Pillow Talk MtG 21: PT Recap & Where Modern Is Heading

Welcome to Pillow Talk, the official competitive Magic the Gathering podcast of Team Pillow Fort! This week, Austin and Michael discuss the Modern Pro Tour. What was good? What wasn't? Where is modern heading? What should you be looking at testing moving into the modern RCs? Join us as we answer all these questions and more!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome to Pillow Talk, the official podcast of Team Pillow Fort MTG. I'm your host, Austin Walker, and with me again this week, Michael the control freak killerly. All right, Michael, let's talk about the PT. So we just had PT Amsterdam. We uh we we had a modern PT, and there were uh a few things that I think that we expected going into the PT, and a few things that I think we didn't expect. Uh so let's talk a little bit about that. Top decks. How do we feel about those? Is that something that you kind of felt was in line with what you were expecting, or any surprises there?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yeah, so I would say uh Karsten put out a really good breakdown of all the percentages of all the decks that showed up. And I'd probably say we all expected Boros Energy to be like top dog of the format, right? At least the most represented deck in modern affinity being neck and neck with it. I'll say I did not necessarily expect. I thought affinity would have been probably second, but not literally tied with Boros. And then Brood Scale and Eldrazi Tron at three and four threw me for an absolute loop. Yeah, I expected more prowess, I expected more storm, more amulet titan, but to see brood scale just like show up at 11 and a half percent, I was not ready for that. Nobody warned me, nobody gave me the heads up.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Yeah, uh, like you said, Boros energy can't be kept down by the bands, which we've seen time and time again. Uh, every anytime Boros has a ban, uh people talk about okay, this is you know the the nail in the coffin, it can't it can't come back from this, and then it still just overrepresents. Uh, still a great player in the metagame. Uh, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. Uh, is it affinity? I did actually expect to be pretty high. I I would have put it right at, you know, if not uh first, then then second, right around where Boros Energy was at. I expected it to be within a handful of players on the deck, you know, as Boros Energy. And so so that that didn't surprise me too much. I've heard a lot of people saying that Affinity is just the strongest deck. Uh, one of the things that I was talking about a little bit before with uh some of the players on our team is that when you're going to an event like this, you know, you you really have to understand that like being good isn't enough. You you have to be lucky and good, you know, and I think that that's something that you'll hear some of the pros talk about too. Um, and so if if you're already on the plan of getting lucky, then why not just kind of go all in on that plan and and play is it affinity? You know, like the the starts that are really, really strong from affinity are are very, very difficult to interact with, and um, you know, they can just take over the game as early as turn one and two. And so so I I think that I think that affinity is a a really good place to be leaning, you know, in these types of events. So yeah, those two right in line, but like you said, brood scale and eldrazitron being number three and four, uh, that that was big. Uh, I did not expect that. Although I think that you know we could we could have probably figured that it would have been higher than it has been represented with the banning from Jess Guy Blink and and that deck really not being super represented anymore. Uh just because like I think that the the big reason why these colorless decks, like the Eldrazi decks, were were doing so poorly for so long is because everybody was just packing four main deck consigns, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Right, and like I think Brood Scales a phenomenal deck. I think it was a good choice for the weekend. Uh, I think it's a good deck in general. It's just always kind of hovered around that like seventh to tenth most popular deck in the meta. Right. And to see it jump up from that to just like neck and neck with Boros energy, the upwards of 20% at a time uh meta-share deck and affinity, like you said, that's got some of the most broken starts in all of modern, some of those uh openings kappa cannoneer turn one hands that nobody can beat. And just to see Broodscale like in the same conversation of those is still blows my mind, and we're like four days past the Pro Tour. Yeah. Uh Eldrazytron, however, like Broodscale's had the win rate to back up it being up there and share. Eldrazytron's been like a 45% win rate deck for the last I don't know, like month and a half, two months or so. Yeah. So really surprised to see that one jump up in similar numbers. I expected that to be like the eighth most played deck.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Yeah, and and there was some innovation with the Eldrazitron decks, right? Talk to me a little bit about what we saw from uh from the Eldrazi decks.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Yeah, so the Eldrazi decks in general, like the Eldrazi Tron decks didn't do particularly well, but there was this subset of Eldrazi decks with Slumbering Trudge. I don't know if you've gotten to read this card yet. It's a one mana six six that enters with uh three stun counters on it and combos with the card fight rigging. So for two and a green, you can hide away. I believe it's five D. And when you go to combat, you put a counter on a creature. And if you have a creature conveniently with seven power, which six six trudge plus the one from fight rigging, lets you cast that spell, you hideaway for free. And when you're casting like Imrakle the Promised Inn for free, or Devour of Destiny on turn two for free, you get some insanely explosive starts. So that deck caught a lot of people off guard.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And and I guess, I guess, according to uh Carson's article, that is under the Eldrazi ramp archetype, right? So the Eldrazi Tron and the Eldrazi ramp archetypes are a little different, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Right. Uh, they're all like the generic Kozalx command decks, but they got broke down uh by brood scale by decks that were caring about the the Urzitron lands, and then decks that cared about fight rigging, and then there was even like another small subset of Eldrazi ramp decks with like um mono green with sewing micospawn into Ugans and all that stuff. So bunch of different variants of Tron, very different results between the four subsets of them.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Yeah, yeah. Speaking of some of those powerful cards from the Eldrazi decks, uh, it turns out that Kozlex Command was actually the number one played card at the PT. Uh, and and I've been hearing a lot of people saying that Kozlex Command is just the most powerful card in Modernite now. What what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 7:08

