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Haunted Dead is one of the more subtly powerful cards printed in some time. It has the appearance of a draft uncommon with some synergies that push it over the edge for Constructed play. It's a card that you don't mind discarding or milling incidentally that enables the other cards that you want to discard down the line, and is the glue that holds together decks like Brandon Ayer's Zombie build from Pro Tour Kaladesh that he piloted to an 8-2 record:
Rakdos Zombie Madness
Even if you don't have an appreciation for the subtleties of the deck, you'll be able to win some games by smashing with Smuggler's Copter. An unanswered Cryptbreaker can also lead to some games that are reminiscent of Pack Rat. That said, this deck definitely rewards tight play and familiarity with the archetype, as knowing how to sequence around triggering madness, facilitating Voldaren Pariah, and maintaining access to resources for Haunted Dead will greatly increase your win percentage.
This deck features three copies of Kalitas, Tratior of Ghet in the sideboard, no doubt in part for the mirror. Kalitas poses a serious problem for this and similar decks, which is part of why you see more copies of Lightning Axe in the sideboard. This deck already likes having access to Lightning Axe simply because it's so efficient and this deck often prefers to be discarding its spells to hardcasting them. If not for the aggression facilitated by Unlicensed Disintegration, this deck would certainly include the full four Lightning Axe in its 75.
Zombies puts a ton of pressure on opponents to be able to exile its threats, as Haunted Dead, Prized Amalgam, and Scrapheap Scrounger all have a way of recurring from the graveyard. This resilience puts a lot of pressure on control decks to draw specific cards if the pilot is even savvy enough to be playing the correct answers. Meanwhile, against aggressive decks you have some explosive draws to keep pace, a small removal package, and Voldaren Pariah to Plague Wind your opponent.
I've been running into this deck a good amount on MTGO, and I definitely think it has what it takes to compete in the post-Pro Tour metagame. I believe that Voldaren Pariah is a rather underrated card, and if this deck gains a significant metagame share I expect to see some growth for that card from its current $1 position. Notably, the card has risen from a bulk status recently to nearly a ticket on MTGO, with the price continuing to trend upwards.
When I published my article, I expected some feedback regarding the similarities between my list and recent Grixis Delver lists that have performed well. Cutting expensive spells, trimming high-cost threats in favor of cheaper options, and gaining access to more burn elements are all primary deviations that signal a shift in deckbuilding from Grixis Control towards Delver (besides the inclusion of Delver of Secrets, of course).
In addition, it can more easily interact with other aggressive strategies and benefits from an increase in overall mana efficiency compared to the "bigger" control lists.
Lifegain is hard to come by in our colors, and Collective Brutality has been excellent against Burn in testing. Killing a Goblin Guide, taking a 3-4-point burn spell, and giving us an almost-free Countersquall for two mana (and two cards out of our hand) isn’t the absolute best on rate, but it's excellent when we factor in mana efficiency. Remember that in the Burn matchup all we’re looking to do is trade cards for life, so discarding a spell to drain for two is over a full card’s worth of value anyways. That we’re getting it for no extra mana is just icing on the cake, as that frees up our later turns to Dispel and Negate away without fear of wasting mana on cards left in hand.
Remember that yes, you can pay the kicker cost on flashed-back spells. Seven mana is a lot, but we could also potentially cast this off a flipped Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, in which case we would only need the easily attainable five. Burst Lightning is a late addition, and I’ve yet to see a situation where I’m glad I had this over Pillar of Flame, but then again I’ve yet to find myself wanting Pillar of Flame when I drew this too.
I’m more interested in how we react to the increased graveyard hate that is almost assuredly coming with Dredge’s renewed increase in format market share. Five delve creatures is just enough to make it awkward to defend against graveyard hate ourselves. It’s just really tough to ignore Rest in Peace—it may be card disadvantage for them, but it still does enough against us that we can’t laugh in their faces when they cast it. To hedge, I’m diversifying my threats post-board, with my old favorite in Bitterblossom making a return.
As I've mentioned before, I'm a casual player at heart. What gets me most excited in Magic is a close, well fought, free-for-all multiplayer game. The kind of game where minor advantages end up making all the difference. Where decks are fairly evenly matched, and where politics have a major influence on the results, as any combination of players could take you out.
By now I imagine you're all wondering how this is relevant to Magic finance. I see many parallels between free-for-all multiplayer games and trading in Magic cards. In both contexts your reputation is essential. It will heavily influence any deal you make, whether with opponents or trade partners.
a land that taps for two suddenly makes these spells reasonable, or for some of the cards well above the curve.
Bant Eldrazi, alternatively, is granted far more upside than downside by sticking to its theme. It gets a phenomenal card-selection spell in Ancient Stirrings, a land that taps for two mana in Eldrazi Temple, and the absurd upside of Cavern of Souls. Counters aren't the most popular spells in Modern, though I think it's worth mentioning given that the "hate" card we were given in Kaladesh is Ceremonious Rejection. Realistically, there's basically nothing you can add to your sideboard to give you a significant edge against Bant Eldrazi if you're struggling game one.
Like other linear Modern decks, Bant Eldrazi will have to mulligan some percentage of its "lands and spells" hands. However, a high percentage of five- or six-card hands containing Noble Hierarch and/or Eldrazi Temple will be actively great, and Ancient Stirrings is arguably the best spell in Modern to have in your deck on a mulligan.
Bant Eldrazi has a lot of difficulty with non-creature permanents that lock up combat, and a Worship can just stop your Bant Eldrazi opponent cold. Similarly, Ensnaring Bridge out of Lantern Control, with Pithing Needle backup naming Engineered Explosives, can make quick work of the deck. In fact, Lantern Control was one of few playable decks during the Eldrazi deck's original dominance. A board filled with Ghostly Prisons can similarly give the deck fits.
Once Elves starts snowballing, Eldrazi realistically can't catch up.
broken cards are still broken. For example, testing Ponder in Jeskai would not produce very interesting or helpful results. The deck currently plays Serum Visions, and Ponder is better than Visions. Therefore we would expect Jeskai's overall win percentage to improve. However, Jeskai is a control deck that will win slowly. Even with the consistency boost from the second-best cantrip in Magic, the change will not be that dramatic and our conclusion would be weak. Storm or Ad Nauseam, on the other hand, will benefit far more from an additional cantrip than a fair deck would. Those archetypes are a far better indicator of whether or not Ponder is safe to unban (I firmly believe it isn't, just for the record).
I want to see how the full spectrum from the truly fair, to the "fair" or pseudo-fair, to the unfair, will be affected. A broadly improved win percentage may indicate that the card is oppressive. A more localized impact might signal a metagame shift which may or may not be welcome. This is also the only way I can try to model the total reaction that a card will have on Modern.
I will not be testing Bloodbraid Elf, Deathrite Shaman, or Punishing Fire. Hard no. Absolutely not. I don't care how much you whine or how good your arguments are, up to and including masters theses on the impact of Bloodbraid Elf's unbanning on global happiness. I will not test them.
