Table of Contents
It's been a while since the banning of Underworld Breach, so Modern has been enjoying a diverse and healthy metagame for a few months already. Now that the Modern RCQ season is here, it's time to take a look at which decks have been performing the best.
Check out what you’re likely to face in your next event so you can prepare your deck of choice accordingly.
Tier List
| Tier | Deck | Meta Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Boros Energy | 15.4% 🔽 |
| Izzet Prowess | 9.7% 🆕 | |
| Eldrazi Ramp | 8.7% 🔼 | |
| Tier 2 | Dimir Frog | 6.4% 🔽 |
| Orzhov Blink | 4.4% 🔼 | |
| Domain Zoo | 4.4% 🔼 | |
| Amulet Titan | 4.0% 🔼 | |
| Tier 3 | Jeskai Ascendancy | 3.0% 🆕 |
| Landless Belcher | 2.9% 🔽 | |
| Ruby Storm | 2.9% 🔽 | |
| Broodscale Bloodchief | 2.6% 🔼 | |
| Eldrazi Tron | 2.4% 🔼 | |
| Affinity | 2.1% 🔼 | |
| Living End | 1.9% 🔼 | |
| Neoform | 1.9% 🔼 |
Meta Overview
With spg-9-underworld-breach out of the picture, Boros Energy resumes being the deck to beat in Modern. The devs pointed out in the B&R announcement that they'll be looking at how the archetype does in the aftermath to see whether there's healthy counterplay against it. So far, Boros Energy isn't as oppressive as it used to be and there are plenty of competitive decks to combat it.
One such feisty up-and-comer is Izzet Prowess, fresh off its Standard success and now looking to sow mayhem in other formats. It's having an impressive run, now managing to be the next most played deck in Modern. It's a lot faster here and we'll have to see whether it can prove to be the better aggro deck in the future.
Eldrazi Ramp rounds out the top tier of decks being represented the most in recent leagues and events, showing that green is an actual color at least in Modern. Other Eldrazi and ramp strats exist in the format but it's clear that the reliable ramp of the mono-green, non-Urza land version is the most consistent in performance.
Dimir Oculus, or Dimir Frog as it's now more appropriately called, has dropped in meta share the most since the previous report. It now joins Orzhov Blink and Amulet Titan in the next tier, alongside the rising Domain Zoo.
There are a lot of combo decks hanging around in the Tier 3, which showcases the diversity and the range of what's viable in this amazing format.
Tier 1
Boros Energy
Boros Energy is back at the top of the Modern format, unsurprisingly. mh3-29-guide-of-souls and mh3-122-galvanic-discharge enable fast starts that hit hard if unopposed. Couple that with efficient removal for, well, everything, along with built-in card advantage and it's hard to justify picking another deck if you want to go aggro (well, until the next deck came along).
The deck has been basically optimized for a while, with tdm-33-voice-of-victory from Tarkir: Dragonstorm fitting right in with tokens for bombardment. tdm-5-clarion-conqueror in the sideboard is an interesting pick to put a wrench in combo engines long enough for you to win.
Here's a 9-1 deck that won a 94-player event:
Izzet Prowess
Yes, Izzet Prowess has made its way to Modern, too, quickly becoming the second most played deck in the format soon after players figured out how ridiculous tdm-103-cori-steel-cutter is. The curve is even lower here: no cards cost more than two in the entire 75 and there are plenty of free spells that make playing with the bare minimum of lands more than sufficient.
Tapping out against this aggro-combo deck is scary since all the cheap spells topped off by dsk-164-violent-urge can swing for lethal from even an empty board. It does well in grindy matchups, too. stx-186-expressive-iteration in particular lets the deck keep gaining cards in the face of targeted removal.
This streamlined list won a 146-player Showdown:
Eldrazi Ramp
Ending a game with sld-1160-emrakul-the-promised-end is always satisfying and worth ramping into. There are several ways of accomplishing this, including using Tron lands, but the best performing Eldrazi lists for a while now pack mh3-161-malevolent-rumble, plst-DIS-99-utopia-sprawl, and blc-287-talisman-of-impulse to ramp consistently.
Combined with double-mana-producing Eldrazi lands, it takes little time to unleash colossal threats on the board while you wreck the opponent's manabase with mh3-170-sowing-mycospawn. This choice of ramping method makes it less susceptible to land disruption that's common in most sideboards. mh3-11-kozileks-command is a notably versatile tool that's great to cast at any point in the game.
Tuned against aggro matchups, this list went 9-1 to win a 108-player event:
Tier 2
Dimir Frog
mh3-199-psychic-frog has thoroughly supplanted dsk-42-abhorrent-oculus in this tempo/midrange blue-black shell. Rather than using the frog to discard the eye and unearth it, most have been stockpiling on interaction with what the opponent's doing, so it's more of a control deck now.
Dimir Frog is packed with counters, removal, and even hand disruption, so it's a good choice if you want to say no to some OP thing your opp's cooking. However, it's a bit lacking in card draw aside from the frog itself and dsk-220-kaito-bane-of-nightmares so it can occasionally stumble or run out of answers.
The winner of a 271-player RCQ went 10-1-1 with this list:
Orzhov Blink
Blinking creatures with desirable ETB effects has been the bread and butter of Death and Taxes decks. Its latest iterations in Modern feature the horrific dsk-391-overlord-of-the-balemurk, which just oozes value if blinked: you get two extra creature cards and a big body for cheap.
Among the decks listed thus far, this archetype has the most variance and can be built in several ways. Some versions run prm-102329-aether-vial along with lots of creatures, while others utilize dft-209-ketramose-the-new-dawn and md1-21-relic-of-progenitus for a more controlling approach.
Some run neither, like this 9-1 deck in a 94-player event:
Domain Zoo
Cheap, large creatures backed by burn and counters is Zoo's entire plan. Achieving full domain enables some absurdly undercosted 5-power monsters, and you can do so before the game starts with mkm-217-leyline-of-the-guildpact. This also lets mh2-234-scion-of-draco rampage at full power and powers up dmu-24-leyline-binding and inv-176-tribal-flames, too.
The deck is already solved for the most part, with a few differences in card numbers and maybe a few cards making the cut such as mkm-13-doorkeeper-thrull. Some Modern decks won't be able to do much against its good draws, but some draws can be awkward, such as getting too few creatures or lacking a few basic land types without the Guildpact in play.
This same list also placed 2nd in the big SCG Con Hartford RCQ:
Amulet Titan
Perhaps the most complex and hardest to master deck in the format, Amulet Titan is very powerful in the hands of an experienced pilot. This also explains why it’s not as popular as other archetypes though it's a mainstay of the format.
lcc-103-amulet-of-vigor and lci-213-spelunking gets you full value from everything that brings lands into play tapped. There's almost always an intricate combo the deck pulls off once it grabs enough lands and key pieces, such as looping mkm-148-aftermath-analyst and mh3-228-shifting-woodland.
Tier 3
Jeskai Ascendancy
Landless Belcher
Ruby Storm
Broodscale Bloodchief
Eldrazi Tron
Affinity
Living End
Neoform
Final Thoughts
In such a deep and diverse format, it’s way more important for players to be able to understand and play their deck effectively. There are plenty of tools available to adapt your weapon of choice for your perceived metagame.
It’s pretty exciting to see the innovations and hopefully new archetypes that spring up during the Regional Championship Qualifier Season. We’ll be back for another meta report as the season progresses.