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The Modern Format: Post Pro Tour Return to Ravnica

By Cody Setree

With Pro Tour Return to Ravnica behind us let’s take a look at the current modern meta game post Pro Tour Return to Ravnica. First off the question that most people are asking: eggs?
Stanislav Cifka
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica – Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Lands (17) 4 Ghost Quarter 1 Hallowed Fountain 7 Island 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Plains 2 Scalding Tarn 0 creatures Other spells (43) 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Conjurer’s Bauble 4 Elsewhere Flask 4 Faith’s Reward 1 Gitaxian Probe 4 Lotus Bloom 1 Pyrite Spellbomb 4 Reshape 4 Second Sunrise 4 Serum Visions 2 Silence 3 Sleight of Hand

Sideboard (15) 4 Echoing Truth 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Grapeshot 4 Leyline of Sanctity 1 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Pithing Needle 2 Silence

How did eggs take down a Pro Tour? There are two major reasons that eggs was able to win the event, the first being it was unexpected. Looking at the Top 8 Deck lists, the major forms of graveyard hate were Deathrite Shaman,Relic of Progentius, and Jund Charm. All these are easily played around by most graveyard decks. If players were prepared for eggs it would have not had the success it had. Looking at the MTGO metagame in the weeks prior to Pro Tour:RTR the major players were Jund, Soul Sisters, Affinity, R/G Tron, Naya Pod, U/W Angel Tempo, UWR Delver, Burn, and U/R Combo (Storm, Splinter Twin, and Hive Mind). Eggs had only made a few under the radar appearances in the dallies, mostly in the 3-1 range. So who really saw eggs showing up at the Pro Tour?
The second reason the deck was so successful was the player Piloting it. Stanislav Cifka is a professional chess player and was very familiar with the deck. To be successful with a deck like eggs, much like storm, it takes hours of fish bowling to become familiar enough with the deck to know your percentages of when to attempt the combo and being able to combo fluently. Looking at the MTGO meta post PT:RTR eggs is still not a major competitor.
The Pro Tour also shed light upon two new decks in the modern format. BUG Infect and Elemental Combo. Both decks have made a very popular showing online since the Pro Tour. Elemental Combo and Infect have both been showing plenty of 4-0’s in the daily events. Both of these decks are relatively affordable and strong strategies which is more than likely the reason for their current popularity. Both decks are very strong and good choices for players looking to get into the modern format.
First let’s look at Infect:

Ari Lax
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica – Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Lands (20) 2 Breeding Pool 2 Forest 4 Inkmoth Nexus 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Overgrown Tomb 2 Pendelhaven 4 Verdant Catacombs Creatures (16) 4 Blighted Agent 4 Glistener Elf 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Plague Stinger Other spells (24) 2 Apostle’s Blessing 2 Giant Growth 4 Groundswell 4 Might of Old Krosa 4 Mutagenic Growth 4 Rancor 4 Vines of Vastwood

Sideboard (15) 3 Dismember 3 Grafdigger’s Cage 4 Nature’s Claim 2 Spellskite 3 Thoughtseize

This deck follows the same strategy that infect has been using since it appeared in the Scars block. Play a small creature with infect and play as many cheap pump spells as possible to ideally one shot your opponent on turn 2 or 3. Along with the pump spells the deck also plays Noble Hierarch for mana acceleration as well as the exalted trigger it provides. In addition to Noble Hierarch the deck also plays protection spells such as Apostle’s Blessing andVines of Vastwood, to help your infectious little friends slip past blockers and dodge removal. The deck plays out much like mono-green infect from the Scars-Innistrad standard. The concept is pretty easy to grasp and provides players a familiar deck to pilot that is affordable.

The second deck that made an appearance at the Pro Tour is Elemental combo:

Gerry Thompson
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica – Modern

Lands (17) 3 Arid Mesa 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 3 Blood Crypt 2 Gemstone Mine 1 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn Creatures (10) 2 Flamekin Harbinger 4 Kiln Fiend 4 Nivmagus Elemental Other spells (33) 4 Apostle’s Blessing 2 Assault Strobe 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Ground Rift 4 Gut Shot 4 Mutagenic Growth 4 Slaughter Pact 4 Tainted Strike 3 Thoughtseize

Sideboard (15) 4 Clout of the Dominus 2 Dismember 1 Faithless Looting 2 Flamekin Harbinger 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 3 Pyroclasm 1 Thoughtseize

This deck wasn’t seen at all on MTGO before the Pro Tour and was brewed by the SCG crew. According to Gerry T. the deck really only has one bad matchup archetype; decks that have sufficient removal and discard spells, or in short Jund. Having played the deck and played against the deck I can say from my experience it seems to be pretty true. It can easily blow out non-interactive decks like Storm, Splinter Twin, Tron, Scapeshift, and Birthing Pod. It easily races decks like Soul Sisters, U/W Angel Tempo, and Delver strategies, even though that have sufficient removal, the deck can easily get around it with cards like Apostle’s Blessing, Clout of the Dominus, and Thoughtseize. In addition to the spells that protect the creatures Nivmagus Elemental’s ability helps it to easily sidestep burn spells like Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix that many decks use as their main source of removal. Elemental Combo plays out very similar to pump infect, you drop your Kiln Fiend or Nivmagus Elemental and proceed to play instants and sorceries to boost their power in an attempt to one shot your opponent with the aid of Assault Strobe or Tainted Strike.

