The Team Modern Super League continues today at 9 PM Eastern (GMT -4) on twitch.tv/magic.
Welcome back to the Modern Team Super League 2 for the second week of the quarterfinals! Mage Market returns to battle ChannelFireball for a spot in the semfinals. Mage Market is made up of Michael Bonde, Thomas Enevoldsen, and Andreas Petersen, while ChannelFireball’s roster remains Matt Nass, Sam Pardee, and Andrew Baekstrom.
Mage Market Decklists
Mage Market has brought Jund, Hardened Scales, Izzet Phoenix, Eldrazi Tron, and SnakeShift. All of these decks are known quantities to the Modern Team Super League. However, there is something to be said about playing the best decks and playing them well.
Jund
Mage Market’s Jund deck comes teched out with a main deck copy of Plague Engineer to handle tribal decks while also being a powerful option against Hogaak. A copy of Ghost Quarter was given a starting role this week as well, likely in anticipation of something like Tron. A Tireless Tracker rounds out the flex slots to give the deck a little more game in the interactive matchups.
Modern Jund
| Creatures (12) 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Bloodbraid Elf 1 Plague Engineer 1 Tireless Tracker Spells (14) 2 Fatal Push 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 3 Lightning Bolt 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Abrupt Decay 1 Kolaghan’s Command Planeswalkers (8) 4 Wrenn and Six 4 Liliana of the Veil | Lands (26) 1 Barren Moor 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Nurturing Peatland 3 Bloodstained Mire 2 Raging Ravine 1 Stomping Ground 1 Forest 1 Blood Crypt 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Swamp 1 Mountain 2 Assassin’s Trophy 1 Ghost Quarter Sideboard (15) 1 Plague Engineer 1 Collective Brutality 1 Ancient Grudge 2 Fulminator Mage 1 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Anger of the Gods 3 Leyline of the Void 2 Collector Ouphe 1 Nissa, Vital Force |
Hardened Scales
Hardened Scales doesn’t have many flex slots these days, but it looks like Mage Market found a way to fit in a copy of Evolutionary Leap to give the deck some longevity. The one mana Green enchantment coupled with cards like Arcbound Ravager and Walking Ballista the deck is capable of some blazing fast kills.
Modern Hardened Scales
| Creatures (19) 4 Arcbound Ravager 4 Arcbound Worker 4 Hangarback Walker 2 Metallic Mimic 4 Walking Ballista 1 Steel Overseer Spells (4) 4 Ancient Stirrings Artifacts (12) 3 Animation Module 4 Mox Opal 2 Throne of Geth 3 Welding Jar Enchantments (5) 1 Evolutionary Leap 4 Hardened Scales | Lands (20) 1 Blinkmoth Nexus 4 Darksteel Citadel 7 Forest 4 Inkmoth Nexus 2 Llanowar Reborn 1 Pendelhaven 1 Phyrexia’s Core Sideboard (15) 3 Dismember 1 Karn, Scion of Urza 3 Damping Sphere 3 Nature’s Claim 4 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Pithing Needle |
Izzet Phoenix
Izzet Phoenix has proven itself as a Modern mainstay and continues to show up in each week of the Modern Team Super League. The only notable change for this week is that Mage Market added two copies of Crackling Drake to the sideboard, likely to have more games against potential graveyard hate.
Modern Izzet Phoenix
| Creatures (8) 4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Thing in the Ice Spells (27) 1 Magmatic Sinkhole 4 Faithless Looting 2 Opt 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Manamorphose 2 Finale of Promise 4 Thought Scour 1 Flame Slash 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Set Adrift 2 Sleight of Hand Enchantments (3) 3 Aria of Flame | Lands (22) 1 Polluted Delta 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Serum Visions 4 Spirebluff Canal 2 Mountain 3 Island 2 Steam Vents 1 Flooded Strand 1 Fiery Islet Sideboard (15) 1 Surgical Extraction 2 Force of Negation 2 Ravenous Trap 1 Flame Slash 3 Molten Rain 2 Anger of the Gods 2 Spell Pierce 2 Crackling Drake |
SnakeShift
SnakeShift is the new hotness in the world of Valakut decks. Sporting a package of snow lands in order to turn on Ice-Fang Coatl as a powerful early game defensive presence, the weakest part of the Bring to Light deck is now more solid. More of a Bant combo-control deck than a typical control deck, SnakeShift will disrupt the opponent with Path to Exile and Cryptic Command until it inevitably pivots for a more traditional Scapeshift kill.