I agree. I I think Kozlex Command is probably the most egregious card at the moment. There's just no bad modes on the card into any major matchups right now. Like having the card discount being a kindred Eldrazi spell, getting discounted by Eldrazi Temple means like you're hitting one drop creatures out of Boros on turn two. You're getting to find all or make all these Eldrazi spawn to get up to your your uh Devour of Destinies and such as early as turn three, uh, without needing Tron lands. Like you just have Ugin's Labyrinth and Eldrazi Temple and stuff like that, and get these insanely explosive starts. You have combo kill potential with uh glaring flesh raker, you've got spawns to trigger your brood scale with your blade of the blood chief strapped on to it, like grave hate against Esper Gorios. What what more can this card do? I swear every time I read it, it's got another mode tacked onto it that I didn't know for the last year.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yeah, yeah. And and you you really said it, like it just does everything, you know. And and uh I think one of the big telling things about uh how good a card is is like how good is it when you're ahead, how good is it when you're at parity, and how good is it when you're behind. And the fact that like the Eldrazi spawns can be used if your opponent's not doing a whole lot, they can be used to like ramp you into something huge, uh, you know, your emerald, your your ulamog, whatever it might be. Uh, but then if you're behind, like just putting out a bunch of blockers to to like you know get you a couple extra turns is really good. Having interaction for the graveyard, which is something that the Eldrazi decks really don't have a ton of, um, you know, especially at instant speed. I mean, they've got a handful of artifacts that they've played in the past, like relic of progenitus has always kind of been one of those things, but that's kind of just like an anemic thing, you know. It's not anything that you're like excited to register in your main deck, uh, but this gives you something proactive, it gives you something reactive, it gives you the ability to dig in the late game when you're both in kind of top deck mode. Uh, it it can get rid of a creature when you're behind, it can get rid of a creature when you're trying to push through lethal. Like it just does everything, no matter if you're behind, ahead, whatever, at parity, it's it's just always great. It's always going to be the best card in your hand.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yeah, and I mean you mentioned it perfectly when you get to those late game top deck scenarios and you cast a Kozlux command for X's seven or whatever, there's such a good chance that it's gonna find you a second copy of Kozlux command. And like if you got through the first one limping and bleeding and barely holding on to life support, that second one is finishing you off, and there's just nothing you can do about it. Yeah. When you say, Is it good when you're behind? When if is it good when you're at parody? Is it good when you're in ahead? I think Kozal X Command is has that one ring feel to it where it's game winning when you're behind, it's game winning when you're at parody, it's game winning when you're ahead. Yeah, and it's not even particularly close. Like it just shuts the door on any chance you had of getting out of it so quickly.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And and there's really no point of the game where it's bad, you know, like cards like Ulamog, obviously, if if you cast an Ulamog, you know, you you're you're feeling good, right? Like you're probably going to win that game. But if you if you have an Ulamog in your opening hand, it's like, okay, well, I'm kind of functionally at a mulligan to six right now, you know, until I get to the point of the game when I can cast it, if that point comes, right? But like if you have uh a Coslex command in hand with, you know, an Ugin's Labyrinth and an Eldrazi temple or something like that, like being able to just cast it on turn two for X equals two to be able to get rid of something that's that's bogging down the board or like a psychic frog or a ragavan, um, you know, something that is that is applying pressure and is also going to take over the game if it is unanswered, uh, while also putting two spawns into play, being able to cast your seven drop next turn, or being able to dig for you know your your third land or whatever it may be. Like it's it's just always good. Turn two, turn eight, whatever it is, it's it's just gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, I I can tell you from plenty of experience, the worst feeling in the world is being on the play, leading with the land go to set up a turn two psychic frog, and your opponent plays an Eldrazi temple and passes back. Because, like, now I have to come full stop. Do I play out this frog and risk them just having second soul land K-command your frog on turn two? Or do I sit here and hold up counter spell like an idiot and watch them get cast trigger after cast trigger? Like right. The card, the card is so infuriating to play against if you're trying to do anything even remotely fair and half the unfair stuff, too. I'm gonna pull my hair out just thinking about the card more.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

The the one good thing that I will say about playing against Coslex Command is when your opponent has a cavernous souls, you know that your consign always has a target. Because that's what a card to consign, you know? And and when your opponent has cavernous souls, then sometimes you know those consigns don't really do a whole lot for you. So so I at least Coslex Command is always going to be a great target.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Oh man, that's the other thing. It's an instant.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Yeah, why is it an instant?

