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MTGO Modern 5-0 League Results (03/04/2022)



Full Results

Direct links courtesy of /u/FereMiyJeenyus and their MTGO Results Scraper


Introduction

  • Wizards posts 5-0 League drops every Tuesday and Friday, rain or shine. Holidays are the exception.

  • The criteria of decks showing up is a 20 card difference from other decks, per Wizards. So 20 Jund lists 5-0'ing may result in only one or two Jund lists showing in the dump.

  • Don't take League results as true metagame share, as the above removes the number of results.

  • Naming is best guess. Feel free to correct it in the comments and I will edit it in.

  • I will highlight anything interesting, of course depending on time. Old Favorites will have decks that haven't been showing up in a while or classics, Spicy Decks will have new and unique decks, and Interesting Tech will have existing and meta decks that have some interesting new cards.

  • I primarily save my more opinionated opinions for the bottom.


Old Favorites

  • W CawBlade (Yorion) N: ALERT Squadron Hawk IN MODERN! ALERT! Jokes aside, this is a crazy cool CawBlade list, taking notes from more Modern - natch - variants, and from its past with Mana Tithe and Settle the Wreckage. NEO cards The Wandering Emperor and March of Otherwordly Light join the fun for some instant speed tech. The latter is especially good with Squadron Hawk filling up the hand, and Skyclave Apparition, Settle the Wreckage, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Cloudsteel Kirin as backup.

  • Jeskai Lotus Field Control (Kaheera) N: Seeing this list back quite a lot, and the big upgrade here that returns it to popularity is March of Otherworldly Light; which functions both as early removal and in the worst case, can also get mana dumped into it from Lotus Field to exile creatures like Omnath, Locus of Control. Otawara, Soaring City is also great to turn on the Cryptic Commands even through an opposing Teferi, Time Reveler.

  • Dredge: Now this is interesting! A way older style build of Dredge; we haven't really seen to many Life from the Loam Dredge decks in a while; Dredging Loam to fill up the hand for Conflagarate as a way to get the last few bits of damage. There is also a three-of Lightning Axe in the side; which used to be a Dredge staple so it's cool to see it back. Willow Geist is some new tech to attack on a different axis - growing on Dredge or Prizaed Amalgam triggers, for example.

  • 5c Humans N: Welcome back, Humans pilots! The printing of Secluded Courtyard is a somewhat better Ancient Ziggurat. I've definitely had to ship hands that had Ziggie and Aether Vial in 5c Humans, which feels real bad. Four copies of Secluded Courtyard means there only needs to be a single Ancient Ziggurat instead of four; which is a huge reduction in the number of 'can't Vial' hands. Imperial Recruiter in MH2 was basically made for Humans (and D&T and KikiChord) and it gives room for some really, really good silver bullets like Tourach, Dread Cantor, Magus of the Moon, and Kataki, War's Wage.

  • 5c Slivers N: Let's gooooo! We've seen Faeries, but it's time for another old tribe to have some spotlight! While Slivers didn't get Crystaline Sliver in MH2, they at least got Secluded Courtyard in NEO which has some advantages as I mentioned above. Otherwise, with the removal narrowing, any deck that can toss out a wide board can outspeed the decks holding up one-for-one removal and trying to buy time. Cloudshredder Sliver, Dregscape Sliver, and Lavabelly Sliver - the MH1 Slivers - gave the deck some really powerful new effects in addition to the lords that already existed in Modern. Realmwalker and Unsettled Mariner may be changelings but they add a way to play the top of the deck from an empty board, and extremely good interaction against evoke Elementals. Especially with the 'vial in Mariner in response to cast' trick to blow out!

  • GR Karnza N: Ponza continuing to show up! Bloodbraid Elf into Magus of the Moon off the Utopia Sprawl + Arbor Elf combo? Be still my heart. Wrenn & Six was already a great include to the GR Midrange archetype, as it always wants to hit it's land drops. But the addition of Boseiju, Who Endures can't be understated. Ponza has struggled with Hammer and other fast deck that utilize Urza's Saga, so having Boseiju, Who Endures recurred to buy time to slam the Magus of the Moon is good; however, there is a bit of tension there with Boseiju giving the opponent a land.

