Check out a new archetype that could shake up standard a bit!

Hey everybody, I'm sure we're all getting excited over M15 release coming up soon but today I'd like to talk about a new deck that's been popping it's head up here and there. It showed up a few weeks back at a local game store here in Boise and a fellow Planeswalker friend of mine, Matt Petro, went undefeated there with B/G Constellation:

Lands: 24

4 Temple of Malady
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple of Abandon
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
7 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Mutavault
 
Creatures:20
4 Eidolon of Blossom
4 Doomwake Giant
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Brain Maggot

Spells: 16
2 Golgari Charm
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Doom Blade
1 Bile Blight
3 Hero's Downfall
2 Primeval Bounty
4 Mana Bloom

Before I get into this, the mana base is splashing red for some sideboard tech including Rakdos's Return, Slaughter Games and Sire of Insanity.

This deck uses the Constellation mechanic to fuel their hand with Eidolon of Blossom, keep opponent's creatures in check with Doomwake Giant, and protects itself with powerful removal in the forms of Abrupt Decay, Golgari Charm, Hero's Downfall and others. This deck looks like a lot of fun and it seems like it can be fairly consistent with all of the creatures at 4 each. It's got versatility in the spells and can be molded to your liking easily. One of the coolest features of this deck is in Mana Bloom. Basically, it can accelerate you into Doomwake Giants or Primeval Bounty while providing a recyclable Constellation trigger each turn. Mana Bloom really helps Doomwake Giant pick off 3 or 4 toughness creatures with ease, not to mention, it completely shuts down Elspeth! While your Giants are taking care of the ground work, Courser of Kruphix is sculpting your draws and healing your precious life points while clogging up attackers along side Sylvan Caryatid. Brain Maggots are taking care of any threats they might have while they waste their removal on him to get it back, and Eidolon of Blossom just keeps it coming.

All in all, this deck could be a powerhouse. We've already seen Junk constellation perform well at Pro Tour Journey into Nyx which was Theros Block Constructed so there's a good chance it could turn out to be just as good after rotation. The only difference is that we'll have access to M15 and Khans of Tarkir for Standard. Depending on what we get in those sets, it could drastically change what the meta looked like at the Pro Tour or it could not. Until then though, we know that this archetype works fairly well and with some tweaking could turn into a Tier-1 deck.

I personally think that the deck would be better off with a splash of white instead of red for access to cards like Banishing Light, Nyx-Fleece Ram, Aegis of the Gods, Blind Obedience and Eidolon of Countless Battles. Not that you'd use all of that in the main board, but that you have access to it. All red is providing here is sideboard hate against control which is fine, but Golgari Charm, Thoughtseize and Duress are probably enough. I also think this deck could use some Extinguish All Hope in the sideboard for bigger mid-range decks since every creature in the deck except for Sylvan Caryatid is an enchantment and by the time you can cast Extinguish and take out a good chunk of their big guys, it's probably worth losing a mana dork for it.

Well there you have it guys. Feel free to experiment on this awesome deck and let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

DannyO
WizardDen.com

Is Mono-Blue Devotion Dead?

My team members at wizardden.com have been giving me grief for this for a long time. I am not going to lie. I am terribly unoriginal. There it is, I said it. I have been playing mono-blue since Pro-Tour Theros. (October 2013). Granted independent of net-decking, I have found myself updating my version of mono-blue. Now when traveling around I notice others still playing the Theros pro-tour version. That deck is dead. It hasn't been a tier deck for several months. I watch good player after good player net-deck mono-blue before an event, lose terribly and swear that mono-blue is terrible and will never play it again....

However, I am hear to tell you. MONO-BLUE is alive. And maybe I am not as unoriginal as charged...

