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By: Procrastination, Christopher Giovannagelo
Jul 15 2013 5:24am
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Welcome to the first edition of The Modern Perspective! It seems like Pauper, Draft and Standard always have a lot of articles devoted to them. Modern, being such a new and somewhat...polarizing...format often doesn't. While there are some stalwart writers out there trying to give Modern a boost, I want do my part in stirring up some interest!

A Quick Introduction 
I’ve been playing Magic since about a month or two before Ice Age was released. I took short breaks, skipping a block here or there, acquiring new cards to add to my old decks whenever I saw something interesting. Sometime between Invasion and Odyssey some of my college friends discovered the game and in no time at all we were buying up all the IPA packs we could find to draft. Judgment was my first official pre-release and in 2003 States was my first large constructed tournament.

So what kind of credentials do I have as a wacky brewer? Just
 this. It’s about ¾ of the way down. The deck you're looking for is Waking Walls. That’s right, Walls. The early 2000's were crazy in all sorts of ways.

On to our first deck! 

Conversations with Dead People 
A friend of mine had a Séance deck in Standard and was curious what could be done with it in the much larger card pool of Modern. For those who haven’t really paid much attention to the card, Séance works best with creatures possessing Enters the Battlefield triggers (Sun Titan was one of the best targets while he was legal).
I currently have a casual standard build that includes the Laboratory Maniac/Mirror-Mad Phantasm combo as well as an Angel of Glory's Rise/mass human reanimation theme. I like using Séance on the angel and getting back multiple creatures that all trigger an ability. Often just flooding the board with some solid humans is enough to win the game in a turn or two. Also, around the time I was starting to brainstorm ideas, Immortal Servitude was printed. Another mass reanimation spell increased the odds of drawing into the effect, while the ‘with X converted mana cost’ was a slight restriction to work with. Using this as my starting point, I did a quick search on humans with ETB abilities and 2cmc.

That was when I found this card:

Halimar Excavator

This got the ideas flowing!


The Ally cards from Zendikar block are all about entering the battlefield. Plus, the more of them that come into play, the more triggers that keep going off! Most of the 2cc Allies are commons and uncommons, so the creature base of the deck is cheap. I was able to pick most of them up from MTGOtraders Pennybot for even more savings. If you want a lot of bang for your brewing buck, you can find some great cards to work with there, so be sure to peek in on it from time to time.

After various tweaks and builds, as well as the addition of cards printed in Dragon’s Maze, this is the version I am currently running:


How does it work?
You are going to mill yourself as quickly as possible. There are two scenarios you are aiming for:

1) A graveyard full of as many 2cc creatures as possible and then casting Immortal Servitude on X=2 to bring them all into play. Shenanigans ensue.
2) A graveyard full of as many humans as possible, an Angel of Glory's Rise and an Unburial Rites. Cast the Rites on the Angel (casting Entering will do in a pinch) to bring all of the humans back into play. Shenanigans ensue.

The end result of either of these is hopefully a combination of milling out the opponent in one shot, swinging for 20+ damage with hasty Battlesingers, gaining so much life your opponent can no longer race you or all 3 in a way that lets you win over the next few turns. Here is a good example:

  

Breaking down the deck

halimar excavator akoum battlesinger ondu cleric Kazandu blademaster

Halimar Excavator: The glue that holds it all together. Mill yourself to fill up the graveyard then once you get a reanimation burst, proceed to mill out the opponent’s entire deck. The 1/3 body can hold off smaller creatures and it is Pyroclasm proof, so it’s not totally embarrassing to play onto the field. If the first reanimation burst isn’t particularly large (sometimes you “only” put 15 triggers on the stack) don’t be afraid to toss 20-30 more cards into your own yard if it gives you the ability to win the next turn with a larger burst. There is very little reason to aim a non-lethal mill volley at your opponent. Depending on the deck, leaving the opponent with more than 2 or 3 turns is probably asking to lose even if you did put a bunch of Allies into play.
In a rare mix of mechanics and flavor, the single greatest threat to Halimar Excavator’s gameplan is the presence of the three Eldrazi progenitors in a deck.

Akoum Battlesinger: The other “instant kill” in the deck. With enough triggers, a few Battlesingers plus some other allies already out on the board can deliver a huge chunk of damage to your opponent. Swinging for 14+ is reasonable and I had one lucky game where I would have dealt 120+ damage. These plus a few Faithless Looting were originally the only reason I had Red in the deck; Battlesinger is still worth it.