SPEAKER_00 12:49

You can overload my counter spells on my turn and then get to go for something through uh a counterspell on your turn.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Like, yeah, yeah. Tron shouldn't be allowed to play at instant speed. We we can't we can't let that happen.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Go back to your warping whales and spatial contortions.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Right now, on the other hand, uh a card that uh was was very highly represented, and uh again, this is all part of one of these articles that that we're looking at, but uh one of the most played cards or the most played card from recent sets is The Legend of Roku, uh, which surprised me. Uh, and uh I know that you know a lot of the Boros energy decks are playing, some amount main, some amount side, and and we've we've seen a lot of these like you know, one of four drops over the years in your in your aggressive slash maybe mid-rangy type of decks, like kind of like energy is, you know, uh for a time, like Chandra Torch of Defiance kind of filled that slot, and like Gideon has filled that slot in the past. Lately, you you know, we we've had some other cards that have kind of taken that slot, uh, but but Legend of Roku is is now the the four-drop that is preferred over a planeswalker to kind of get you back in the game, provide you some card advantage. Were were you surprised to see 72 copies of Legend of Roku being registered at the PT? Or or did that does that not really shock you too much?

SPEAKER_00 14:09

I would say it first glance, the immediate thought of like Legend of Roku is the most played recently printed card, that sounds absurd to think about a four-mana sorcery speed play in modern that's not like Supreme Verdict or Scapeshift or something like that. Uh, just like an honest to goodness, fair magic card. Uh, but then you start thinking about it a little bit more and like what it means to the success of Boros Energy being card advantage is huge. We've seen Boros Energy play like showdown at the Skalds before, just to try to get that top-end like game-ending effect. And Roku kind of takes that to the next level. You get the same general card advantage, but tied on to a card that itself can just win you the game. So I'm not too surprised to see it take the slot of like Showdown of the Skulls. I am surprised that Modern is in a spot where a four mana doesn't immediately win you the game card, has relevant text and is seeing relevant play. But once you start looking through the Boros Energy decks and seeing, like, oh, it's unanimous just about that everybody's on one or two copies of this card, then the 72 total copies starts to make a lot more sense. Yeah. So if you said take a second to break it down, I think it checks out. But if you're just looking at the the card at face value, it probably surprises anybody that hasn't really had their thumb on modern recently, keeping up with what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, that's well said. Uh, I mean, like you said, uh a four mana enchantment doesn't immediately impact the board. Uh it doesn't provide you a blocker, doesn't provide you attacker, doesn't gain you any life, nothing like that. I I think that I think that that's a positive testament to where we're at in modern right now, that you can have that many copies of that type of card in your deck, um, in your aggressive deck, and still not just like immediately lose, right? So, yeah, I I I agree with all that. When I first saw Legend of Roku, uh, I was I was a little shocked, I was a little taken aback, but the way that you explained it, I think makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Yeah, I I think the card is a fantastic value engine for a deck like Boros that's really trying to jam out such good early game pressure and such like synergistic early game pressure that the only way that your opponent is going to be able to keep up or answer is effectively like a sweeper or a solitude ephemerate or something like that. Uh, and Legend of Roku being able to like go over the top of rebuilding in the face of those cards gives it a pretty unique place. And then, like I said before, the fact that it even if it doesn't give you a body right away, it is a win condition if the game continues on and your opponent can't uh answer it right away. The firebending text is sneaky good because once you start thinking about the card getting played out on turn four, flipping a couple turns later, and now you've got Roku himself making four mana, plus you had to have four to play out the Roku. So you're getting to make a dragon every turn that's doubling up on your dragons down the road, like card snowballs incredibly well. Yeah, I'll give it credit there.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Yeah, for sure. No, I'm looking at some of the other decks that you know, some of the one of decks that are uh a little spicier. Uh, I didn't get a chance to see the blue-white Loki deck. Did you see that deck in action at all?

