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2 Ways To Update Mardu Pyromancer

GERRY THOMPSON
8/31/18

#Premium #Modern

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ORGANIZED PLAY

It's been a while since Mardu Pyromancer posted a fantastic result and it's easy to see why. Modern is
ever-changing and the Mardu pilots haven't adapted along with it. New threats like U/W Control, R/B
Vengevine, and Hardened Scales Affinity attack from different angles than what Mardu is used to.
THIS WEEK NEXT WEEK +
It's time for a change.
THIS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
First though, some hot Modern takes.
IQ Bernardsville, NJ - Bearded Dragon Games
1) Humans is the New Splinter Twin IQ Cannington, AUS - Good Games
IQ Danbury, CT - Gamer's Gambit
Whether or not Humans is the best deck will vary, but it will always be viable and it's become the litmus IQ Durham, NC - Atomic Empire
test for the format. It also happens to be the scourge of many different combo decks, thanks to its clock IQ Huntsville, TX - Gamers Grove
and suite of disruption. IQ Woodbridge, VA - Guild Gaming

It might not the Splinter Twin you wanted, but it's what you've got. THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

2) U/W "Control" is Actually a Prison Deck IQ+ New Holland, PA - Six Feet Under Games
IQ Newington, CT - Tabletop Gaming Center
I'm critical of control decks. They tend to win at a higher clip when the competition isn't as stiff, and IQ Sydney, AUS - Good Games
that's typically because of the higher power level of your cards like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Cryptic
Command, or Torrential Gearhulk. Your cards can carry you when your opponents aren't playing Complete SCG Tour ® Schedule | Coverage Archive
properly against you or perhaps giving you more time than you'd have against someone who was truly
gifted. Basically, if you plan on playing control at a Grand Prix, you're saying "I hope I don't play against
anyone good."

Control is an archetype that rarely dominates at the Pro Tour level, and it's because people generally
have an inflated view of their matchup percentages because of it. I typically overcompensate for this
bias and think control is worse than it is. Then again, I rarely lose to control, so it's difficult for me to ever
1 CALEB W SCHERER 206
believe those decks are capable of winning tournaments against strong competition. 2 BENJAMIN NIKOLICH 182
3 AUSTIN COLLINS 175
Building a control deck in Modern is especially difficult because of how many different decks and
4 JONATHAN ROSUM 154
strategies you need to account for. Jeskai's plan of switching to Snapcaster Mage beatdown isn't a great 5 BRENNAN M DECANDIO 145
one. U/W Control's plan of playing as many four-mana cards as possible is also sketchy. 6 ZAN SYED 142
7 TODD STEVENS 138
U/W Control, especially the Terminus version, isn't a normal control deck. All it's trying to do is set up a 8 PAUL MULLER 133
game state that's unwinnable for your opponent. With Teferi, Jace, and Search for Azcanta, you have 9 JIM I DAVIS 126
enough fundamental lock pieces. Terminus, even though it's high variance, is completely fine. Either you 10 ROSS MERRIAM 123
11 JULIAN JOHN 122
miracle it early and it's great, or you use Timely Reinforcements to buy time until you can miracle it with 12 TANNON GRACE 118
the help of a Jace Brainstorm. 13 DYLAN DONEGAN 117
14 JOHN WHETSTONE 115
This isn't a control deck, at least not in the traditional sense, and people need to stop building it like it is. 15 DRAKE SASSER 113
16 DYLAN HAND 109
The Problems With Mardu
DECKLISTS
Over the last few months, many shifts have occurred in Modern. Humans is still a large part of the STANDARD MODERN LEGACY
metagame, but they're a little better against Mardu because of Militia Bugler. U/W Control has mostly
overtaken Jeskai Control, which is a significantly tougher matchup due to how many planeswalkers they 9/01 Grand Prix Richmond, US
8/26 Invi Qualifier Oswego, US
have in lieu of crappy burn spells. Finally, there are decks like Krark-Clan Ironworks and R/B Vengevine
8/26 SCG Classic Baltimore, US
which attack on other angles.
8/19 SCG Classic Dallas, US
Given all that, how can we fight back? 8/18 Grand Prix Los Angeles, US
8/18 Grand Prix Providence, US
For starters, having an actual clock would greatly improve matchups like Ironworks and U/W Control. 8/18 SCG Team Open Dallas, US
Rather than being pressured to grind them out (which is very difficult), you want to look for ways to end 8/11 Grand Prix Orlando, US
the game quicker. Sometimes a Young Pyromancer can do that, but especially against a control deck, it's 8/11 Grand Prix Brussels, BE
far more likely that they are able to delay the game until they can set up their engine. 8/03 Pro Tour Minneapolis, US
7/29 SCG Classic Indianapolis, US
These changes are subtle, but they matter. 7/22 Invi Qualifier Bristol, US
7/22 SCG Classic Philadelphia, US

