Fri, 2 June 2017
New Set on the Block Amonkhet had a pretty good weekend in Modern, across three continents, last week. Amonkhet cards contributed to all of the main macro archetypes: Control, Combo, and Beatdown! Amonkhet Control: Glory-Bound Initiate in EsperAt Grand Prix Kobe, Akio Chiba slotted Glory-Bound Initiate into his creature-poor Esper Control deck, Stonefore Mystic style.
Can't disagree with you there! Chiba played a four Painful Truths deck, where the life gain from Glory-Bound Initiate could be really effective in fueling his main card advantage engine. Glory-Bound Initiate is just that good in Modern! Subtly, exerting Glory-Bound Initiate may not have that much of a downside, as opponents may actively try to trade with it. Amonkhet Combo: Vizier of Remedies in Collected Company decksVizier of Remedies + Devoted Druid is an infinite mana engine. Devoted Druid says "Put a -1/-1 counter on me and I'll untap." Vizier of Remedies says "Go ahead and untap. But Don't worry about the -1/-1 counter, no problem." Once you've got infinite green mana access, the world (or at least your deck) is your oyster. Here are some of the things players did last weekend:
Amonkhet Aggro: Harsh Mentor in BurnMeanwhile back in Baltimore, MD -- USA -- Pro Tour Top 8 competitor Stephen Neal added a Harsh Mentor as his "fifth copy" of Eidolon of the Great Revels. Neal's version was super atypical for Burn (at least since the release of Inspiring Vantage), going up to some fifteen creatures... But still finding room for some unique spell choices. Shard Volley, anyone? What is important for Amonkhet fans is that Harsh Mentor might be Burn's best friend in certain matchups. Of course it makes life harder on the fetchland player, but think about Affinity: Harsh Mentor makes doing stuff like activating an Arcbound Ravager downright dangerous. TLDR: Amonkhet hit Modern hard last weekend; and it hit from Control, Combo, and Beatdown. Obviously more on this story as the format continues to develop. Listen to "Amonkhet in Modern" now for even more decks and details! |