SPEAKER_00 17:46

I did not see it in action, but I did look at the uh the deck list on uh on the deck list page or like the list of everybody's deck list, and I'm pretty positive, if I remember correctly, that it was a blue-white sewer valence cam, like Emery affinity style deck. Yeah, so I just double checked real quick. Uh, it was in fact a blue-white Loki affinity style deck, which I think is a fantastic home for Loki at the end of the day, being able to draw cards off things like Portable Hole entering and targeting a permanent sewer valence cam entering, or even like Mistress Bobble getting sacked. The card advantage is absolutely through the roof. So it's really cool to see that deck performing well. And I think it was even sweeter to see it go 4-0 against Boros Energy. So even though I didn't get to see the deck on coverage, the data is really supportive of it being an interesting archetype in an interesting space.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah, it looks like it went 7-2, or maybe 7-2-1. I'm seeing a couple different results. Uh, but either way, it it did it did very, very well. Uh, it's just a super cool deck. Uh, I expected there to be a lot more Loki at the PT. Uh, I'm surprised that I think this was the only deck that was playing it really. But yeah, uh obviously really, really cool deck. Would love to see some more innovation from from these types of decks.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Yeah, I I think Loki's a very strong card. I think it it was released a little bit too close to people getting together at the testing houses and whatnot to really put like a refined and polished list together. But I'm sure that more people at least had their eyes on it or took notice of the card before the event started. But when you're talking about a pro tour with so many thousands of dollars on the line and re-qualifications, it's uh it's usually not the spot that people want to do last-minute testing for with a brand new idea, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yeah, absolutely. Now, a deck that I have been playing around with a little bit recently, uh, that also did very well went 7 and 3 is the uh Samwise combo that splashes red for uh Goblin Bombardment. It's also playing a Johnny, and so that deck is really, really cool. It just gives you like a little bit of extra late game potential. Uh, it gives you the opportunity to grind a little bit, diversifies your threats, and goblin bombardment also just being an extra combo piece in being a sack outlet, while uh a Johnny is able to flip a little bit easier with your cat, which is already a card that you know you have to play for the combo. So that the Cauldron Familiar is able to flip your Ajani, uh, which again just you know, these small little bits of synergy uh just make the difference, you know, when when you're trying to put these types of decks together and and pilot them. So so yeah, really, really cool deck. Um, I was just playing a little bit earlier, and you know, being able to play like a turn one gilded goose into a turn two like sack outlet and also a Johnny, being able to flip your A Johnny on turn two is very, very strong.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, that deck is super super sweet. I I would argue that whenever I go up against a Sanwise combo deck, the sack outlets themselves are typically the the least scary part of the archetype when you're looking at like viscera seer and carrion feeder and stuff like that. And unless your opponent's actually comboing off, those things never play any sort of a role in how the games go. But goblin bombardment kind of flips that on its head and takes your sack outlet and turns it into one of the best cards you can have access to, whether it's like saving a creature from a removal spell in the case of stopping your Cauldron Familiar or Young Wolf or whatever from getting exiled and dealing damage to your opponent, or getting to flip those Ajanis early, or just being a uh Piece that you can play out early and know that your opponent can't fatal push it or can't lightning bolt it or whatever the case may be. Right. It that's got so much play that the Samwise deck hasn't really had before.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, so so yeah, I can't wait to see uh that deck, you know, get innovated on a little bit more as well. Uh, I'll probably be playing that deck some amount for uh the the last couple weeks of the RCQ season before we move back into standard. And then the the other deck that I wanted to talk about too uh was they they called it uh on coverage, they called it IKEA Breach. Have you seen this deck? IKEA Breach. I have not. Please tell me more, because I'm curious. Yeah, so this is the uh the Song of Creation deck. So it's Teamer Song of Creation, uh, that plays a lot like the the old Breach deck, uh, like Underworld Breach, but uh you just kind of have to build it yourself. Uh it originated in Sweden, I guess. And so so for those reasons they they called it IKEA Breach. But yeah, really cool deck. It was uh it was tearing up the the tables for for quite a while. I think it finished seven and three, and so so yeah, it uh it was doing very, very well. I think that that deck will also be picked up in some amount by by some other players that that you know want to get back to those types of decks.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Yeah, I I know that the the breach deck was on or the song of creation deck was on camera at least one round. I saw it briefly for like half of a round when it was up there, and I know that it's pilot was playing a couple copies of Bruce Banner from the Marvel superhero set. I would love to know how that card actually performed. I I want to say I heard somebody talk about it just being another legendary from Mox Amber, yeah, but I would be super interested to know if that card like actually had relevant text in any games or if it just being a legendary creature was good enough. But yeah, we got to watch this Song of Creation deck absolutely pop off in one matchup. The pilot getting to repeal some mox opals over and over again to just draw like a dozen cards off Song of Creation. Absolutely wild.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