Mardu Pyromancer Modern 7/21 SCG Team Open Philadelphia, US

7/15 SCG Classic Worcester, US
7/14 Invi Qualifier Glen Burnie, US
Gerry Thompson 7/14 Invi Qualifier Lexington, US
0th Place at Test deck on 8/31/2018 7/14 SCG Team Open Worcester, US
6/30 Invi Qualifier Port Charlotte, US
6/30 Nationals Columbus, US
Creatures (10) Spells (30) View More Standard Decks - Search Decklists

4 Bedlam Reveler 2 Fatal Push

2 Goblin Rabblemaster 3 Kolaghan's Command
4 Young Pyromancer 4 Lightning Bolt
1 Manamorphose
Lands (20)
2 Collective Brutality
2 Mountain
2 Dreadbore
2 Swamp
4 Faithless Looting
2 Arid Mesa
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Lingering Souls
2 Blood Crypt
4 Thoughtseize
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Marsh Flats Sideboard
1 Sacred Foundry 1 Ensnaring Bridge Like 0 Share Tweet

1 Pithing Needle
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Stony Silence
1 Wear
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Molten Rain

This list has shifted toward trying to address new enemies while also hedging against the older
metagame. Modern is a vast format, and while Humans (or Spirits) and U/W Control are the most
popular decks, there's no telling what you might end up playing against. For a midrange deck, it can be
difficult to balance, but it's important not to focus too much on a specific portion of the metagame.

Step one is playing the full eight discard spells. The fourth Thoughtseize is a huge addition and goes a
long way toward fighting expensive planeswalkers. Snagging a Faithless Looting or Stitcher's Supplier
can go a long way toward crippling R/B Vengevine too. Mardu needs to be able to interact earlier with
these decks and discard is reasonable against each of them.

Step two is including Goblin Rabblemaster. I'm loath to include a card that is almost strictly a clock, but
it's what you have to do. You could sideboard the card entirely, but it's not completely out of place in the
maindeck and I wanted my sideboard slots to serve other purposes.

If you want a clock, Goblin Rabblemaster is the most effective red card for the job. Cards like Hazoret
the Fervent and Chandra, Torch of Defiance are too slow, especially considering its difficult to make your
fourth land drop in a timely manner. Goblin Rabblemaster will effectively end the game by Turn 6 if left
unchecked, and that's by far the best Mardu can do.

Blood Moon isn't great at the moment. Most decks shrug it off, either by being aggressive (Vengevine,
Humans), having a resilient manabase (U/W Control), or by being so weak to it in the past that they
specifically build their decks to counteract it (Tron).

Another card that has gotten weaker is Collective Brutality, although it still synergizes well enough with
the deck that it's worth playing a couple copies in the 75. Mardu is hungry for ways to turn excess
resources into something useful, and Collective Brutality also helps get you closer to casting Bedlam
Reveler, even against opponents who aren't cooperating by not playing creatures.

Opposing planeswalkers are at an all-time high, so don't leave home without your Dreadbores. I've seen
some lists that split Dreadbores with Terminates, either 1/1 or 2/1, but I don't think that's a good idea.

Burst Lightning is another card I could see making an appearance (as it did in Tyler Blum's #PT25A deck),
mostly because Fatal Push isn't killing much that Shock wouldn't. Plus, you have the opportunity to use it
as a Lava Axe or a very weak Dreadbore, which gives it some added utility.

