A very happy B&R update to you! The One Ring was slated to be banned in Modern on December 16 and WOTC delivered; there may have been at least one couch burned if that wasn’t the case.
The holidays came early this year as WOTC not only banned The One Ring, but made sure Energy would no longer be the top dog and unbanned some of the most iconic cards in Modern’s history.
Banning Amped Raptor and Jegantha alongside The One Ring is an interesting choice as the unbans are already slated to significantly change the Modern landscape.
I’m happy to see Jegantha leave as companions have relatively simple hurdles to include. We have had enough companions for a while so I’m happy to see Juicy J on the sidelines.
Boros and Mardu Energy are still playable despite WOTC kneecapping the archetype.
White is a great color to play with artifacts and graveyards returning to the top tier since Stony Silence and Rest in Peace can’t slot into every deck. I still remember Bant Spirits fondly in 2018/19 Modern as the powerful enchantment hosers gave me game against KCI- one of the most busted combo decks of the past.
Faithless Looting is slated to become one of the most impactful cards in Modern despite being printed well ahead of any Modern Horizons set. I’m not a Faithless Looting gamer myself, but I’m happy that some old friends are interested in returning to Modern thanks to this unban.
There’s certainly a chance Faithless Looting once again goes from fun to problematic in the future, but it’s worth finding out. Looting was initially banned about five years ago alongside Hogaak so the main culprit of the absurd graveyard deck is still not legal. I’m willing to have an open mind about giving Looting a second chance.
Mox Opal is coming back to Modern after a five year time out. Once again, I’m hearing old friends looking to try their hand at Modern because Affinity was their weapon of choice in the previous decade. This is what Modern should be all about.
Splinter Twin is near and dear to my heart as it was banned almost nine years ago and delivered my only SCG Invitational top 8. Grixis Twin helped define my current deck selection philosophy of playing powerful blue cards with a proactive game plan and the ability to grind. The opponent has a difficult time prioritizing your interaction and threats instead of being a glass cannon.
At this point it was a meme to unban Splinter Twin so I’m excited to see WOTC finally delivering. Time will tell if it can compete in this decade as I expect Mox Opal and Faithless Looting to be much more impactful. Either way it was awesome to see someone show up to my local Modern event with a Twin deck straight from 2015 excited to game.
Green Sun’s Zenith is a fairly innocuous unban as many Modern players weren’t playing the last time it was allowed in 2011. The first Modern Pro Tour in Philadelphia delivered a broken set of top 8 decks that led to the following B&R update:
Zenith looks to be one of the more tame cards on that B&R update in 2011, but there was a break in risk and reward because it found Dryad Arbor, win conditions, and haymakers.
It reminds me of Deathrite Shaman where it’s powerful on any turn of the game.
Amulet Titan stands to gain the most from Zenith being unbanned, but finding Grist in Yawgmoth decks is also great. Green decks getting a power boost is helpful because Endurance and Force of Vigor can keep graveyard and artifact decks in check.
The main takeaway from this Modern B&R update is the format may become more pillarized like in the previous decade. Artifact and graveyard decks must be respected in the sideboard as the top decks will no longer be a homogenization of the strongest threats and answers like we have seen in recent years.
Where am I going from here?
I have continued my win streak with my first foray into the post ban Modern metagame. Currently at about 35 match wins in a row! Frogtide shines against linear decks and Energy was a close matchup so I continue to like its position.
Tamiyo is strong against linear decks. I didn’t play Tamiyo in the previous format because she lined up poorly against Phlage. There are enough cantrips in the deck that I can flip her early.
Spell Snare is less powerful without Boros Energy at the forefront. This not only allows me to cut to two Snare, but I fundamentally am less afraid to tap out on the first turn for sorcery-speed spells like Tamiyo and Preordain.
Orcish Bowmasters is powerful in Modern because it can embarrass Faithless Looting, but I made room for the second Tamiyo by shaving down to three copies. The damage from the creature entering is less effective without Boros Energy being the best deck.