With a Song of Creation, if you have a Mox and a repeal, it is a zero mana draw five. That's okay, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing. Yeah, if if if you like if you like drawing five cards for zero mana, then maybe maybe this IKEA breach deck, this song of creation deck is is for you.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Like imagine laughing in the face of ancestral vision, just right or ancestral recall, like uh you're you're only drawing three for one mana. Uh that card must be a bulk rare or something. Let me show you the real version.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Yeah, so so yeah, like I said, I think that players that are are you know wanting to scratch that breach itch that they've had since the deck was banned, uh, this would be this would be a good time to take a look at that. Uh as for the Bruce Banner, uh, I did see there was like a turn two activation to draw to. Uh, it was like land uh mox opal, mox amber, and bruce into turn two. Just draw a couple cards. And if you're on the play or you're playing against a deck that just doesn't put a ton of pressure on, um, then you can take those early turns off and just draw a couple cards and you know dig deeper into your breach or or or sorry, your your song of creation, or you know, whatever other combo pieces you might need, and and it's not super punishing. So so yeah, I I think that that Bruce probably is that's so sick.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

I I think that Bruce is probably gonna be a a card that doesn't see a whole lot of play, but if you know if if you just need an extra one drop to turn on your moxin, then then it's probably your best option at this point. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Now, I got a question for you. We you mentioned some of these decks that have like a copy or two that uh that did pretty well, that had really good win rates, but there were a few decks that were extraordinarily popular that did not have good win rates, like Boros Energy at 44%, Affinity at 46%, Ruby Storm at 47%, Amulet Titan, Sub-50. You got any idea why why these decks perform so poorly or any theories?

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Man, I I have to say that like decks like Affinity, you know, you're you're going to see a lot of hate for for those types of decks, but even then, like Affinity didn't have a terrible win rate. And so it it was it was these decks, like you said, like Boros Energy that was sub-50. And you you know, I think we all expected that there were gonna be people that were gonna be bringing decks that were good into Boros because we expected this to be a a popular deck, but Boros isn't one of those decks that like has very specific, very targeted hate, right? And so, so to see it do so poorly, uh I'm I'm not sure. What are what are your thoughts? What what do you think happened there?

SPEAKER_00 27:13

I've I've got a running theory right now, and uh I'm interested to hear your feedback. I think that the I agree with the sentiment that there's not a lot of great, like targeted hate for Boris. You can bring in Wrath Disguise or something like that to kind of fight over some of the early aggression, but I think the best hate for Boros is just to ignore it, and I think that's why decks like Trudge, the uh Slumbering Trudge deck and Simic Neo form and this uh this Song of Creation combo deck, living in decks like that did really, really well on the weekend because they just kind of said, Hey, you go do your thing, you have fun. I'm not gonna care. I'm gonna be over here doing my stuff when you're done. And at the end of the day, it's so difficult for the Boro side to have ways to stop Trudge and Neoform and Living End and all these other decks in the same tournament, back to back to back, when all these other decks are just saying, like, yeah, go crazy, have your Oslot Pride, have your A Johnny Goblin Bombardment or your Spyro, whatever. You you do your thing, I'm gonna do mine, and I'm just gonna assume that mine's good enough to beat yours. Maybe you see a piece of hate, maybe you can win one out of three games because you saw double Orum's chant or high noon into Blood Moon or whatever the case may be, but you're not gonna be able to keep that up consistently, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Yeah, and and I I think I think that that that makes a lot of sense. Like you said, if if you just kind of ignore what Boris is doing, you know, if if you're if you're building your decks to to just be the better deck, then it sounds very simple, but uh, I think that goes a long way. You know, if if the like these players are are bringing decks that are going to be good into the the Boros deck, right? They're testing against Boros, they're seeing what's good, and and those are the decks that they're they're coming prepared with. And so, so yeah, I think I think that that makes that makes a lot of sense. Uh, I I will say I I did say that uh Affinity didn't have a terrible win rate, but uh I was looking at something else. Affinity only had a 46% win rate uh across the event, so yeah, still not great, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:29

And I I think Affinity kind of falls into that same category of decks like Trudge and Neoform and whatnot, just saying, Alright, great, you got a Kappa Cannoneer, but that Kappa Cannoneer is not killing me for two or three, maybe four turns, if I just do my thing and go off turn three, or in the case of like the Trudge deck, if I just cast an Emrakul the Promised End on turn two and make you attack your Kappa into it, are you winning that game anymore? Yeah, probably not, and I just didn't even care that you had a Kappa on board.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