  • R Prowess: It's classic R Prowess! The only addition to the standard creature Bedlam Reveler, Monastery Swiftspear, and Soul-Scar Mage package is four copies of Dragon's Rage Channeler. Pitching over instants and sorceries to cost reduce the Bedlam Reveler is actually kind of critical - I'm sure pilots of R Prowess can tell you about all the times they were one mana short of casting Bedlam Reveler! Reckless Impulse as copies 5-6 of Light up the Stage is cool too; adding a lot more redundancy to the chance of impulse drawing for a big swing the next turn is exactly what Prowess wants. Of note is that this is a cheap deck - R Prowess is commonly recommended as a starter deck, and trimming the fetchlands here gets it down to $200 for a good and fun deck!


Spicy Decks

  • RW Prowess (Lurrus): No, it's not the list you are thinking of! This is the pure combo variation that floated around STX/pre-MH2, utilizing the new STW Magecraft creatures Clever Lumimancer and Leonin Lightscribe in addition to Prowess mainstays Monastery Swiftspear and the rarely seen Nivmagus Elemental. Rather then the more interactive gameplan of its UR cousin, RW plays tons of cheap spells to simply buff the board like Assault Strobe, and more notably Ground Rift; which when combined with Magecraft, can make Clever Lumimancer enormous, opening up possible T2 kills with free spells into Assault Strobe into 3-4 Storm Count Ground Rift. Against decks fetching Triomes, it becomes 'do you have the Solitude, or do I win?'.

  • GR Wish TitanShift N: We saw old Titanshift on Tuesday, now it's time for new Titanshift. Playing the four-of Dryad of the Ilysian Grove for a more reliable way to turn on Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is a great move, but surprisingly there are only three in the main... Because there is a playset of Wish! The sideboard contains not only a wishboard of answers like Alpine Moon and Pithing Needle, but also combo pieces like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Prismatic Omen, and Scapeshift! A cool way to play around Surgical Extraction effects and to have the ability to find exactly the right piece needed, at will. Wrenn & Six offers ways to ping down Monkey and continue to make land drops; critical in a deck where the primary win condition is well, lands.

  • GR Liquimetal Karzna N: Some interesting changes in the Karnza lists; the past few dumps have seen the Saga variant more than the regular Liquimetal variant; but the mana can get quite tight in any deck playing Urza's Saga, so going pure GR does make sense. Seasoned Pyromancer is the best midrange card advantage card for these GR decks; but it's even better when you can discard Ancient Grudge! This deck is playing the full playset of those to combo with both the Liquimetal Coating and Liquimetal Torque, offering nearly unconditional removal when the combo is on line, and with four Boseiju, Who Endures that can be picked up with Wrenn & Six, there's a lot of recurrable artifact removal, which even without the Liquimetal effects are strong in the current meta.

  • Esper Smallpox Reanimator: Well, it turns out getting Archon of Cruelty and Unburial Rites into the yard is really good in a Reanimator deck. Liliana of the Veil and Smallpox offer symmetrical effects that benefit Reanimator; as both are great at slowing down the game! Smallpox especially is strong with how land light all the low to the ground a lot of the meta decks are. Otherwise it's very similar to the more common Ephemerate decks - Unmarked Grave or Faithful Mending offer ways to get Reanimator targets or filter and gain life. Of special note is Smallpox classic Lingering Souls in the side!

  • UB Control (Lurrus) N: Why hello! You say Esper pilots keep trying to make it work, I say UB pilots keep trying to make it work, we are not the same. A really interaction heavy build, featuring just Snapcaster Mage and Hall of the Storm Giants to clock, but with both Lurrus of the Dream Den and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire to pick back up Snapcaster Mages, it definitely seems workable. Dress Down is also replayable with Lurrus, and it just feels like an absolute house against the format, extremely strong against Amulet Titan and the various flavors of Hammer. Otawara, Soaring City is of course here, as it should be in any deck packing counterspells. The most interesting include to me is the Tyrant's Scorn - the modality looks great to pick back up Snaps or against all the low MV creatures.