I’ve made some subtle changes to the cantrip suite. Three Preordain because it’s the most powerful selection, but doesn’t add more cards to the graveyard. Two Thought Scour to enable four Murktide Regent and two Cling to Dust. A single Consider because it filters more than Thought Scour so I can keep more hands.
Cling to Dust is more powerful with Faithless Looting in the format. A second Cling allows the deck to grind harder as escaping for an extra card can keep from flooding. It also means I don’t need to dedicate more than two Nihil Spellbombs for graveyard interaction in the sideboard. Graveyard decks will typically pivot away from relying on the graveyard after sideboard so I don’t want to hate out their game one deck too much.
Force of Negation is even better in the new Modern Metagame as there’s an increase in linear decks and exiling Faithless Looting is very relevant. There will be many hands kept off the strength of Faithless Looting enabling their game plan that will be broken up easily with Force of Negation.
If Force of Negation is weak in the matchup then Subtlety will shine. I want to be playing plenty of free interaction in every type of matchup. There’s even a dynamic where spell-based decks will lean on different types of threats after sideboard. Dimir Frog is almost too good at interacting with spells that Subtlety helps balance.
In the previous Modern format I valued Murktide Regent above Oculus because holding up Counterspell is important against linear decks. This continues to hold true and I prefer to rely less on the graveyard with Faithless Looting causing an increase in graveyard hate.
Harbinger of the Seas is stronger without The One Ring providing an outlet for four Islands. Amulet Titan and Tron decks have a harder time bridging from the early game to carrying out the top end game plan.
Hurkyl’s Recall is a big winner from the B&R update.
I see a lot of buzz about Meltdown, but it misses indestructible artifact lands, Thought Monitor, and Kappa Cannoneer. Recall is in a better color and most importantly resets Kappas as ward 4 is a big problem.
I also prefer Recall to Meltdown against Affinity because Urza’s Saga’s first construct enters the battlefield at the end of turn and they can find Lavaspur Boots the following turn for the second construct.
Affinity with Mox Opal is similar to Tron when resolving Blood Moon because the hate cards by themselves aren’t enough. Murktide Regent and Psychic Frog are powerful enough threats that they can tag team with Hurkyl’s Recall to take down the game.
I’ve seen plenty of content creators already effortlessly win games in which Meltdown was resolved. Mengu was a proponent of siding in Force of Negation aggressively to fight Meltdown and Stony Silence after sideboard.
Dress Down is a new addition that kills construct tokens and lines up well against Amulet Titan. Time will tell if this should just be a third Hurkyl’s Recall, but there are decks that play Saga without as much of an emphasis on artifacts.
Toxic Deluge is another well-rounded answer to Kappa Cannoneer. It shines against creature decks, but the life loss prevents me from wanting a second copy.
Memory Deluge can increase your threat density in fair matchups or be swapped in for a Murktide Regent against spell-based decks. I have been sideboarding it in against nearly every deck as games two and three become more about efficient interaction.
Consign to Memory is weaker in the new Modern metagame because Tron and Eldrazi are less powerful. In the short run I expect more Azorius Affinity which plays a large amount of blue spells. I can also lean away from Consign now that Harbinger is better against big mana decks due to The One Ring being banned.
Stern Scolding is one of the strongest sideboard cards- especially now that it counters Deceiver Exarch, Urza, and Emry. Three is too many without the presence of Boros Energy, but two leaves me wanting a little more.
Nihil Spellbomb is my graveyard hate of choice to go alongside the two maindeck Cling to Dust. It’s sorcery-speed card draw so don’t be afraid to cut a Preordain to make room during sideboard.
Surgical Extraction isn’t where I want to be because Frogtide is very good against the plan A of graveyard decks. If anything you need to make sure to be overweight on interaction for their plan B of getting value with creatures.
Modern is once again in a state of optimism. It has been years since this has been the case as the player base has gone from hating one deck to another, but we once again have a swath of playable strategies people actually enjoy. I’m going to keep frogging people until they tell me to stop.