I mean, you know, like you said, decks like Neoform uh that are just going to do their thing faster. The the Song of Creation deck being able to go off pretty early with with all of the mana rocks that they have, and then just you know being very consistent. Uh the Samwise deck also has a pretty quick clock, you know, as long as it's not interrupted. So so yeah, I think that I think that moving forward, the decks that are gonna do very well are the decks that are just going to either be the fastest of the combo decks, or that are going to be playing a a strong clock with uh just a bunch of good interaction. I'm seeing uh online at least I'm seeing a ton of these super fast decks like Neoform and Ruby Storm and and you know Samwise combo, all these decks that that are just trying to put a win uh on the stack as soon as possible, you know, I I think that those decks are are gonna be really, really strong moving forward. But also the decks that are able to interact while also maintaining a quick clock. A good example that I can think of right now, I think Belcher is is in a really nice spot right now, you know, especially if the if the uh the Boros Ponza deck isn't going to you know continue doing its thing. It only had a uh 48.5% win rate at the PT, which is you know fine by me. I think that deck is a terrible cancer in the format and would love to not see that ever again. But but yeah, I I think that as as long as decks like that are are on the downswing, then you know, decks like like Belcher that are just uh holding up a ton of interaction and and also you know able to put a quick win on the stack. Uh also decks like the the Simic uh ritual deck that we saw last year sometime, uh I think that decks like that would also be in a really commanding position right now as well.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Yeah, I I think uh you're spot on that we're gonna see a bit of a battle of combo decks towards the top of the format. And if I had to pick one, even though it had an absurd showing or an absurdly popular showing at the Pro Tour, Brood Scale is probably the deck that stands out to me the most because you get to be just like a four vexing bobble main deck. So when you're going up against the Song of Creation deck, or you're going up against Neo Form, uh Living In, all this stuff, and you just have four vexing baubles plus four sagas to go get those vexing baubles, it puts a lot of pressure on your opponents to kind of alter their game plan or keep subpar hands to try to play around stuff like that. So I think there's a reasonable shot that Broodscale could kind of take the the King of the Hill position in the short term and eventually get chopped down when decks like Boros Energy or decks like uh Is It Prowess start really loading up on interaction for the combo that conveniently costs mana, doesn't care about vexing bobble, and we'll see like that cycle start to to continue on where Boris Energy picks back up to fight the the combo winning deck that's preying on the other combo decks, but it's a little bit slower and a little bit more interactive. And that's like the cool thing about modern, right? It's always changing, it's always cycling, and you just kind of hope that you're gonna be at the right spot of the meta with the right deck, win the tournament that you're playing in matters or that matters comes around.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

And and you know, we we did see like a notable drop in cards like Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt. Like there just really aren't a ton of those. And you know, if if you're if you're in a meta where you know there aren't just a ton of lightning bolts and fatal pushes running around, then a deck like brood scale is great, you know, it's it's got great interaction, um, it's got uh a very fast clock, it's able to uh fight through hate with cards like cavernous souls, you know, your opponent's holding up consigns, and and you just slam a cavern and and combo anyway. You know, all these things just make a deck like Brood Scale really attractive.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Yeah, and to further that point, when the interaction gets a little bit awkward, that's when decks can really slip through the cracks. So, like the Eldrazi uh Trudge deck, the Slumbering Trudge deck, that deck has an extraordinarily hard time when your opponent's casting fatal pushes, but when the room is full of galvanic discharges or full of uh galvanic blasts from the the affinity decks or full of decks that just aren't interacting at all, then all of a sudden uh turn two Imrakle the Promised End is an extraordinarily big problem. Yep. Or the Neoform deck doing so well when the room has got no subtleties, no force negations anywhere to be seen. It just rises to the top naturally because if those decks aren't around to police it, it's a field day. They just get to go about their day doing their thing, and unfortunately, their thing is really, really good if you're not prepared for it.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Now, there is one deck that I am surprised that there were so few of. I think there might have only been one.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Uh and uh I swear if you say the Grix's Shadow Lessons deck, I'm gonna be so upset that deck didn't get nearly enough coverage.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Yeah, no, uh it was uh the the blue black frog deck. Well, I actually now that I'm looking, I don't even know that there was a single copy. Were there any copies of blue black frog?

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Let's let's fast forward five minutes past my response. Uh there, in fact, were zero copies of fair blue black frog decks. Uh, we're not going to consider the blink deck. There might have been a couple with some psychic frogs in there. Right. Uh, but non-Overlord of the Bale Merc, non-Goryo's Vengeance, non-reanimator decks, there were zero copies of Blue Black Frog. And ironically, if it got to Dodge the Boros matchup and the Affinity matchup, which, judging by the percentages, extremely unlikely, would have had an absolute field day into Song of Creation and Trudge and Neo Form and Living End and all those decks that did extraordinarily well. But as we know, you can't really go into a tournament like the Pro Tour preparing for the one out of 200 decks. You got to prepare for the the 40-somethings. So I I don't blame anybody for not taking Frog to the Pro Tour, but looking at the data, it is a little sad that nobody weathered the storm.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

