
Lands (19)
Copperline Gorge
Arid Mesa
Scalding Tarn
Ghost Quarter
Blood Crypt
Stomping Ground
Bloodstained Mire
Wooded Foothills
Mountain
Gemstone Mine

Sideboard (15)
Blast Zone
Assassin’s Trophy
Alpine Moon
Nature’s Claim
Lightning Axe
Ancient Grudge
Leyline of the Void

Modern Jund

Creatures (15)
Tarmogoyf
Dark Confidant
Bloodbraid Elf
Scavenging Ooze

Spells (15)
Inquisition of Kozilek
Thoughtseize
Lightning Bolt
Assassin’s Trophy
Kolaghan’s Command

Planeswalkers (5)
Liliana of the Veil
Liliana, the Last Hope
Lands (25)
Treetop Village
Raging Ravine
Blackcleave Cliffs
Twilight Mire
Swamp
Forest
Overgrown Tomb
Blood Crypt
Stomping Ground
Verdant Catacombs
Wooded Foothills
Bloodstained Mire

SIdeboard (15)
Fulminator Mage
Surgical Extraction
Grafdigger’s Cage
Fatal Push
Kolaghan’s Command
Collective Brutality
Engineered Explosives
Duress

Modern U/W Spirits

Creatures (30)
Mausoleum Wanderer
Drogskol Captain
Spell Queller
Supreme Phantom
Rattlechains
Selfless Spirit
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Geist of Saint Traft
Phantasmal Image
Remorseful Cleric

Spells (4)
Path to Exile

Artifacts (4)
Aether Vial
Lands (22)
Celestial Colonnade
Mutavault
Flooded Strand
Hallowed Fountain
Seachrome Coast
Moorland Haunt
Island
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Remorseful Cleric
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
Deputy of Detention
Unified Will
Ceremonious Rejection
Damping Sphere
Rest in Peace
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Vendilion Clique

R/G Valakut

Creatures (8)
Primeval Titan
Sakura-Tribe Elder

Spells (18)
Sweltering Suns
Anger of the Gods
Explore
Summoner’s Pact
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
Search for Tomorrow
Farseek
Lightning Bolt

Enchantments (2)
Khalni Heart Expedition

Planeswalkers (1)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Lands (31)
Cinder Glade
Misty Rainforest
Verdant Catacombs
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Scapeshift
Stomping Ground
Wooded Foothills
Windswept Heath
Mountain
Forest

Sideboard (15)
Damping Sphere
Tireless Tracker
Anger of the Gods
Grafdigger’s Cage
Beast Within
Obstinate Baloth
Relic of Progenitus
Ancient Grudge
Shatterstorm
Reclamation Sage

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