  • Jund Cat Oven Saga (Lurrus) N: The newest artifact deck makes another dump; Experimental Synthesizer and Oni-Cult Anvil add tremendous redundancy to Cat Oven, and the Ravenous Squirrel from MH2 adds redundancy to the prior only great payoff of Disciple of the Vault; overall, between the three cards listed, low to the ground artifact decks finally have a reason to not just be U/UW! Of course, any deck playing Urza's Saga gets to utilize Springleaf Drum to make up for the Saga biting the dust, and Galvanic Blast and Shrapnel Blast are no joke, especially in a format with so much Death's Shadow and painful 4c manabases. Otherwise the usual sideboard for a deck playing Lurrus and Jund; Alpine Moon, Soul-Guide Lantern, etc. Den of the Bugbear is a cool hedge against decks packing removal or artifact hate!

  • B Coffers Control N: Trellon gets another Trophy with the Coffers list - if anything, this deck might finally have legs. Pilots really have been trying to make Cabal Coffers work since last summer, and the printing of Invoke Despair and March of Wretched Sorrow might finally be what the deck needed to be more than a meme. Of course, even in Mono B there are board wipes like Damnation to buy time, and if you kinda squint a bit, it's kind like the breakdown of a UW Control list. There are 12 instants/sorceries for interaction, removal, etc. Three board wipes. Three creatures for both interaction and clock. Four Spreading Seas... I mean Lithoform Blight. And some card advantage with Expedition Map and Mind Stone! Weirdly enough, it's like looking in a mirror. An included Boseiju, Who Shelters All for the control mirrors, as well!

  • Bant Control (Yorion) N N: Has Bant made it? WotC seems to think so with the upcoming Bant triome, and so does Aspiring Spike, who has been enjoying the card March of Otherworldly Light, which paraphrasing his words, "offers enough removal to make Bant Yorion work." Copies of 5-8 of pseudo Prismatic Ending - better in some cases, worse in others - gives the 80 card deck enough interaction to buy time to pull ahead. It's also a deck that is drowning in card advantage, so four copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor help fix flooding issues and also just buy time with the bounce effects. Otherwise, it's a pretty standard 'control' shell with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria as a wincon and card advantage engine, Supreme Verdicts, Otawara, Soaring City to bounce the opposing Teferi, Time Reveler

  • BW FlickerBlade N: Well what is this! BW Griefblade returning to it's roots with some original flicker targets like Blade Splicer, Charming Prince, and Shriekmaw? What a list, I'm in love. The evoke elementals that made GriefBlade a deck are still here - Solitude and Grief, but the new NEO cards are honestly what I keep seeing as the big upgardes to the archetype. Blade of the Oni and Lion Sash being both creatures and equipment opens up so many interesting lines - fetchable with Stoneforge Mystic, flickerable with Touch the Spirit Realm or Ephemerate around Edict effects, the list goes one - and offer main deck threats and graveyard hate. NEO really gave this archetype some serious legs, and I can't help but think this isn't even the final list! Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire are both basically free, and great things to dump mana into!

  • 5c Humans (Yorion) N: Big Humans! When you've got Imperial Recuiter to find anything you need, in 80 cards you can fit lots of one-ofs like Deputy of Detention, Phantasmal Image, and Tourach, Dread Cantor to answer whatever you need. The most interesting part here is that in addition to the rainbow lands, going to 80 cards actually makes room for Shadowspear + Urza's Saga to offer some lifelink - and finding Vials + making Karnstructs; and four Solitude to shore up some of those faster matchups!

  • UW Flicker Control (Yorion): A week of some old school decks, and I love it. This is a blast from the actual past - while we do have some newer cards like Teferi, Time Raveler, The Wandering Emperor, and Solitude; it reminds me of the some older UW lists because we've got Restoration Angel and Wall of Omens, and of all things, Sun Titan!? And, for even more spice, we've got Phantasmal Image to target those creatures and gain some card advantage, or you know, target a Primeval Titan for giggles. Otherwise we've new UWx standard interaction with Prismatic Ending and Supreme Verdict, surprisingly no Counterspell but there is March of Otherworldly Light. UW Spell lands are here, of course: Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City, and a wild Heliod's Intervention in the side for the Saga matchups!