Yeah, and and I mean, even looking at Boros and Izit, like like the those two decks still only make up 25% of the field, you know, and so you're you're still looking at somewhere between a 7-3 and and an 8-2 record if you can if you can, you know, play against other decks that it's good against, right? You know, like Titan, now that it's a little bit slower with the loss of uh Lotus Field, I'm sure that that deck that that matchup is probably a little better. All of these fast combo decks where you just have cards like counterspell and you have cards like spell snare, like spell snare would have would have had a field day in this meta, right? Like, man, I I I I would have loved to have been a blue-black frog player in in this tournament. I think that that would have done very, very well. You know, if if you if you tech to be able to, you know, have have an okay matchup into the boros uh deck and and just dodge affinity, I think that you know you're you're probably in pretty good shape.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Yeah, it's an extraordinarily snowball-y proposition because if you do start off hitting Amulet Titan round one into the trudge deck round two, into Neo form round three, like you're sitting pretty and you're golden for the rest of day one. Hopefully you have a really good draft portion so you don't uh fall back into the losers bracket. But if you happen to randomly get hit with that low variance, Boros energy runs you over game one into an affinity player game two, then good luck ever getting above like one or two wins for the rest of the weekend because apparently, based on the win percentages, you're just going into mono bad matchup for the rest of your time in Amsterdam.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Right. All right, any other takeaways uh but before we start talking about where this leaves us with the modern format? I do have one.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

If you didn't get to see it on coverage, the Jund Cosmogoyf deck is sweet. I got to watch that deck run over an affinity player, uh, just thud to the face after an Allo Alchemist giving a Cosmogoyf trample. I bet you didn't know what Alloe Alchemist did, because I know I didn't. Uh watching him trample over and then thud for exactly lethal was probably the hottest play I saw all weekend. So if you're looking for a deck to jam it like an FM, uh, because I guarantee none of us are playing that deck as well as uh oh, who wasn't the tops. All right, I'm gonna find it. We'll keep going, but I'm gonna find it. And if when you hear me randomly shout out a name farther along, you'll know what it was about. But the Cosmo Goyf, super sweet. I want to check it out. I want to try it through a league. I know it's gonna go extraordinarily poorly for me, but I'm brave and determined and just want to make Goyf cards good and modern.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

Yeah, uh, I played against that deck online the other day. Uh was it Yuya Hosakawa? That sounds right. They they were they were on Jun Cosmogoyf at the PT. I don't know if that was the the player that uh that you were talking about. But anyway, I I I played against the Jun Cosmogoyf the the other day, and it was it was brutal. Uh I was playing the the Samwise combo and it was just like you know, game one. Uh I think my opponent went like turn zero, exile serum powder, exile serum powder, exile, serum powder, exile serum serum powder into just having like two lands, the goif, and a thud, and I just didn't have any interaction for it. It was brutal. So, so yeah, the the deck, when it does its thing, man, it it sure does its thing. But but yeah, I I do think that the deck is a little bit of a gimmick. I I would not want to be uh playing that deck at at anything serious personally, uh, but but I I guess to to each their own, right?

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Oh for sure. Like it's a lot of a gimmick. I've had matches against Cosmogoyf where they've serum powdered a couple times and the entire match went 10 turns with my opponent never casting a single spell. Like when it when it fizzles, it fizzles hard. But when it goes off, it is a sweet deck to watch when it goes and does its thing and is able to uh to line up all the pieces at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

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SPEAKER_00 44:07

Yeah, so it's definitely going to vary pretty heavily between online and the paper meta. I know some people are still looking for their qualifications in the last couple weeks. So attending last second RCQs, I don't expect those to be shifting very drastically. Like, especially when modern's happening once a year, people aren't going out and like selling their modern deck on a dime to go buy a new one that just did well at the Pro Tour for the last RCQ of the season. So if you're planning for like a local RCQ meta, I wouldn't expect it to shift uh hardly at all in the next couple of weeks. But the online meta, however, uh, I've gotten quite a few leagues, gotten a challenge under my belt since the Pro Tour. Brood scale everywhere. Brood scale, brood scale, brood scale. So if you're not prepared for that matchup, like go readjust your sideboard, figure out what you're missing because you need to have something. But I would expect the the online meta uh specifically to be very combo-oriented, a lot of brood scale, a lot of storm decks like that where people can shift away from what they've been playing on a dime. And Tron. Tron shows up like crazy online, just a great league grinding deck. So people bring it into the challenges and whatnot. Uh, so the overall meta, I would say, like you mentioned earlier, moving more in a combo direction. Boros showed some some flaws over the weekend. Even Affinity showed some flaws over the weekend. So I've seen players on Twitter that have been just grinding Affinity, grinding Boros, kind of taking a step to give something else a shot, maybe in some last second qualifiers for the mocks and whatnot. Combos where I'm looking, creatures on the decline, unfair gameplay on the the up and up. What about you? What are you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 46:11

Yeah, I I agree. I think that we're gonna be looking at just everybody's gonna be trying to do their thing as quickly as possible. Um, I think that the decks that are gonna succeed are the ones, like I said earlier, that are gonna be able to do that while also being able to interact and just enough to keep your opponent off of whatever combo they're doing. And and then I I think that the the way of creatures is is uh behind us for the next few weeks. Uh, I think that there's gonna be a lot less attacking. I think that Boros energy is gonna be kind of on on the downswing a little bit. It didn't have a great showing at the PT, uh, but also like all of the decks that are good against it also did have a very good showing, you know. So so I I would expect people to not want to be playing decks like Boros over over the next few weeks at least. Right.