Next we have the big deck of the tournament and the modern format, Jund. The appeal of Jund is that it is highly customizable and cannot be effectively hated out. Jund’s sideboard has a great amount of utility and can be easily tuned to the meta. Jund’s game plan is relatively simple, play the best cards in the format trading one for one while you play two for one’s like bloodbraid elf and kitchen finks in addition to playing one of the best card advantage engines in the format in Dark Confidant, and the most efficient creature ever printed in Tarmogoyf. There are two major versions of modern Jund, the Kitchen Finks version:
Yuuya Watanabe
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica – Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Land (24) 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 1 Forest 2 Marsh Flats 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 4 Treetop Village 2 Twilight Mire 4 Verdant Catacombs Creatures (19) 4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Dark Confidant 4 Deathrite Shaman 3 Kitchen Finks 4 Tarmogoyf Other spells (17) 1 Abrupt Decay 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Liliana of the Veil 3 Thoughtseize 2 Victim of Night

Sideboard (15) 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Batterskull 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Jund Charm 2 Olivia Voldaren 2 Pyroclasm 3 Slaughter Games

And the Geralf’s Messanger version:

David Ochoa
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica – Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Lands (24) 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 1 Forest 4 Marsh Flats 2 Overgrown Tomb 4 Raging Ravine 2 Swamp 1 Twilight Mire 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Verdant Catacombs Creatures (19) 4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Dark Confidant 4 Deathrite Shaman 3 Geralf’s Messenger 4 Tarmogoyf Other spells (17) 2 Abrupt Decay 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Liliana of the Veil 2 Terminate 3 Thoughtseize

Sideboard (15) 1 Ancient Grudge 2 Batterskull 3 Fulminator Mage 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Jund Charm 1 Obstinate Baloth 1 Olivia Voldaren 1 Pyroclasm 3 Slaughter Games

Both these lists play out pretty much identically with the only major factor being having Kitchen Finks and Treetop Village or Geralf’s Messenger. Messenger provides a much faster clock than Kitchen Finks, which becomes much more relevant in the combo match-up. Kitchen Finks provides life gain to counteract the life loss from Dark Confidant and Thoughtseize and is much better in the aggro match-ups. Both are good options and it comes down to player preference and the meta.

The next deck we have is U/W Angel Tempo:

Eduardo Sajgalik
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica Top 8, Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Lands (26) 1 Arid Mesa 4 Celestial Colonnade 1 Eiganjo Castle 3 Hallowed Fountain 4 Island 1 Misty Rainforest 2 Mutavault 1 Plains 1 Scalding Tarn 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Tectonic Edge Creatures (18) 3 Geist of Saint Traft 4 Kitchen Finks 4 Restoration Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage 3 Vendilion Clique Other spells (16) 2 Cryptic Command 1 Dismember 4 Mana Leak 4 Path to Exile 4 Spell Snare 1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Sideboard (15) 2 Annul 2 Aven Mindcensor 1 Disenchant 2 Negate 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Rest in Peace 1 Stony Silence 2 Supreme Verdict 2 Threads of Disloyalty 1 Vendilion Clique

This deck started off as modern Caw-Blade and when Restoration Angel was printed it replaced the hawks and a number of swords with interactions for Restoration Angel like Vendilion Clique and Kitchen Finks. This deck started to get popular after the Player’s Championship where Brian Kibler and Jon Finkle both piloted the deck. The deck follows along the lines of the average tempo/control strategy.

Now we have the newcomer to the format, Valakut:

Lee Shi Tian
Pro Tour Return to Ravnica Top 8, Modern

Main Deck (60) 60 cards Lands (24) 1 Breeding Pool 2 Flooded Grove 3 Forest 1 Halimar Depths 3 Island 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Ground 2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle Creatures (7) 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 3 Snapcaster Mage Other spells (29) 3 Cryptic Command 1 Electrolyze 3 Izzet Charm 4 Remand 2 Repeal 4 Scapeshift 4 Search for Tomorrow 4 Serum Visions 4 Telling Time

Sideboard (15) 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Beast Within 1 Electrolyze 1 Nature’s Claim 2 Obstinate Baloth 3 Relic of Progenitus 3 Vendilion Clique 2 Volcanic Fallout 1 Wurmcoil Engine

The Pro Tour was the first large event to occur since the unbanning of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. It showed up in decent numbers and in a variety of strategies. Most of the Valakut decks were the U/G version similar to Lee Shi Titan’s top 8 list. However, there were also versions that ran Primeval Titan and played more along the lines as the Zendiakar – Scars of Mirrordin standard version. The goal of the deck is to control the board and accelerate land drops until you can cast a Scapshift to get six mountain lands and two Valakuts. It follows the archetype of the average combo/control deck.

Moving on we have the main Birthing Pod Strategy in the format, Naya Pod. Naya Pod seems to have overtaken Melria Pod as the most played pod strategy in the format. Naya Pod requires less creatures to combo and can simply win out of nowhere. The deck requires only a one drop, a two drop, and a Birthing Pod in order to combo off.

The last series of I am going to cover are the U/R combo decks such as Storm, Splinter Twin, and Hive Mind and R/G Tron. These decks have remained fairly the same for some time now and are very linear strategies that excel at assembling a combo as the win condition. They involved finding a combo and protecting the combo in order to combo and win the game ideally between turns three to five. Although Tron Varies from the U/R decks in terms of its win condition, the play is very similar to them. Instead of Assembling a one shot combo, you assemble the Urza lands ( Urza’s Tower, Urza’s Mine, and Urza’s Powerplant) and hardcast Emerakul, Aeons Torn.

This sums up most of the major players in the current modern format, with the exclusion of decks Like Soul Sisters, B/W Tokens, Burn, and other less popular decks that don’t normally put up a large showing at bigger events but are popular online because of their price.

Until next time,
Cody