In the closing of 2023 I’m going to share my top five archetypes that I played this year. This year my son was born so I decided to focus on a couple easy to pilot decks in each format rather than the flavor of the week. Thankfully I had plenty of great results despite this change in approach.
I was able to play an RIW 1K with most of these decks as the store if focusing on a variety of formats. Next year they will follow suit beginning with Pauper on February 3rd..
Love it or hate it, Rakdos Scam made its mark on Modern in 2023.
Thanks to Orcish Bowmasters, Rakdos Scam went from tier 2 to the best deck in the format. I had the chance to play it for a few months ahead of Fury getting a ban. It exists post-ban, but in a much more fair state.
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
4 Orcish Bowmasters
1 Blood Moon
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Castle Locthwain
4 Dauthi Voidwalker
2 Fatal Push
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Grief
1 Malakir Rebirth
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Molten Collapse
4 Not Dead After All
4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
1 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
1 Seasoned Pyromancer
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
4 Thoughtseize
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
2 Terminate
1 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
Sideboard
1 Blood Moon
1 Bonecrusher Giant
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Cursed Totem
1 Hidetsugu Consumes All
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 Molten Collapse
2 Engineered Explosives
Scam is still a powerful Modern deck, but it now must decide to respect creatures instead of having Fury incidentally interact. This may sound innocuous, but a threat pillar being removed from Scam was all that’s needed.
I would like to see Kroxa make a return as the deck now has more games that play out like a grindy Rakdos Rock deck. Molten Collapse is a new release that challenges the mainstay in Terminate. It’s awesome to see new cards make their mark without dominating the format.
If you’ve been on the Modern sidelines this is a great time to get back into the format as there’s no clear best deck. I’m also looking forward to Modern Horizons 3 next year.
This year was also my first foray into Pauper thanks to RIW’s 1K series. Dimir Terror not only suited my play style, but also has a good red matchup.
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Tolarian Terror
4 Counterspell
2 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
4 Brainstorm
2 Unexpected Fangs
2 Spell Pierce
2 Fallaji Archaeologist
3 Deep Analysis
4 Lorien Revealed
4 Snuff Out
2 Cast Down
4 Consider
10 Island
3 Contaminated Aquifer
2 Ice Tunnel
Sideboard
4 Hydroblast
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Annul
2 Dispel
2 Agony Warp
1 Unexpected Fangs
2 Thorn of the Black Rose
I’m not a fan of Fallaji Archaeologist, but the addition of Tithing Blade to the format requires insulation against sacrifice effects.
Mono Red got hit by the ban hammer with Monastery Swiftspear, but is still a force in the metagame. I’m looking to run back Dimir Terror in February at RIW’s next 1K because of the strong red matchup, but I do need to respect black control decks with piles of removal.
It’s tempting to shift to other Dimir decks that focus more on card advantage, but a 5/5 combined with Unexpected Fangs helps keep pace with aggressive strategies.
I wasn’t able to play Legacy this year, but it feels great to cast Brainstorm. Putting together a Pauper deck has never been cheaper as the Snuff Out and Lotus Petal reprints help make the format more accessible.
4 Lorien Revealed
4 Shardless Agent
4 Violent Outburst
4 Crashing Footfalls
4 Force of Negation
4 Dead
2 Mystical Dispute
1 Murktide Regent
3 Tishana’s Tidebinder
2 Flame of Anor
3 Subtlety
4 Fire
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
1 Ketria Triome
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Mutavault
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard
4 Endurance
3 Force of Vigor
1 Flame of Anor
1 Brazen Borrower
2 Obsidian Charmaw
1 Tishana’s Tidebinder
2 Mystical Dispute
1 Dismember
Lorien Revealed was a huge upgrade for Temur Rhinos. Rhinos was the best deck in Modern ahead of Lord of the Rings, but the power of Orcish Bowmasters in Scam was enough to dethrone it.
The Fury ban wasn’t detrimental for Temur Rhinos because it has a naturally strong Yawgmoth matchup. It should have in theory hurt the Hammertime matchup, but Fury was deceptively weak in the matchup. I’m back to playing plenty of Force of Vigor; Urza’s Saga is no joke.
Tishana’s Tidebinder, a recent Ixalan addition, is strong enough to transform the secondary game plan from Mystical Dispute and Murktide Regent to tricky wizards. Mutavault and Flame of Anor are quite powerful. Destroying a creature and drawing two cards is broken.
I enjoy the new Rhinos play style because the opponent is in a conundrum on the third turn of playing around Violent Outburst or Tishana’s Tidebinder. It reminds me of the classic Cryptic Command or Mistbind Clique question Faeries would present each game. Stifle presents plenty of targets when the opponent is quickly under pressure.
