Modern Horizons, Episode 3: Force of Virtue
White has a long history of getting shafted in cycles. Blue got Ancestral Recall, white got Healing Salve. Blue got Force of Will, white got Scars of the Veteran. Blue got Force of Negation, white got… Force of Virtue? Free spells are always worth a closer look, and the crew thinks this zero-mana Crusade might be sneakily competitive. We discuss potential builds of Mardu Tokens, Esper Skies, and Goat Devotion (no, not greatest of all time, just actual goats).
On the Roundup, Hogaak continues to dominate the winners’ meta in MTGO Premier events. Successful challengers last weekend skewed toward midrange and control, with creature aggro and big mana seemingly pushed out of the format. In the unified Modern League, though, it’s a safari of wild brews. Plus: new cards with potential from Core 2020, and a tournament report from GP Seattle (undefeated on Day 2!).
Meanwhile on the Flashback, Ice-Fang Coatl proved to be a brilliant design: versatile and powerful, but requiring serious concessions to unlock deathtouch. The ninjas were all playable and surprisingly good, with Ingenious Infiltrator seemingly the best option, Mist-Syndicate Naga running second, and Fallen Shinobi the most greedy and least versatile.
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Roundup: Brewer’s Guide to the Hogaak Meta
Mardu Helix: 8-2 leagues, Smiting Helix is the truth.
Lantern Citadel: 6-4 leagues, effective against Hogaak.
Flashback: Ice-Fang Ninja Tempo
BUG “Little” Ninjas: 6-4 leagues, Infiltrator and Seer are good, slow cards (Spellstutter, Snapcaster, Opt) are iffy. Sideboard needs more sweepers.
BUG “Big” Ninjas: 4-1 league, land count is greedy, 4 Shinobi is too many.
UG Obsession: 1-4 league, unplayable, removal is too plentiful and cheap to protect a non-hexproof creature.
Bant Flash: 3-2 league, solid if no one is playing Tron.
Queller Flash: 2-3 league, perfect deck for exhausting midrange slugfests.
Brew Session: Force of Virtue
Sketch 1: Goat Devotion
Sketch 2: Mardu Tokens
Sketch 3: Esper Skies
Sketch 4: Soul Sisters