  • Uw Death & Taxes (Yorion) N: The slightest little dip into U for The Reality Chip, taking a note from the popular UW Hammer lists; It does seem like a non-zero cost, as adding Adarkar Wastes as a painland isn't nothing. Otherwise, the U producing lands - Hallowed Fountain, Hengegate Pathway - enable some good sideboard tech like Lavinia, Azorius Renegade and Meddling Mage, again taking notes from the UW package.


Interesting Tech

  • Jund: Choke in the side? With the prevalence of 4c and other U decks, it feels like a a great include that will surprise the hell out of a lot of pilots; as Choke hasn't seen much play since the bad ol' days of Uro meta.

  • UR Murktide N: A cool list that is a middle ground between UR Blue Moon and the more traditional UR Murktide lists; ditching Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragon's Rage Channeler for a way heavier control shell looking to slam both a big Murktide Regent and to ambush viper and replay spells with Snapcaster Mage! Again, any U deck playing counters is also going to include a single Otawara, Soaring City - A fantastic nerf to the overwhelming strength Teferi, Time Reveler had against control decks.

  • BR Undying N: Ditching the Liliana of the Veils that have been in the archetype, keeping the Blood Moons, but adding new NEO card Hidetsugu Consumes All? Really cool - and something very interesting, is that to my understanding, Undying Eviling Vessel of the All-Conuming will return it back as Hidetsugu Consumes All! Repeatable board wipe against a meta that likes MV 0 and MV 1 threats feels pretty gas! Sideboard Magus of the Moon to hate on Amulet Titan players playing four Boseiju, Who Endures, as well.

  • BW Hammer (Lurrus) N: Of all the things I expected in Hammer, Bitterblossom was not one of them. But equipping a Faerie Token with Shadowspear isn't a bad play at all. Of note is the March of Otherworldly Light for the mirror and other Urza's Saga decks! other Urza's Saga decks!

  • Gwb Elves: Our Green friends continue to show up with a similar list to the past few weeks; the slight dip for the infinite Vizier of Remedies and Grist, Hunger Tide seems to be working out! Of note here is the sideboard - Leyline of Vitality is no joke, but adding W also makes room for Rest in Peace!

  • U 8 Cast N: It's not the first time we've seen the The Antiquities War; but as a way to both refill the hand over two turns, and to turn Darksteel Citadels and Moonsnare Prototypes into threats it's incredible. Especially given how vulnerable Affinity/Artifact lists are to board wipes or just stalling, making 5/5s out of every rock and some indestructible lands is a great way to turn a game around!

  • 4c Creativity N: Nahiri, the Harbinger as a second way to spin into Archon of Cruelty in addition to offering some board stabilization is a bit rare; She's shown up a few times, but not in the recent dumps. Otherwise a pretty standard list, including Jace the Mind Sculptor to toss back creatures into the deck.

  • Amulet Titan N: It's always interesting to see what former Trophy record holder yPrincipe does; there's pretty commonly some interesting decisions in their decks. Here, we can see the usual Boseiju, Who Endures in Titan, but going all in on both Dismember for all the Magus of the Moon and a full playset of Tireless Tracker? That's quite an interesting sideboard!

  • Living End N: Of note, the current experimentation of what number of Colossal Skyturtle and Otawara, Soaring City to put in the deck continues; here we have a 2-2 split between them, which might just be ideal? Pilots, thoughts? Of special note - and I forgot recently - is that the Colossal Skyturtle has Ward 2. That's a buried line of text just like Tourach Dread Cantor's Pro White.

Key New Cards


  1. Who all saw March of Otherworldly light as such a big include? It's seen more play than I thought, that's for sure. In a local this weekend, I found it incredible as mainboard hate against Amulet and Hammer!


 

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