Lands:

22x Island

2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Creatures:

4x Tidebinder Mage

4x Cloudfin Raptor

4x Frostburn Weird

4x Thassa, God of the Sea

4x Master of Waves

4x Hypnotic Siren

4x Nightveil Specter

Enchantments:

2x Dictate of Kruphix

2x Bident of Thassa

Spells:

4x Cyclonic Rift

Sideboard:

3x Rapid Hybridization

1x Triton Tactics

2x Jace, Architect of Thought

2x Aetherling

2x Gainsay

2x Dissolve

2x Ratchet Bomb

1x Domestication

Your first thought is, "Well yea, looks like mono-blue whats so special about this list?"

Well lets look at the new comers....

Hypnotic Siren:

Hypnotic Siren, ends up being much much better then Judge's Familiar . It still triggers Cloudfin Raptor in the early game and has a much stronger late game potential. Also, with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx its likely you will end up hitting that 7 cost much faster. Once upon a time in a magic game long ago (like a week), I grabbed someones Blood Baron of Vizkopa. That pro-white and pro-black looked pretty awkward for them. Just one example of a great grab.

Dictate of Kruphix:

Dictate of Kruphix you ask? Yes, I say its excellent for mono-blue. In-fact, I'll make the argument that its one of the best additions to the deck. Why? Instant speed creature-less devotion. No more moving into combat with Thassa, God of the Sea only to have you opponent blow up one of your creatures and have her devotion go off line and take her out of combat. Now in response you flash in the dictate, and wala...they still get to eat 5 damage. It works tricks on their combat too. They look at your board state with less then 5 devotion and swing into what looks to be open combat land...bam flash in Dictate and make that favorable swing look alot less favorable. Truth is, the card draw is almost inconsequential in just about ever match up, sure you get more juice but so do they, so its kind of a wash. Remember, its 2 blue devotion with flash...that's the importance, use it as a combat trick.

4x Cyclonic Rift 

Cyclonic Rift is nothing new to a mono-blue list. What is different is running 4x in the mainboard. By using  Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx instead of Mutavault you find that overload being easier to obtain. But the true sneaky-ness is by running 4x you don't feel bad about Rifting one card early in the game to sneak in a good a combat. Remember mono-blue is a tempo deck. Bounce spells are great for tempo decks. This one just happens to be a blow-out board wipe late game too.

Best part? Overloaded Cyclonic Rift makes Pack-Rat win condition look completely out-classed. Thanks for discarding those cards btw...

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx instead of Mutavault:

Again, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is no stranger to mono-blue lists. However players are constantly caught trying to figure out how to squeeze in Mutavault AND Nykthos. I'm here to tell you to stop trying. The most important land in a mono-blue list is Island. Too many lands not named "Island" and you hit early game color issues. With this build, Mutavaul ends up looking weak. It isn't good enough against most of field, and doesn't allow you to flood the board with more dudes then your opponent can handle. Also, forget being able to rift two turns early. After testing and testing and testing. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is the stronger of the two.

The other changes are in the sideboard. Ratchet Bomb ends up being strong against Mistcutter Hydra, white weenie decks and in general is a great card if you are unsure the meta at various events. Jace, Architect of Thought continues his run in the SB as decent card draw and more creature-less devotion. SB in against Mono-black and control shell decks.

Well that's it for now, maybe I am not as unoriginal as everyone thought. Please post your comments! And as always check out www.wizardden.com for your MTG needs!

~Nick~

Modern decks and prices Part 2

Hey y'all just following up on the last article where I listed the 6 most played modern archetypes and their average cost to build. This week's article will discuss a few of the more popular budget decks that perform well at local events for those of you looking to play modern locally and not worried about GP level play in that format, but still want to do well.

To start out, one of the more popular local decks, although not necessarily budget, is:

1. American(U/W/R) Control

Lands: 26
3 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Collonade
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Tectonic Edge

Creatures: 5
1 Keranos, God of Storms
4 Snapcaster Mage

Spells: 29
1 Ajani Vengeant
4 Cryptic Command
3 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
2 Shadow of Doubt
3 Spell Snare
2 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Think Twice
2 Wrath of God

Total Value: $1,074.01

Like I said, this isn't necessarily a budget deck, but it is a popular archetype and can put up great results when played well. American Control for Modern is actually not terribly expensive, however, compared to some other control decks like G/B Rock.

