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Well, I've dutifully done my snooping, and am proud to present some of Modern's new directions in a Snow-less world! Chomping at the bit for more? Ready the sails... if you dare!
Nuthin' But a "G" Thang
"One, two, three and to the four / Boggart Harbinger and Conspicuous Snoop is at the door." In fact, this dynamic duo has long gotten past the door, and they ain't leavin' til six in the morning. If July 2020 is remembered for one thing, let it be Snoop Gobbs's impressive debut.
Snoop Gobbs, KARATEDOM (3-2, Modern Preliminary #12176966)
The above build of Snoop Gobbs has been tearing it up online this month, to the extent that I considered omitting it from the "Brew" report at all. But the development nonetheless represents the first foot forward in tuning and refining a brand-new archetype. Besides the above Preliminary list, the first July build I came across, I found similar builds in four other Preliminaries (including one that went 5-0), three Challenges (with one making Top 8), and four regular ol' leagues—in other words, almost every data set I worked with.
The deck and its ilk are built similarly to David's experiment with Snoop early in spoiler season, with the combo shoehorned into an otherwise unremarkable Vial Goblins strategy. Apparently, boasting access to the combo plan plugs gaping holes previously unfixable for Goblins, an archetype we haven't ever seen experience this level of success in Modern.
There are, of course, slight variations between the above lists, mostly coming down to amounts of interaction (some decks run multiple Tarfire, others main Fatal Push, and others still forego noncreature removal entirely) and whether or not Goblin Ringleader is played. Ringleader cemented itself as a Goblins staple as soon as it came to Modern, but it's worth noting that these Snoop-less versions of Goblins still struggled to find footing. As a card that primarily helps overwhelm interactive opponents, it makes sense that Ringleader might under-perform in certain matchups, and therefore predicted metagames.
I also spotted some Goblins decks that diverged from the core more significantly.
Putrid Gobbs, MASTERA (23rd, Modern Challenge #12176992)
This version of Putrid Gobbs maxes out on Skirk Prospector, usually a two-of, to make use of its mana-making synergy with Putrid Goblin. Mogg War Marshall already provides multiple mana with Prospector, but Putrid takes things a step further with Metallic Mimic in the picture, which lets Goblins go infinite and chain together all the Ringleaders, Matrons, or Kiki-Jiki clones it wants. Sling-Gang Lieutenant pays off the digging by providing a damage-dealing sac outlet that kills opponents on the spot.
While adding a second combo to an already shaky tribal aggro core might seem precarious, it helps that none of these pieces play that poorly with the strategy at hand. Mimic is really just another lord, and Putrid's built-in card advantage can help against the types of decks Goblins naturally struggles against: those loaded with cheap removal spells.
Snoop Unearth, B4NN3D22 (5-0)
Snoop Unearth switches things up even more drastically, focusing single-mindedly on the combo and employing Dark Confidant both to dig for pieces and overwhelm opponents light on interaction. Should the other side happen to have Bolt or Push for the 2/1, a whopping four copies of Unearth form this deck's backbone, reanimating the draw engine or literally any of its combo pieces throughout the game. Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize each join Unearth at 4 to prevent opponents from messing with the deck's plans.
This deck, too, has established pedigree this month, earning another 5-0 and netting one player Top 16 in a Challenge. Whether these results speak to the viability of Snoop Unearth as a build or just to the Snoop combo's own merits in Modern remains to be seen.
Swimming with the Sharks
The Goblin tribe may have enjoyed an explosive month, but Goblins have been in Magic parlance since the game's inception. Another, more slept-on creature type also had its day in July, rising out of obscurity to sink its hundreds of teeth into Modern.
Dimir Sharks, MECHINT (5-0)
Behold Dimir Sharks, a fins-to-the-shins control deck that wins by cycling, and perhaps even casting, Shark Typhoon. As cycling can't be countered and is available at instant speed, it's an attractive option for control decks if the right card presents itself—and on a finisher, players can simply cycle the card early in a pinch, confident they'll find more copies down the road. Decree of Justice once saw play in control decks for exactly this reason, although Decree also had the benefit of triggering Astral Slide. No such synergy here, although Typhoon is significantly easier to cycle.
Among the decks sleeving up Shark Typhoon are Sultai Snow (RIP) and UW Control, but I did find one other pile maxing out on the thing.
Izzet Sharks, ASPIRINGSPIKE (17th, Modern Challenge #12176998)
Behold, Izzet Sharks! ASPIRINGSPIKE is no stranger to the Brew Report column, so of course dude had to deliver a twist to the tornado. In fact, he's already on to the next whirlwind, having trophied with an abomination dubbed "UW Sharkblade."
Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
With Arcum's Astrolabe banned, Modern's waters are indeed a-churning. Join me next week for an exposé on July's non-Goblins breakout deck.
announcement 
being highly successful. That said, it's extremely rare for a card to be pre-emptively banned. The initial list doesn't count. Mycosynth Lattice leaps to mind as the only other example. It was very un-fun, but wasn't really having an impact when it got axed. Once Upon a Time had 
Losing Astrolabe will not significantly impact Snow's matchup against Ponza. 