Modern SnakeShift
Eldrazi Tron
Rounding out Mage Market’s choices is Eldrazi Tron. The combination of big mana and midrange elements you end up with a nice blend of power and speed. Having access to both Chalice of the Void and Karn, the Great Creator gives this deck a lot of game against the format at large.
Modern Eldrazi Tron
| Creatures (17) 4 Matter Reshaper 4 Reality Smasher 4 Thought-Knot Seer 2 Endbringer 3 Walking Ballista Spells (5) 2 All Is Dust 3 Dismember Artifacts (10) 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Expedition Map 2 Mind Stone Planeswalkers (4) 4 Karn, the Great Creator | Lands (24) 2 Blast Zone 2 Gemstone Caverns 4 Eldrazi Temple 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower 2 Wastes Sideboard (15) 1 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Mystic Forge 1 Ensnaring Bridge 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Mycosynth Lattice 1 Sorcerous Spyglass 2 Spatial Contortion 1 Walking Ballista 1 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Trinisphere |
ChannelFireball Decklists
ChannelFireball chose to bring a few decks that are more off the radar. Battling with Freed From the Real, Mardu Shadow, Twiddle Storm, Hogaak, and Coretapper, some of these choices are certainly a bit unconventional.
Freed From the Real
Freed From the Real is a combo deck that relies on Leyline of Abundance paired with a mana creature and Freed From the Real in order to make infinite mana. Once the deck has infinite mana it can cast a game-winning Finale of Devastation, or use Karn, the Great Creator to tutor up a lethal Walking Ballista.
Modern Freed From the Real Combo
| Creatures (14) 4 Arbor Elf 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Noble Hierarch 2 Sylvan Caryatid Spells (8) 4 Finale of Devastation 4 Open the Armory Enchantments (14) 1 On Thin Ice 1 Umbral Mantle 4 Freed from the Real 4 Leyline of Abundance 4 Utopia Sprawl Planeswalkers (4) 4 Karn, the Great Creator | Lands (20) 2 Dryad Arbor 2 Snow-Covered Forest 2 Breeding Pool 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Temple Garden 3 Verdant Catacombs 4 Windswept Heath 3 Wooded Foothills Sideboard (15) 1 Mycosynth Lattice 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Walking Ballista 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Pithing Needle 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 4 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Knight of Autumn 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender 1 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Hexdrinker 1 Scavenging Ooze |
Mardu Death’s Shadow
Mardu Shadow is the latest return of an old Modern favorite, Death’s Shadow. Notably this is a good shell for Path to Exile, which is a powerful and underplayed card in the format as there aren’t many good homes for it. Ranger-Captain of Eos is a new addition that we haven’t seen a ton of on the Modern Team Super League, but puts in a lot of work in this deck. Being a strange combination of a three mana 3/3, Demonic Tutor, and time walk against a lot of decks Ranger-Captain seems to have hit its stride.
Modern Mardu Death's Shadow
| Creatures (18) 4 Death’s Shadow 1 Gurmag Angler 1 Hex Parasite 4 Ranger-Captain of Eos 4 Street Wraith 4 Tidehollow Sculler Spells (17) 3 Fatal Push 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Path to Exile 2 Temur Battle Rage 4 Thoughtseize 2 Unearth Artifacts (6) 4 Mishra’s Bauble 2 Nihil Spellbomb | Lands (19) 2 Arid Mesa 1 Blood Crypt 3 Bloodstained Mire 2 Godless Shrine 4 Marsh Flats 1 Plains 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Silent Clearing 1 Swamp Sideboard (15) 2 Celestial Purge 2 Fulminator Mage 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Kolaghan’s Command 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 2 Plague Engineer 1 Shenanigans 1 Wear/Tear |
Twiddle Storm
Lotus Field, in a Storm deck? Yes, in comes Twiddle Storm, the deck that relies on casting Twiddle and Psychic Puppetry targeting Lotus Field to make tons of mana, and using the Splice onto Arcane mechanic with Reach Through Mists and Peer Through Depths to net cards in the process. Ending the sequence with a Grapeshot kill, Modern’s newest take on the Storm archetype is an exciting one.