2. Infect

Lands: 22
4 Cathedral of War
12 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Pendelhaven

Creatures: 12
4 Glistener Elf
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede

Spells: 26
4 Apostle's Blessing
2 Dismember
4 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood

Total Value: $92.66

This is possible the cheapest deck you could possibly build in the format with Inkmoth Nexus being the only card worth more than $3.50 in the deck. It's super easy to play, easy to win. If you have a bit more budget, you can upgrade this list with Verdant Catacombs and Dryad Abor but it's not necessary. It does get you around edict effects like Liliana of the Veil's -2 ability and thins your deck so you draw less land throughout the game so nothing to gawk at. Verdant Catacombs will run you about $50 each and Dryad Arbors are about $6 and you probably only need 1.

3. Hate Bears

Lands: 22
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden

Creatures: 30
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Restoration Angel
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Spells: 8
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile

Total Value: $750.29

Affinity and Tron are a little cheaper than this one, but Hatebears is a pretty fun deck to play if you like a little variance between your games. Aether Vials and Noble Hierarchs are the money cards here but most everything else isn't too bad to acquire and there are plenty of options open in this archetype to experiment with.

4. Living End

Lands: 19
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs

Creatures: 25
2 Avalanche Riders
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Fulminator Mage
1 Jungle Weaver
4 Monstrous Carabid
3 Pale Recluse
3 Shriekmaw
4 Street Wraith

Spells: 16
4 Beast Within
4 Demonic Dread
4 Living End
4 Violent Outburst

Total Value: $517.84

This is a decently cheap deck to build. Most of the value is in the mana base with Fulminator Mage being the onyl real value card other than that. Living End is an archetype that a lot of decks just aren't equipped to deal with most of the time only devoting 1 or 2 slots in their sideboard for something that could help against this match-up. It's also one of those decks where you generally don't care what your opponent is doing so you can learn to play it by playing by yourself(a.k.a. 'Goldfishing') and figure it out in a few games.

5. Red Deck Wins/Burn

Lands: 19
19 Mountain

Creatures: 14
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Spark Elemental

Spells: 27
4 Flames of the Bloodhand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
3 Shard Volley
4 Skullcrack

Total Value: $89.04

RDW beats out Infect on price mostly because there are no fetch lands for once! However, that being said, I believe this deck gets better with a few fetches because it thins your deck so you're not drawing lands later in the game which is crucial because you're not drawing extra cards at all so every card has to count. The good part here is that if you want to upgrade with a few fetch lands, Arid Mesa is the cheapest of the 5 Zendikar Fetches at around $44 each.

6. Merfolk

Lands: 20
16 Island
4 Mutavault

Creatures: 23
4 Cursecatcher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Master of Waves
2 Merrow Reejery
4 Silvergill Adept

Spells: 17
4 Aether Vial
2 Dismember
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
4 Spreading Seas
2 Vapor Snag

Total Value: $419.83

Another fairly cheap deck that puts up great results and is super consistent throughout it's games. There's a few pricey cards here like the Vials and the Mutavaults, but if you're looking for a cheap beatdown deck, this is a good one to start with. Affinity will cost about $100 more if you're interested in playing your entire hand on turn 1 but both are decks that can win by themselves on their speed alone.

I'm sure there's plenty more budget decks out there that crush modern events but these are some of the more popular ones that you're likely to see at your local game store and possibly at a PTQ or GP. They are all great decks and no matter which one you decide to go for, I'm sure you'll enjoy some success with it.

If there are any decks you think I should include, leave a comment and I'll look into making another article for budget modern decks another time!

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time

DannyO
Wizardden.com

Top 6 most popular Modern archetypes and their costs to build.