I've basically only had success with Mardu when Liliana of the Veil has been in my maindeck, but that
time is over. Liliana tends to be stronger against Jeskai than U/W because U/W's threats can easily beat
Liliana of the Veil and they have more of them. Against combo decks like Ironworks that can go off from
a low base, it doesn't matter as much that you're constraining their resources. In both matchups, having
a clock like Goblin Rabblemaster is a better choice. With Liliana out of the way, you no longer need the
Godless Shrine, even if you happen to be including more white cards like Stony Silence.

My sideboard has gotten more hateful, but there's a good reason for that. I estimate the Modern
metagame at a large tournament to look something like:

20% Collected Company/Aether Vial

20% Cryptic Command
15% Graveyard
10% Artifacts
10% Big mana
10% Midrange
15% Random

Overall, this is the cleanest metagame we've had in quite some time, and that means we can be a little
more targeted with our sideboard hate.

Hedging with cards like Collective Brutality, Engineered Explosives, and Kambal, Consul of Allocation will
only get you so far. You might end up having to fight matchups where you have very little to bring in, but
the hope is that the power of your sideboard cards will carry you.

Despite Surgical Extraction working quite well with land destruction against big mana, Leyline of the
Void is the correct choice. This deck sees a lot of cards, so it might make sense to have your sideboard
hate be something you can dig for, but I'm not buying that right now. Decks like R/B Vengevine, Hollow
One, Mardu, and Ironworks are much weaker to a Leyline of the Void than to a Surgical Extraction.
Again, I'm skimping on Tron hate, but this time it's to gain massive percentage points in other spots.

Pithing Needle is a card that's effective at fighting Tron, even if they bring in Nature's Claim blindly. Your
discard can protect it, and shutting off any topdecked copies of Karn Liberated is a huge boon. It
conveniently fights planeswalkers against U/W Control as well, so we finally have a reason to devote a
slot to it.

Anger of the Gods is finally back! Vengevine's return to Modern makes that a possibility. If Spirits picks
up, you'll be sad that you don't have a sideboard card that is directly targeted at them, but Anger of the
Gods is still fine. Having a bunch of sorcery-speed removal certainly makes that matchup closer, though.
The singleton Ensnaring Bridge could be another sweeper of some sort, but since it's good against the
majority of creature decks anyway, having one doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Due to Krark-Clan Ironworks and Hardened Scales Affinity being the artifact decks of choice, Stony
Silence gets the nod. Honestly, these matchups seem perfectly reasonable, so maybe you don't need to
directly target them, but Stony Silence gives you another disruptive tool against Tron, even if it's not
exceptional against them. To support it, I added another fetchland to the manabase, plus you have the
singleton Manamorphose to put you up to eleven white sources.

If you think your metagame is more diverse than my predicted metagame, you should absolutely retool
the deck for what you expect to face.

Mardu, Part Two

Is Lingering Souls actually good against anyone? Even the new Affinity decks shrug it off. It buys time for
your engine, but if you're actually looking to clock people, why shove Goblin Rabblemaster into your
deck instead of retooling it entirely?

As always, Magic Online has the answer.

R/B Reveler Modern

Gerry Thompson
0th Place at Test deck on 8/31/2018

Creatures (12) Spells (28)

4 Bedlam Reveler 2 Fatal Push
4 Kiln Fiend 2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Lightning Bolt
4 Manamorphose
Lands (20)
2 Temur Battle Rage
3 Mountain
4 Faithless Looting
2 Swamp
2 Forked Bolt
3 Arid Mesa
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Thoughtseize
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire Sideboard
2 Marsh Flats 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Hazoret the Fervent Like 0 Share Tweet

2 Collective Brutality
1 Dreadbore
4 Molten Rain
2 Shattering Spree

I'm skeptical that Monastery Swiftspear and Kiln Fiend are good against everyone. Too much of the time,
it seems like they will sit there and do nothing until you find a Temur Battle Rage (which most lists aren't
even playing).

For people who insisted on sticking with Grixis Death's Shadow, I urged them to try the Kiln Fiend
version of the deck. Humans mostly invalidates the plan of "make one giant monster and ride it" to the
point where people felt the need to include Temur Battle Rage into their decks. Once it gets to the point
where you determine that Temur Battle Rage is where you need to be, it means you're better off fully
adopting that strategy by also including Kiln Fiends.