SPEAKER_00 47:00

Yeah, I think that uh that that's pretty spot on. Like those decks are always gonna have a reasonable floor, people are gonna register Boros, whether it's good or bad or whatever, but there's probably gonna be a pretty significant uptick in decks that just incidentally beat on Boros without even having to try that hard. And so if you're not looking out for those things, then there's a really good chance you're gonna get like sucker punched. Uh, for example, I played a league earlier today and just ran into like Yongmoth, which wasn't expecting. It's a creature deck, but it's a combo creature deck, and they sure enough killed me with a combo into brood scale, brood scale, immediately dropped that league, fired up a new one, and just saw like storm, saw burn, saw uh another combo Neo form. So, yeah, that's just modern that we're gonna have to deal with in the near future is people kind of going about their business, and you either got to go about your business faster or have a really good plan to stop them.

SPEAKER_01 48:10

All right. Well, that brings us to the end. As always, we're gonna finish with our pillow talk. So, you know the rules, you've got to take a deck home. What are you taking home in standard? What are you taking home in modern?

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Standard's a tough one because there hasn't been a lot of uh of streams that I've caught recently for standard, so I haven't gotten to see a ton this week. But if I had to pick a deck, I do know that Landfall, uh, Landfall and the Salesnia deck both won a challenge in the last couple days. So I believe I'd probably take probably landfall. I think that deck's a little more up my alley, but I wouldn't fault anybody for taking um taking the Celesnia deck. But at second glance, Excruciator also won a challenge, so man, that's a tough one. I'm I'm just gonna stick with Landfall. Uh, I think that's my pick for the week. In modern, probably pretty obvious that I think Brood Scale is in a very solid spot, especially if you feel like you can come up with a plan to beat the mirror more than 50% of the time. But if you're not looking to play mirror matches all day, I've been having a lot of success with Gorio's Vengeance recently. Uh, even though it wasn't really a deck that we talked about, it's got a a good proactive game plan. And outside of Affinity, uh, nobody's really stopping your game one. And if Affinity's on the heavy decline, like we kind of hope it is after the Pro Tour results, then Gorios could be in a really good spot to take advantage.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

Yeah, that all sounds reasonable. For for standard, I think I'm gonna be looking at probably is it lessons? Uh, they've adopted uh Thor, God of Thunder, it looks like, as one of their extra finishers. Uh, they they usually don't run a ton. And so uh Thor, for those of you who don't know, is a five mana five five with flying. And when it enters, you can exile an equipment, instant, or sorcery from your graveyard, and then until you the end of your next turn, you can play that card. But whenever you cast a non-creature spell, Thor deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to any target. So if you need it to help you stabilize, to cast a removal spell on something, and then also you know have it paying something else, then that's great. It also acts as a blocker, obviously. Being a 5-5 flying is not nothing. Uh, but you know, it also is able to just go to the face as well. So, you know, you can you can definitely uh deal quite a bit of damage there just by casting all of the things that you would normally be casting anyway. So, so yeah, I I would say probably is it lessons for for standard. I'd love to try that out. Uh, as for modern, I think that I'm gonna go with Samlize. I think that the new deck uh or the new iteration of this deck that, like I said, is playing the um the the Ajani Goblin Bombardment is a really cool innovation. Um it gives it multiple angles of attack, so it's really hard to uh kind of hedge against you know whatever they're doing. If if they're trying to, you know, disrupt the graveyard and and and attack you that way, uh, then it's easy to just kind of grind them out with your mid-rangy threats. Uh, but if they are more trying to, you know, just keep your your creatures off the board, you have a lot of two for ones uh that that's able to go that way. Um and then you know eventually just kind of throw out your combo and and see what happens. Um so yeah, I'm I'm gonna go with I'm gonna go with Samwise for uh for my for my modern deck.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

I'd say both very solid options. I've just kind of glancing over at this Thor God of Thunder card and looking over at the deck list that we're running it, and that that card looks pretty sweet. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. Might have to try that one out at some point.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

All right. Well, that brings us to the end. Thanks for coming to our pillow talk. Y'all have a good night.