Hey guys! Today, I'm going to write up some lists of modern decks that are the most popular and win/top-8 most often and discuss the costs of these decks so those of you that are interested in getting into modern can have a good deck to work towards and be able to budget accordingly. Please note that the price totals at the end of each deck list may fluctuate from day to day and they are calculated the day of writing this. Sideboards are not included since you may want to build it for your casual group in your local game store or competitively for bigger events. You'll have to do some of your own homework there ;)

Also, the lists provided are more of a general starting point to the archetype as everyone will play their decks a little bit different.

Price range - for the values listed here, they will be color coordinated based on how cheap or expensive the deck is to make. Blue being cheaper, then fading into orange and finally red as it gets more expensive for that particular deck.

To start off, according to mtgtop8.com, the top 6 most popular decks are(from most popular to least):

#. Deck Name - Percentage of people playing this archetype

1. Exarch Twin Combo - 13%

Lands: 23
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Tectonic Edge

Creatures: 15
4 Deceiver Exarch
1 Kiki Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2 Pestermite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Spellskite
2 Vendillion Clique

Spells: 22
2 Cryptic Command
1 Dispel
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
4 Splinter Twin
3 Twisted Image

Total Value: $1,419.13

2. Birthing Pod - 11%

Lands: 23
3 Forest
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Woodland Cemetery

Creatures: 28
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Eternal Witness
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Reveillark
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shriekmaw
1 Spellskite
1 Viscera Seer
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wall of Roots

Spells: 9
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Birthing Pod
3 Chord of Calling

Total Value: $1,295.64

3. Affinity - 8%

Lands: 17
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Glimmervoid
1 Island

Creatures: 27
4 Steel Overseer
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Vault Skirge
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
3 Memnite
2 Master of Etherium
2 Etched Champion

Spells: 16
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Thoughtcast
2 Glavanic Blast

Total Value: $543.08

4. Urza Tron - 7%

Lands: 20
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Forest
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower

Creatures: 5
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Spells: 35
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Expedition Map
4 Karn Liberated
4 Pyroclasm
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Oblivion Stone
3 Relic of Progenitus

Total Value: $622.47

5. The Rock(B/G) - 6%

Lands: 24
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
4 Treetop Village
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Forest
4 Swamp

Creatures: 16
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Dark Confidant
4 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf

Spells: 20
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Thoughtseize

Total Value: $1904.92


6. Jund(B/R/G) - 6%

Lands: 24
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Forest
2 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
1 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs

Creatures: 14
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf

Spells: 22
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
2 Thoughtseize

Total Value: $1785.97

So there you have it, the top 6 most popular archetypes and their general cost to build. The bottom two of the top 6 are the most expensive to play being that there are 4 Tarmogoyfs in each list that are about $190 each right now. Not to mention a lot of the cards in those decks are highly sought after for Legacy as well so that helps keep their prices high. The two most played archetypes are sitting kind of in the middle of the price range here so if you're looking for one of the more competitive archetypes, they are a little easier on your wallet than Rock or Jund. However, if you're looking for a budget deck, Affinity and Tron are super cheap compared to the other decks listed here and both are very good.

If you're looking to buy, copy the deck list you want, go to our multi search page HERE, paste the list and delete anything that's not a card name, and you can browse what we have in stock for those lists at great prices as usual!

Like I mentioned in a previous article, I recommend picking a deck that you will enjoy the most since it's not cheap to change your mind, and secondly, if you're looking into playing Legacy too, try to pick a Legacy deck that will use a lot of the cards in your Modern deck. That way you can lessen the costs to build for both formats. For example, Play "RUG Splinter Twin" in Modern and a lot of your cards will carry over to "RUG Delver" for Legacy. "The Rock"'s Goyfs, Confidants, Lilianas, and many other cards move over into the Legacy archetype "Punishing Jund". This would be the only drawback to choosing the cheaper Modern lists here; Affinity and Tron. Neither of those archetypes are particularly competitive decks in Legacy so if you want to play that format, you're looking at buying/trading for a full new deck.

Well, I hope I was able to provide you all with some useful information about getting into Modern and I'll see you next time!

DannyO
WizardDen.com