This deck exists on the same axis. If you want to play Faithless Looting and Bedlam Reveler but have a
necessity to actually kill your opponents rather than prolong the game, Kiln Fiend and Temur Battle
Rage is where you want to be. Similarly to Grixis Death's Shadow, you don't necessarily need all the
copies of Temur Battle Rage because you'll likely be able to dig for it by the time it matters.

Honestly, if I were playing Modern tomorrow, I wouldn't play either version of Mardu, but that's because
I think there are better options. If you want to use Faithless Looting in the fairest manner possible, you
shouldn't be sticking to stock lists. As always, Mardu (with or without Young Pyromancer) is infinitely
customizable.

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#Premium #Modern
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Commander 2018 Deck Updates! Grand Prix Richmond Standard Deck Picks!

About Gerry Thompson @G3RRYT

g3rryt
Gerry Thompson is a Constructed specialist, Platinum pro, and
former SCG Tour end boss. His career highlights include twelve
Grand Prix Top 8s with two wins and seven SCG Invitational Top
8s with two wins. He won Pro Tour Amonkhet, lost in the finals Read more by Gerry Thompson
of Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan, and made the Top 8 of Pro Tour
Gatecrash. Many of the first SCG Tour records were set by him.

5 Comments Sort by Top

Add a comment...

Hutton Jones
Control finally good in Modern, calls the control deck a prison deck so it won't disrupt the "control is
bad in modern" paradigm.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 4 · 3d

Brendan Lyga
Noticed this too
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 1 · 1d

Gerry Thompson
You might notice that I never said U/W Control was good, just that people were misbuilding it
to a slight degree still.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 20h

Lou B
M​y N​e​i​g​h​b​o​r's m​o​t​h​e​r m​a​k​e​s $​1​0​5/h​o​u​r o​n t​h​e c​o​m​p​u​t​e​r . S​h​e h​a​s b​e​e​n w​i​t​h​o​u​t w​o​r​k f​o​r 7
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t​h​i​s...

------>>>>> w​w​w.t​a​g​8​0.​c​o​m™..................W​o​r​k A​t H​o​m​e

C​o​p​y​&​P​a​s​t​e​ T​h​i​s ​L​i​n​k w​i​t​h​o​u​t ​™>>>>>>>>>G​o​o​d L​u​c​k>>>>>>>>
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 20h · Edited

Jeremy Phillips
Any thoughts on possibly Goblin Dark-Dwellers being ran in place of the Rabblemaster? I've tested
with both quite a bit and honestly Rabbles been hit or miss for me, when i have a optimal hand and
everything goes as plan hes great but when im a step behind esp with all these creature heavy decks
(both Affinity, Humans, Spirits etc) hes just not been performing as I would like. Dweller, on the other
hand has been great with giving me redundancy in the games im already ahead in, and supplying a 4/4
body and a great toolbox effect to help me get back in games im behind in. Idk if the 5cc is to much but
hes been all around a good play when i can cast him.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 3d

Tyler Witt
I used to play Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but it seemed so bad most of the time. I've loved
Crackling Doom in place of some hand disruption but the meta I'm around is Infect/Bogles
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 2d

Gerry Thompson
I've already skeptical of playing four-drops, so there's no way in hell I'd play a five mana card
in the way the deck is currently built.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 1 · 20h

Hemesh Reshmmia
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Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 15h · Edited

Michael Lewis
Ya Mardu domitated traditional(should actually be called pre-scales affinity) but I've never seen a
matchup shift in the other direction so drastically with the same name of deck in quite some time.
Surface just being scratched and I think old Mardu is done having lost one of its bread and butter
matchups.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 2d

Jennifer Chapman
Great article! Very impressive how much ground you covered. Minor nitpick though: I would argue
Anger of the Gods is often less than fine against Spirits.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 22h

George Kourouleas
There is a chance W/U Control is a little bit prison-y, but a prison deck would not attempt to 1-for-1 the
opponent with cards like Path, Snapcaster-Path, D-Sphere, nor would it try to counter that much stuff,
nor try to play that many sweepers to the opponent.
A true prison deck like Lantern, or WR Prison, will try to attempt to make you unable to play anything,
rather than let you play your spells and interact with them!
W/U Control is a true control deck, and it's a tier 1 deck. In fact, it's among the top 5, maybe more,
decks in the current Modern format.
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · 15h

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