Ondu Cleric: The only non-human Ally to make the cut. The life gain is great against aggressive decks and if you get off even a medium size burst you could gain anywhere between 5-20 life; larger bursts are often in the 40-60 range. That alone can earn you the concession. Being a Kor is problematic, especially when you are lucky enough to get the Angel/Rites combo in the yard but 3 Clerics are the only allies in there with them. If I was playing this deck with a sideboard, I would only main deck two Ondu and bring the others in when needed.

Kazandu Blademaster: Possibly the best stand-alone ally in a vacuum, being a 2cc Human Ally is enough to make the cut in this deck. First Strike plus Vigilance can let him hold the ground against smaller aggressive decks while still getting in a few points here and there. Those extra points could make the difference if it comes to winning via damage with Battlesinger triggers. Growing to 4/4 or higher makes it a legitimate threat all on its own in Modern. Originally there was more of a White focus in the deck so the double W casting cost wasn’t so hard to hit. Now with the addition of more Black and Red spells, these could be exchanged for some combination of Bojuka Brigand or Highland Berserker.

Angel of Glory's Rise Phantasmal Image

Angel of Glory's Rise: The key to mass human reanimation. Almost never cast from hand, she is there to enable “the big turn”. I included two of them to increase the odds of milling it into the yard. 

Phantasmal Image: The “wild card”. This was here to be Halimar/Akoum number five to push whichever win condition was happening over the edge. Not being an Ally or a human often just stranded it in the graveyard. While previously the Image could also deal with problematic Legends like Elesh Norn or Melira, with the M14 Legend Rule change, this use has been blunted. Overall, I think including the Image was just a prime example of “the danger of cool things”. I would have been much better off adding more consistency to my deck as opposed to randomly hoping for a huge payoff.

Unburial Rites Immortal Servitude

Unburial Rites: Arguably the best reanimation spell in Modern. (Poor Dread Return, sitting in the banned zone, confused, alone, but secretly smug.) Great if you can get it in the yard although sometimes it will be cast directly from hand. Outside of the Angel, the other individual targets won’t appear useful unless you already have a bunch of Allies on the board, but this doesn’t make them worthless. You might flashback the Rites on an Ondu Cleric after the Angel pulled all of the humans out of the yard the turn before or bring a Battlesinger out for another swing. Situations can crop up, so pay attention to the board state and look for targets other than just the Angel. 

Immortal Servitude: Mass reanimation, minor restriction. Servitude grabs every ally in the yard, regardless of race. The 5 mana required to cast for X=2 feels like an eternity sometimes in Modern, but it happens. Since it also grabs Ondu Cleric and Phantasmal Image, this card usually leads to more triggers on the stack then the Angel plan does. 

Breaking/Entering Thirst for Knowledge Izzet Charm

Breaking/Entering: Another new addition since Dragon’s Maze, Breaking is the poor man’s Glimpse the Unthinkable. While this mills 2 less cards, it does have an advantage that Glimpse doesn’t; it has a whole other spell attached to it! At 6 mana, Entering isn’t ideal, but having redundancy of reanimation spells is very nice when it does come up. Plus, it grants Haste and isn’t limited to just your graveyard, so the potential for grave stealing hijinks abound.
Before Dragon’s Maze, this spot was held by Hedron Crab. The crab has the potential to mill more cards over time, but Breaking is certain to hit 8 and Entering can kick off your combo. I think the choice could go either way; it’s possible that Crab AND Breaking together is the correct choice?

Thirst For Knowledge: Digs three cards deep and lets you pitch any Angels or Rites stuck in hand into the yard. Also only requires 1 U in the cost, which is very nice in a color hungry deck such as this. Unfortunately, there are no artifacts to pitch, so you will always discard 2 cards. This is the price to pay to dig deep quickly.

Izzet Charm: In earlier versions of the deck I really wanted another draw then discard spell. I also really wanted any kind of removal. Plus I wouldn’t have argued with a limited counter spell capability. Behold Izzet Charm, the swiss army knife of my dreams. It’s embarrassing that it took me several variations of the deck before I remembered this card. It can be tough on the mana to cast this on Turn 2, but it does happen. While the damage and countering aren’t optimal, picking off a Deathrite Shaman or countering Scapeshift always feels good.

Gifts Ungiven

Gifts Ungiven: This is a recent addition; I’m honestly not sure if I like it. While I can use it in traditional “Modern Mode” (grab Unburial Rites and Creature of Choice; pitch them both into the yard) I don’t have many other compelling Gifts piles to present my opponent with. I think the best 4 pile I’ve put together was Unburial Rites - Immortal Servitude - Izzet Charm - Breaking/Entering when I was already on 6 mana and an Angel was in the yard. I’d be interested hearing other opinions on this in the comments! 

