We’ve seen the Modern format turned upside-down with the latest B&R announcement. Today I’m going to talk about the announcement as well as the deck I always turn to in times of uncertainty: Dimir Frogtide.
Last Monday was a doozy. I was surprised any action was taken on Modern given that we’re in the middle of an RCQ season.
Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury was the clear frontrunner for the most powerful midrange engine as it was effectively a companion. Good luck fighting fair against Phlage if you don’t play it, too. I’m happy to try out the Modern format without Phlage as it opens the door for new fair strategies to potentially supplant Boros Energy. Solid ban, but does run the risk of the dust settling in an unhealthy state.
Lotus Field was the lynchpin in the Amulet Titan loops that took too long to execute. I’m happy to see Amulet Titan remain a viable archetype with fewer round clock issues. Great ban even if it took a while to execute. There may be other loops that end up eating the clock in Amulet Titan, but it’s nice to see WOTC take action against strategies that create issues with tournament logistics.
Umezawa’s Jitte was the scourge of tournament Magic in the 2000s, but is a fair card with power creep. It went from being too powerful to a fan favorite over time. I’m happy to see the newer generation of Magic players experience Jitte in a much more healthy context. It may fill a hole in the metagame where Phlage used to shine.
My initial reaction to the Violent Outburst unban was negative, but I’m warming up to the idea. The existence of Consign to Memory hampers cascade decks and likely needs a boost to have longer term success.
Overall, Modern has been in a healthy, but stagnant, state for a while and these bans can provide an exciting shake up. Modern’s one of my favorite formats and renewed interest in an active RCQ season is good. I like to see shakeups to a format through the B&R announcements instead of every change resulting from a broken card being printed.
Given the wealth of generic interaction I like Dimir’s positioning in a wide open metagame. It would often match up well against linear combo decks of which there are currently many options.
I posted decent win rates against Boros Energy and Jeskai Blink in the past, but would sometimes lose to Phlage once Dimir runs out of gas.
Psychic Frog remains the primary threat, but there are plenty of great role players.
Kaito, Bane of Nightmares has a chance to improve in metagame positioning with fewer fair red decks to deal loyalty damage. Esper Blink was a close matchup in the past, but Kaito would be involved in the easy wins. Blink is an early winner from the B&R announcement given the color combinations couldn’t take advantage of Phlage.
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has always been decent, but did fall short against fair decks as she notably dies to Phlage. A couple copies perform well for ninjutsu.
I expect Boros Energy to remain a contender in the Modern format which means I want Orcish Bowmasters for early interaction. Again, Bowmasters also exists as a ninjutsu enabler.
The most obvious exclusion from this list is Quantum Riddler. I have not liked Riddler in Dimir as much as I expected because linear matchups are decided by countering key spells backed up by a quick clock. I have one copy in the sideboard for the grindy matchups once there’s more nimble interaction to drag out the game.
Murktide Regent continues to impress as the blue haymaker of choice. It can end a game quickly against linear decks, especially big mana, but also demands specific interaction versus the more fair strategies. As I was playing Dimir over the last few weeks I kept adding more Murktides at the expense of Riddler.
Dismember is my fifth nimble interaction piece alongside four Fatal Push. Six toughness was more important with Phlage in the format, but Dismember can take down Abhorrent Oculus and Overlord of the Balemurk. Quantum Riddler remains a blind spot with Dismember, but it can be combined with a Bowmaster trigger.
Shoot the Sheriff is the last removal spell in the maindeck. It misses Ragavan, but hits Murktide Regent and Quantum Riddler. If there are more Teferi, Time Ravelers in the format this could be a maindeck Sheoldred’s Edict.
I tried maindecking Sheoldred’s Edict and Shoot the Sheriff at the same time, but there were too many two-drops as I don’t want to play less than four Counterspell. Orcish Bowmaster is another two-drop I don’t want to cut because of the Kaito synergies.
Two Force of Negations alongside two Subtlety are the pitch spells of choice. I’ve seen Force of Despair that combines well with Quantum Riddler. If you expect a lot of Affinity I would play Pest Control instead.
I’m happier to maindeck a third Thoughtseize without Phlage dealing incidental damage.
Spell Snare can be a miss in many matchups, such as Living End, so I’m closer to one copy than three. If you want to cut the second Snare I would recommend another Consider to fuel Murktide Regent.
Three Preordain help cut down on the amount of lands, but sorceries reduce the mana held up for counters. Four was too many.
Consider further helps smooth out early draws while potentially adding more instants and sorceries for Murktide Regent. I tried four total cantrips and felt there were too many games with awkward draws.
The cantrips also help enable Tamiyo flipping more often as Dimir doesn’t draw that many extra cards.
Cling to Dust is effectively the sixth cantrip that helps against Esper Goryo’s and Grixis reanimator. I don’t mind some life gain against Burn as it may come out after the Phlage ban.
There are a total of twenty lands because Murktide Regent requires fewer lands than Quantum Riddler.
Darkslick Shores gets the nod over Gloomlake Verge due to needing black mana on the first turn for Thoughtseize and Fatal Push.
Two Bloodstained Mires alongside the four Polluted Delta help me find the basic Swamp more often as I expect Blood Moon to be more popular in Boros Energy as they search for three drops to replace Phlage. The black fetch land also helps with Harbinger of the Seas.
I tried a third Undercity Sewers as a twenty-first land in Riddler versions, but it was unfortunately too clunky as I wanted to hold up Counterspell.
Four Consign to Memory is a good incentive to play blue in this Rhinos and Living End world.
Engineered Explosives is primarily for Affinity, but also fantastic against Rhinos. It plays well against Prowess which is important as Phlage was keeping it in check; the threat of activation against Cori-Steel Cutter is very relevant.
Nihil Spellbomb and other graveyard hate is important against Living End. I used to maindeck a Spellbomb in the Phlage metagame, but it’s now less relevant against fair decks.
Stern Scolding is still important against the new iterations of Boros Energy and Orzhov/Esper Blink. Other creature decks may come from the woodwork as Phlage is no longer keeping them in check.
Harbinger of the Seas remains critical against the new versions of Amulet Titan, but also Eldrazi. I must mulligan aggressively to Frog and Murktide against Eldrazi in the first game so it’s important to have the tools to fight more sustainably in the board.
Quantum Riddler in the sideboard is not only “for the grindy matchups,” but can also serve as a replacement for a threat that doesn’t line up in a particular matchup. For example, Murktide Regent is bad against Blink decks with Flickerwisp.
Sheoldred’s Edict can be swapped for other removal spells that are less impactful. It not only kills planeswalkers, but also Kappa Cannoneer, Quantum Riddler, and Primeval Titan.
Modern is in an exciting place with many opportunities. It’s not yet clear how the dust will settle as Phlage was a truly oppressive card. For now, we can return to our comfort decks.
In the future I’m also going to be putting some work into Temur Rhinos as that was also an old favorite of mine.
Also, Ben Topping and I will be commentating at the upcoming flagship event in the RIW Pauper Championship Series on June 6 so be sure to tune in! It’s not too late to get points to qualify for the end of year 5k invitational.