Murktide Regent overperformed last time I played Rhinos, but Tidebinder and Flame of Anor compete for three-drop space. The curve is an important consideration in Rhinos given the core game plan is casting Shardless Agent and Violent Outburst.
The Modern format is in a great place at the moment because Tidebinder is able to stifle The One Ring’s protection trigger which prevents control decks from ruling the land. Living End is still a viable strategy which serves to keep Temur Rhinos in check.
2 RAKDOS MIDRANGE (PIONEER)
Pioneer has rewarded archetype dedication and Rakdos Midrange has served me well throughout the year.
4 Bloodtithe Harvester
4 Bonecrusher Giant
3 Graveyard Trespasser
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Power Word Kill
1 Heartless Act
1 Duress
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
1 Abrade
2 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
4 Blightstep Pathway
4 Blood Crypt
4 Haunted Ridge
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Swamp
2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
1 Den of the Bugbear
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
2 Castle Locthwain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Sideboard
1 Reckoner Bankbuster
1 Noxious Grasp
2 Duress
2 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Torch the Tower
3 Hidetsugu Consumes All
2 Go Blank
1 Path of Peril
1 Unlicensed Hearse
1 Languish
Pioneer received a shakeup thanks to Karn, the Great Creator getting banned which is great for Rakdos mages.
Bitter Triumph was a great removal spell in Ixalan that provides answers to planeswalkers without playing sorcery-speed interaction. No longer must I deliberate if Dreadbore makes the cut to respect Teferi while losing percentage against Greasefang.
Smuggler’s Copter was added to a couple decks without it breaking the format in the recent unban announcement. We even received a new way to play Rakdos midrange with Inti, but I prefer the classic approach.
Wilds of Eldraine gave Izzet Phoenix Sleight of Hand to make it a larger player in the metagame. Rakdos is able to handle graveyard strategies when they’re a large presence in the metagame thanks to Go Blank, Unlicensed Hearse, and Graveyard Trespasser.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is my overall MVP for 2023 and I’ll keep playing it when possible. Pioneer is currently my place for a fix.
1 TIVIT, SELLER OF SECRETS (CEDH)
My newest arc is going from 60 card spike to cEDH competitor. I’ve played in four cEDH tournaments; three of them with my favorite commander, Tivit. The games are deep and each card has plenty of political layers to consider.
1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arcane Signet
1 Archivist of Oghma
1 Arid Mesa
1 Beseech the Mirror
1 Blind Obedience
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Chrome Mox
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Counterbalance
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damn
1 Dark Ritual
1 Dauntless Dismantler
1 Dauthi Voidwalker
1 Delay
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dismember
1 Dispel
1 Displacer Kitten
1 Dovin’s Veto
1 Drannith Magistrate
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Esper Sentinel
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Fierce Guardianship
1 Flooded Strand
1 Flusterstorm
1 Force of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Godless Shrine
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Grim Monolith
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Imperial Seal
1 Imposter Mech
1 Jeweled Lotus
1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Confluence
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Vault
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mental Misstep
1 Minamo, School at Water’s Edge
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Morphic Pool
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Opal
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystic Remora
1 Opposition Agent
1 Orcish Bowmasters
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Path to Exile
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Polluted Delta
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Rhystic Study
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Sea of Clouds
1 Sevinne’s Reclamation
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 Silence
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Sol Ring
1 Spell Snare
1 Stubborn Denial
1 Swan Song
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tainted Pact
1 Talion, the Kindly Lord
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Thassa’s Oracle
1 The One Ring
1 Time Sieve
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Urza, Lord High Artificer
1 Urza’s Saga
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Vault of Champions
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Whir of Invention
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wishclaw Talisman
I’ve played Tivit the most because cEDH’s politics makes even the simplest games complex. The two card combo with my commander, Tivit, and Time Sieve creates a straightforward goal.
One of the biggest narratives of 2023 is the emergence of cEDH as a mainstream format. I like to play formats with access to local 1Ks and cEDH is the most reliable format to do this. RIW also hosts cEDH 1Ks and I had a blast playing Tymna/Kraum a few months ago.
CEDH provided an outlet to collect classic cards. I also like to play Japanese cards and cEDH makes collecting a single copy less daunting than a playset.
I’ll also be commentating Eminence’s The Boil 8K on January 27 and 28 with Drake Sasser. That was not on my 2024 Bingo card even a few months ago, but I can’t wait.
2023 was a great year for Magic. Each format received multiple shakeups while still remaining its essence. CEDH broke out as a new competitive format. I expect big things from 2024 beginning with my first tournament broadcast since 2010!