Séance: I think I have been leaving one in just for the sake of still having it in the deck. While certainly slower than either of the other two options, sometimes being able to get a creature each turn lets you chain Ally triggers into each other. When I still had Hedron Crab in the deck, I could call down a crab soul then drop a land in the hopes of milling more good targets into the yard. 

Hallowed Fountain Steam Vents Watery Grave Sacred Foundry
Blood Crypt Scalding Tarn Marsh Flats Arid Mesa

I know what you’re thinking – “Nice semi-budget deck loaded up with Fetch lands and Shock Lands”. True, the mana base for this particular deck is certainly not cheap, but acquiring a better mana base gives you so much more flexibility as a deck builder…and now might be the best time to pick up Shock Lands. (I plan on keeping track of that starting with my next article!) Don’t worry, I’m not going to throw 8+ fetches at you every deck. Besides, look how silly this deck is – I’m not casting mean ol’ Tarmogoyf or Geist of Saint Traft. Nope, I’m cracking fetches to cast Breaking…on myself. 

Darkslick Shores Seachrome Coast

The Scars of Mirrodin "fast lands" are still very good when you want to have your colors early. They are also relatively inexpensive for budget minded players that wants to play two or more color decks.

Desolate Lighthouse

Desolate Lighthouse: As the only colorless land in the deck, the Lighthouse is sometimes the last, best chance of setting up your big combo turn. The effect is a little expensive, but I can’t stress enough how important being able to discard an Angel or Rites can be. 

The deck in action: 
Since this is my first article, and I haven't found a good recording program yet, I won't be showing you any videos of the deck in action. What I do have is screens shots of my highest stack count: 

 Version 4 of MTGO - AKA Shiny - does have an 'Items on the Stack" counter. The challenge will be to see just how high it can go while normally winning the game.

Where does it go from here?
There are three directions I’d see taking the deck in:

1) Focus more on humans and really streamline the deck to make the most powerful Angel/Rites results possible. The downside to this plan is that having a single creature target already makes you vulnerable to Deathrite Shaman. With Scavenging Ooze right around the corner, this seems like an extremely weak way to go.
2) Focus on the 2cc creature plan and go up to the full 4 copies of Immortal Servitude. You could stick to the Ally theme or use other creatures such as Blood Artist to construct different types of combos. (Some testing could lead to a strong 1cc plan as well.) This lets you put a lot more targets in the yard in the hopes of overwhelming an active Deathrite Shaman or Scavenging Ooze. On the other hand, if you can’t pull out the win quickly, well, that Ooze IS going to eat you.
3) Actually go back to focusing on Séance and see just how grindy of a deck one can make using Eternal Witness and Sun Titan recursion.

These are just the tip of the iceberg! Could I incorporate more Dredge? Could Narcomoeba be of some use? There are a lot of possibilities to explore. Of course, as pointed out above, there is potent graveyard hate in Modern and it does see play. After the results of GP Kansas City (both decks in the finals used the graveyard as a resource) I don’t see people taking it out of their sideboards anytime soon. Keep that in mind if you decide to work with any graveyard based ideas in the future.

The Final say on our fallen friends:
Racing to raise a bunch of Allies out of the yard and throwing a bunch of triggers onto the stack is actually a lot of fun. The deck is my go to when I just want to play some Modern in the casual rooms. I could see it surprising an unexpected FNM here and there. At the very least, the first game you go off, you will be the talk of the store. I hope this deck has shown you that there are some interesting ideas to explore in Modern when you start looking outside of the Tier 1 and 2 decks

This brings us to the end of my first article! Any constructive feedback is appreciated plus I’d love to hear what some of you would do differently with the Ally deck. Next time I'm going to look at a deck that is much easier on the budget and start monitoring the price of "real estate" in the Modern market.

Until next time
- Chris -  aka  Procrastination on MTGO

 

2 Comments

This is a pretty cool deck, I by kelvinmai at Mon, 07/15/2013 - 14:09
kelvinmai's picture
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This is a pretty cool deck, I love it. :D

Thank you! by Procrastination at Mon, 07/15/2013 - 22:17
Procrastination's picture

Hey, thanks for replying. It has Immortal Servitude, how could you not like it?! I can't wait to see what your next Modern brews might be.