Last summer was great for me in terms of Magic because I got to play not only one of my favorite decks ever, but one of the most successful as well. The deck in question was The Aristocrats.

I played various versions of the deck since it was created but it wasn’t until M14 was released that the deck really shaped up into a powerhouse in the metagame. The deck played so well for me that I went out of my way to play in as many Standard tournaments just so I could rock my aristocratic force into Top 8 after Top 8. This journey was short-lived though because a few short months later, Standard rotated into the horrible Theros mess that we still have right now. M15 has breathed a temporary breath of life into Standard, but other than that, I can’t wait for rotation to happen.

With Standard not being as interesting as I’d like, I found myself reminiscing about last summer and the wonders of the Aristocrats. After some unsuccessful attempts to try this strategy again in Standard, I started working on it for Modern.

One of the reasons I think this type of aggressive strategy would be good in Modern is due to the resurgence of Jund, Junk, and the Rock. These archetypes have been doing a lot of winning lately and Aristocrats is the perfect strategy to combat this type of deck. It worked last summer in Standard, so it should be just as effective in Standard as well.

While Cartel Aristocrat may be the namesake of the deck, he wasn't the first card I knew I would include. The card I love in Modern right now is Lingering Souls. Not only is it good against any controlling strategy, but it’s amazing against Affinity and Pod. When you have a card that is a versatile threat like Lingering Souls, you know you are on the right track.

The next piece is a shoutout to Lorwyn Block Standard and the original Black-White Tokens. Many players have forgotten the power of the original Ajani and how potent he can be in a token strategy. Have you been paying attention to the continual rise in price of this planeswalker? He’s not done growing either.

In this deck, Ajani Goldmane provides a threat that is hard to deal with and increases your clock considerably. If you are willing to pay four mana for this effect from your land, Gavony Township, shouldn’t you be willing to pay for it from a planeswalker too? Garruk Wildspeaker may prove to be better in this spot, but Ajani synergizes so well with the next creature in the deck.

Kitchen Finks may not be news to anyone that’s played or watched Modern, but it is very good in this deck. You tend to deal yourself a bit of damage and he helps you gain some back. In addition, creating a resilient threat in combination with your planeswalker makes it even better in this deck than others.

Because you need consistency with your creatures for this deck to function, Birthing Pod seemed like a poor choice. Chord of Calling for value on the other hand, seems great in this deck especially since you can get my favorite card in the deck, A-Blood Artist. With A-Blood Artist, you not only have an aggressive deck, but now you have a way to combo your opponent out at the end of the game and drain the rest of their life.

This deck is a blast to play and your opponents will be guessing about what you are doing the whole time.

After testing some with the deck I’m not certain about the main deck Thoughtseizes. They weren’t good in the matchups I tested against but they are good in others so depending on what your metagame looks like, I might replace them with the third Path to Exile, the third Abrupt Decay, and a Linvala, Keeper of Silence.

I was trying to find a place for Linvala, but I’m not sure where to fit her in. She is very good against many decks, and even though we can’t Pod for her, having access to one seems important.

One key aspect to this deck is what lands you fetch. The most important thing to remember, after playing around Blood Moon in the appropriate matchups, is that you need lots of green mana. Your main engine for Chord of Calling is Lingering Souls and those don’t help with the triple green requirement. The vast majority of the time you should be fetching both Overgrown Tomb and Temple Garden first. Always keep Chord in mind when you are cracking your fetches.

Testing against Melira Pod seemed the highest priority because the evolution of this deck led it to be constructed so that it’s a semi-mirror match. If they have access to maindeck Orzhov Pontiff, your Lingering Souls plan is much worse. You can play around Pontiff by killing their two-cost creature with Birthing Pod on the stack. You may not always have the removal spell but it’s an interaction that comes up more than you might think.

Ajani Goldmane is crazy good against them. Every time I’ve cast him, I won the game, so don’t underestimate his power. A-Blood Artist is also very good against them. There are board states where they can wipe your board with Pontiff but A-Blood Artist prevents them from doing that because it would kill them. I don’t have enough testing to know whether or not keeping in A-Blood Artists postboard is correct or not, but the variance of its power is extreme.

There are so many ways to win with this deck that you have game against nearly every deck in the metagame. The mirror is much closer than I thought it would be, almost exactly 50-50, so you think you are likely to see a lot of Pod decks, this might not be the right choice. If you have a lot of experience with this list, you definitely have the edge though so if this deck interests you, get a lot of reps playing it especially against Melira Pod.

People think Modern is well defined, but with over a decade of cards available in the card pool there are lots of strategies left to be explored and the Aristocrats is poised to do some damage in the metagame.

I’m working on some other ways to gain an edge in the format as well. If this interests you, post in the comments. I’ll keep writing about Modern here and there. It’s an awesome format and now that the fear of losing the Modern Pro Tour is gone, I’m reassured about its longevity.

A Glance at Finance

As you can see, Birthing Pod has drastically dropped in value once again. Despite being a four-of in multiple staple Modern decks, Pod has once again dipped. If you can trade into copies of this card, it seems poised to jump back up in price.

Full Art Lands

I’ve noticed all three sets of full art lands increasing in value over the last year. Most of the Unhinged lands are 8-10 now but I’ve seen a lot of local dealers with older prices still. Check around at your local shops for some good deals.

In addition, I as well as many other dealers have finally moved our Zendikar full art lands above a dollar. If you can get these for less than that, you can still make money on them. The Jon Avon ones especially are $2-3 but many shops have them all priced at a dollar. Unless we get a huge influx of full art lands, all of them should keep increasing in value.

Khalni Hydra is one of those casual hits that continues to creep up in value as time passes. Many of you frequent traders know this hidden gem but those of you who don’t should keep your eyes open for them.

Rise of the Eldrazi is packed with hidden value so look through cards from that set carefully. I came across one of these in bulk that someone traded in to my store and while that’s not likely to happen often, trading for this undervalued casual powerhouse is worth your time.

While the price of Vexing Devil has stayed fairly steady since its depart from its unimpressive run in Standard, the buy price is creeping up. The spread on this card is getting lower and lower which means it seems like a card waiting to spike.

Modern Burn is popular especially for players new to the format. My stance is still that the deck is terrible and you should never play it, but that won’t stop the mass of other players who want to play the format and don’t have the capital to invest in a better deck.

Well that's all for me for this week. Thanks for reading and please post your thoughts on the deck or the financial opportunities in the comment.

Unleash the Aristocrat Force!

Mike Lanigan
MtgJedi on Twitter
Jedicouncilman23@gmail.com