Modern Twiddle Storm
| Spells (39) 4 Dream’s Grip 3 Twiddle 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Reach Through Mists 4 Peer Through Depths 4 Ideas Unbound 4 Psychic Puppetry 1 Echoing Truth 2 Merchant Scroll 2 Grapeshot 3 Past in Flames 4 Serum Visions Artifacts (1) 1 Engineered Explosives | Lands (20) 4 Lotus Field 4 Tolaria West 2 Lonely Sandbar 2 Island 4 Shivan Reef 4 Spirebluff Canal Sideboard (15) 1 Rebuild 1 Empty the Warrens 2 Abrade 4 Aria of Flame 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Echoing Truth 3 Tormod’s Crypt 2 Pact of Negation |
Hogaak
Hello again, old friend. ChannelFireball has brought 4-Color Hogaak featuring Hedron Crab and Altar of Dementia to max out on speed, likely to try and gain an edge in the Hogaak mirror, while trying to shore up its combo matchup.
4-Color Hogaak
| Creatures (31) 4 Bloodghast 4 Carrion Feeder 4 Gravecrawler 4 Hedron Crab 4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis 3 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Vengevine Spells (6) 4 Faithless Looting 2 Lightning Axe Artifacts (3) 3 Altar of Dementia | Lands (20) 2 Blood Crypt 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Gemstone Mine 2 Overgrown Tomb 4 Polluted Delta 1 Steam Vents 1 Swamp 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 2 Assassin’s Trophy 1 Collective Brutality 2 Fatal Push 4 Leyline of the Void 3 Nature’s Claim 3 Thoughtseize |
Coretapper
Last up we have Coretapper. We’ve seen this deck once before on the show trying to use X cost artifacts to make tons of mana. Once the deck makes tons of mana it uses Mystic Forge to rip through its deck, casting more mana artifacts along the way. Once you hit Karn, the Great Creator the options on how to end the game gets pretty broad, but I expect Mycosynth Lattice to show up more often than not.
Modern Coretapper
| Creatures (7) 4 Coretapper 3 Walking Ballista Artifacts (29) 4 Chalice of the Void 3 Ensnaring Bridge 3 Astral Cornucopia 4 Everflowing Chalice 4 Mystic Forge 4 Mox Opal 4 Mishra’s Bauble 3 Expedition Map Planeswalkers (4) 4 Karn, the Great Creator | Lands (20) 4 Blast Zone 2 Ghost Quarter 1 Inventor's Fair 4 Urza’s Tower 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 1 Island Sideboard (15) 1 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Spellskite 1 Welding Jar 1 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Mycosynth Lattice 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Witchbane Orb 1 Sorcerous Spyglass 1 Crucible of Worlds 4 Karn, Scion of Urza |
Schedule
I know I am excited to see which of these two teams will take down this week to earn a trip to the semifinals! Do you think it will be Mage Market? Or maybe ChannelFireball, but sure to let us know, and see if you predict this week correctly! Be sure to catch the show at Twitch.tv/Magic tonight at 9 PM EST for all the action!
Match 1: Michael Bonde (Jund) vs. Sam Pardee (Coretapper)
Match 2: Andreas Petersen (Eldrazi Tron) vs. Matt Nass (Freed from the Real)
Match 3: Thomas Enevoldsen (Hardened Scales) vs. Andrew Baeckstrom (Mardu Death’s Shadow)
Match 4: Andreas Petersen (Snakeshift) vs. Sam Pardee (Hogaak)
Match 5 (if necessary): Thomas Enevoldsen (Izzet Phoenix) vs. Matt Nass (Twiddle Storm)
Match 6 (if necessary): Michael Bonde (Jund) vs. Andrew Baeckstrom (Mardu Death’s Shadow)
Match 7 (if necessary): Thomas Enevoldsen (Hardened Scales) vs. Sam Pardee (Hogaak)