Along with that retooling, Ice-Fang's stock will change. As noted, there's no way to cheat on Coatl's deathtouch anymore with Astrolabe. That will have to be earned the hard way with Snow basics, and that is a risk. Fetching three basics over shocklands was always the right call. Now, there's a risk of fetching into mana problems. A deck with Bant's intense color requirements will struggle to both cast its spells and turn on Coatl more often, meaning it can't lean as heavily on it as removal. Thus, the spell suite must be retooled as well.
I put aggro decks as the biggest winners of the banning. Coatl getting nerfed really is a huge deal. This is particularly true for Spirits, which should have a great matchup against Snow, or any durdly deck full of expensive cards which care about card advantage. Coatl props up UGx, and Spirits doesn't have good answers. It's particularly bad when critical Spirits with hexproof get sniped. Humans will also appreciate having Mantis Rider picked off at advantage less often.
three players utterly enamored of their 4-Color Snow goodstuff decks and their whining about Astrolabe and Modern doomsaying is already melting my DM inbox. I can't imagine the anguished lamentations if their other baby, Sanctuary, got hit too.
When I introduced GRx Moon to Modern Nexus, the deck didn’t have a proper analog in Modern. I’d adapted the deck from Skred Red after having adding green to that deck for 
Elephant in the room: Goyf! But why would this deck want Goyf? Not only is the creature 
Another major boon to the deck is Pillage. 
Gone are the five-drops of Ponza, in part because I'm allergic to high land counts. We've still got mana sinks mostly, the back-ends on Pyromancer and Bonecrusher. But it's more of a backup than an inevitability. That's because GRx Moon wants to keep the hits coming, whether it's turn two Moon or some speedy attackers, and end the game a little earlier.
The aggressive bump gained from deploying Goyf early pairs nicely with Bloodbraid and Klothys, which sneak in plenty of extra damage. Backup plans for disruption are extremely reliable in this deck because Goyf is joined by Wrenn and Six. The planeswalker 
Goyf's Return... NOT!
And then there's Ponza. There's 
I've been on the receiving end of this change more than I care to admit. Humans is extremely weak to Blood Moon thanks to its five-color manabase. Aether Vial is only helpful when given time, and Noble Hierarch gets Bolted a lot. Previously, this wasn't much of a problem because Moon was unlikely to hit early enough to prevent Humans from getting a board started with its nonbasic lands. Now I'm finding myself actually getting locked out more and a matchup that is, on paper, favorable is in practice very hard. Humans is generally too fast for low-removal decks to stop and has Reflector Mage and Mantis Rider, letting it zoom past land disruption. Now, it's locking in too fast.
No longer. Klothys into Glorybringer is a phenomenal curve and clock in this matchup. Seasoned Pyromancer goes wide and finds more beef. Bloodbraid Elf can swing games from nowhere. This was all possible before, but 
This is where Ponza shines. That fast Moon will shut off the fetchlands before Bant can find the basics or Astrolabe. This isn't fatal, as Bant will likely draw basics, but not necessarily the right ones. And Ponza can exacerbate that with Pillage. All while having a lot of mana to advance its clock. And what a clock! As mentioned, Klothys is a house, and as long as devotion stays low the only way Bant can avoid being drained out is to bounce, then counter, the God. However, the other creatures net value too, which lets Ponza keep up with Bant's 2-for-1's, particularly Ice-Fang Coatl.
Magus can also be tutored by Eldritch Evolution, a card that likewise grabs Winota straight from the deck. If it’s tributing Strangelroot Geist, the undying Spirit gets to swing right away with haste and trigger Winota on the same turn! And Birds both ramps into Eldritch/Winota and attacks to trigger it.
The enchantment skirts creature removal, but relies on the graveyard, while the creature bites the dust to Fatal Push but ignores Rest in Peace. As such, these two threats reward pilots for chaining together draw and burn in ways that compliment each other 
I know you remember this one! 
Among the included packages are:
There was a time when building an entire Modern deck around Notion Thief was nuts. But Narset, Parter of Veils gave the card some redundancy, and combined with the 
Here, 
Right now is the time for brewing. If you've got the cards online, I'd recommend trying out that whacky idea you've been sitting on for awhile. It can't be weirder than the decks that have actually made the data. They've run the gauntlet from Toolbox decks that I can't find their combo kills to strange configurations of Mill to a straight port of Pioneer Inverter of Truth combo. Seriously, the only difference I remember is fetchlands. The best part is that everyone else is experimenting and looking for the new best decks, so even if your idea is half-baked, it's no less wonky than everything else.
The second observation is that targeted discard is at an all-time low in Modern. Jund and Grixis Death's Shadow are nowhere to be found. Sultai Snow doesn't always run Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughseize maindeck, and is a small part of the metagame anyway. I suspect Snow decks being mainly 2-for-1's is a significant factor, as is Inquisition being bad against Eldrazi. Plus, Veil of Summer, anyone? Now is the time to break out decks that are weak to discard.
Part of that has been on me. I play sloppier online than in paper. I'm not sure why, though the anonymity plays a part. In paper, if I mess up, I'll hear about it for weeks. Online, nobody knows you, so it's easy to just move on. I'm also doing nothing else when playing paper, and so focus more. I got a lot of other stuff distracting me on my computer. I've also had a run of terrible luck. Lots and lots of flood-outs and runs of terrible-but-fringe matchup after terrible-but-fringe matchup. Culminating in a League where I hit five Soul Sisters decks, flooded to death in each, and they hit multiple Path to Exile every game.
