One part of me loves that a sweet modern deck emerged from 3x core cards from BFZ after everyone has been saying how terrible BFZ has been and how underpowered it is. I love how diverse modern is and to see sweet new decks pop up makes me giddy.

Other part of me is a little worried about the potential this deck might have and how oppressive it might be in the meta making graveyard interactive decks unplayable. We will see if these processors are too “format warping”. Time will tell.

“, and maybe even drop out after the December stats are processed.”

I see what you did there, dohoho

Yeah its mid-range putting 5/8 or 4/5 creature in turn 3 and 4 consistently.

Everything mid range control will be destroyed and no sideboard cards will do any good. Fair decks are going down and a dark Era will arise better sell jund or play legacy jund.

Yes.

You’re absolutely right I subscribe everything that you said, this will destroy midrange decks like jund junk an all his variants

Having tested the deck myself, seen the test results of others, and witnessed the SCG results at Cincinnati (plus another IQ T8 that same weekend), I can assure you it’s real. It is not yet some Tier 1 monstrosity that some make it out to be, but it is a very good deck with all the markings of a Tier 2 contender. Maybe it even gets better!

Respect.

I wasn’t saying Twin is a good matchup. I was telling Tim Estes that he should convert from Grixis Control to Grixis Twin, because he said he could swtich at a moment’s notice.

How is Twin a good idea with all that discard, paths, Lili etc – I think twin is also boned

FWIW Living End is actually mad decent against these decks. You 100% need a Relic T1/2 to not fold to Living End, and potentially multiple if the Living End player has the tools to refuel or cycle some dudes post-pop. You also need a quick clock, as the Living End player will just start casting dudes (Street Wraith is really good here) to beat down. Fortunately they’re playing 4 Fulminator Mage and some number of Beast Within to keep you off of 5 mana.

“Rock is overpowered, paper is fine.” -Scissors

Think this way: the design for these creatures make so that counterspell are stupidly bad against them, and they negate graveyard-powered strategies that could put bigger creatures than they are into battlefield. Besides that, they are colorless, which mean that the shrugg small creatures with protection off, they ignore a good part of removals (both because they generate effects even if removed, and because they actually dodge some removals like ugin). AND they are WAY TOO BIG for their mana curve.

These creatures ignore EVERYTHING creatures have as weaknesses since the dawn of magic. Everything.

Ignoring one or two aspects of it is ok it is what makes a card cool (for example: Goyf is strong for its mana cost, but is weak to removal. Titan is strong and can come into play fast in the nature of the decks he plays, bit is weak to counterspells. Geist has a good clock and protection but is fairly weak by itself to its curve and is lackluster against other creatures. The first Eldrazis where super-powerful but came with insane mana cost to put them in check in niche decks).

These “small eldrazis” on the other hand just ignore it all. It is BAD DESIGN. It is design that wasn’t well thought out and wasn’t tested properly. Creating ridiculous cards that degenerate basic game interactions is easy.

I completely agree with Jake’s second paragraph. It is the exact reason why I think this deck is a poison to Modern.

We barely got another interactive deck in the form of a new viable archetype in Grixis, and this deck come to put it all to the ground.

Both decks I play consistently do not use counterspells or rely very little in the graveyard (lantern and amulet bloom), but that doesnt mean I can’t be sad for what is happening here.

This deck makes every deck that relies on graveyard (that are already sketchy) a tad bit worse and makes counterspells (that are already bad in modern) even WORSE. By itself wouldnt ruin both of these aspects of the game, but here is the deal: it is NOT alone in this. But IT IS what pushes it way to far for both in a SINGLE deck, IMO.

Think this way: the design for these creatures make so that counterspell are stupidly bad against them, and they negate graveyard-powered strategies that could put bigger creatures than they are into battlefield. Besides that, they are colorless, which mean that the shrugg small creatures with protection off, they ignore a good part of removals (both because they generate effects even if removed, and because they actually dodge some removals like ugin). AND they are WAY TOO BIG for their mana curve.

These creatures ignore EVERYTHING creatures have as weaknesses since the dawn of magic. Everything.

Ignoring one or two aspects of it is ok it is what makes a card cool (for example: Goyf is strong for its mana cost, but is weak to removal. Titan is strong and can come into play fast in the nature of the decks he plays, bit is weak to counterspells. Geist has a good clock and protection but is fairly weak by itself to its curve and is lackluster against other creatures. The first Eldrazis where super-powerful but came with insane mana cost to put them in check in niche decks).

These “small eldrazis” on the other hand just ignore it all. It is BAD DESIGN. It is design that wasn’t well thought out and wasn’t tested properly. Creating ridiculous cards that degenerate basic game interactions is easy.

Glad you enjoyed the piece. I am also excited whenever new strategies arise, and I think this deck is a lot more exciting when we realize it’s midrange and not just another ramp strategy. I also don’t feel the deck is problematic and I’m pumped to see where it goes. There are lots of ways to beat it and we’ll start seeing that more and more as the deck and format evolve.

Absolutely! In fact, this is already an article on my radar for either next week or the week of the banning announcement.

Thanks for sharing! This report underscores why testing is CRITICAL when we make deck evaluations. It’s easy to sit in the whiteroom and talk about how good or bad a deck/matchup is. But when we get to the tournament floor like Steve did, we often find a different reality. Maybe it was a fluke and maybe not, but either way, the experience shows how important variance and real games are in Modern.