Breaking down the Modern MOCS Results

This past Sunday, some of the best Magic Online players battled in the Modern for the monthly Magic Online Championship Series(MOCS) qualifier. Each player with 6-2 or better record qualifies for the Quarterly MOCS event, which has hefty prizes and awards two Pro Tour invites. The monthly qualifiers always bring out the MTGO ringers which makes it a great source for decklists. The tournament was dominated by Dredge, Abzan Midrange and various Death Shadow decks. Of the 31 decks that went 6-2 or better, 18 decks were either Dredge, Abzan Midrange or various Death Shadow decks. The Modern format is still developing since the banning of Gitaxian Probe and Golgari Grave-Troll, and these decks doing well seems like the next step in the format’s evolution. I would assume that everyone going into the tournament knew that they would have to beat at least a few Death Shadow decks to succeed. It is Public Enemy Number 1. So let’s get a good look at our enemy

 

This is a relatively stock version of Death’s Shadow. The exact configuration of the sideboard is still up in the air but this is generally what the deck looks like. Lots of discard, lots of big scary creatures and some 2 for 1’s. Isn’t she a beauty?

So how do we beat this? Be ready for the flurry of Thoughtseizes and Inquisition of Kozileks and build your deck to draw well off of the top. You want to have removal that kill creatures regardless of size. The first course of action is to go bigger.This Abzan list in the virtual hands of CLYDE THE GLIDE DREXLER went 8-0 and seems like a potential giant slayer.

This a traditional take on the Abzan midrange decks we have seen emerge since the printing of Grim Flayer and sticks closely to its BG Rock routes. The mix of discard, removal and great creatures is a classic way to attack Modern. This mix is what makes Death Shadow so great. So what does this deck do better than Death Shadow? This deck has threats that are better against removal and has less discard be dead draws  on turn 10 in a drawn-out game. Abzan is favored in the top deck war against Death Shadow. Abzan is also good against the other decks aiming to beat up on Death Shadow. This deck may struggle though against its usual weaknesses; big combo decks like Tron or Living End and Burn. Abzan is the king of honest to goodness midrange.

The other option to beat Death Shadow is to not go bigger, but to go directly through. And for that, the ghastly crew of Stinkweed Imp, Prized Amalgam and Bloodghast are the monsters for the job.

After the banning of Golgari Gave-Troll, Dredge was announced dead and gone but Golgari Thug has filled in for the Troll. The deck is not as explosive as it was but it is still great. It turns out the enablers of Cathartic Reunion and Faithless Looting are pretty broken with Dredge despite how bad the dredgers are. The deck beats up on Death Shadow and Abzan because it doesn’t really care about discard or creature removal. Vengeful Pharaoh out of the sideboard is really hard for Death Shadow to beat and is easily put in the graveyard while dredging. The presence of Surgical Extraction being the “in” graveyard hate is another boon for Dredge. Surgical Extraction is annoying for Dredge but not a nail in the coffin like Rest in Peace or Grafdigger’s Cage. Dredge is a great choice right now and if you’re not playing it, I would pack some extra hate for it.
So what would I do facing down this gauntlet of decks? I would play Death Shadow for sure. It is the best deck in the format in terms of card quality and efficiency. It is a polished murdering machine. But I would come packing for the mirror. Check out this list that Noll3n played to a 7-1 finish.

 This deck takes the traditional Death Shadow build and tries to prepare itself for the heavy discard mirror. It eschews Inquisition of Kozilek for an additional threat in Grim Flayer. The deck utilizes Lightning Bolt instead of the weaker Tarfire. The deck packs Oath of Nissa to help make up for its lower land count and smooth its draws. Liliana, the Last Hope is the card advantage engine of choice because it can be found with Oath of Nissa. Dismember instead of Fatal Push is better against Delve threats and big Eldrazi.  I like a lot of what is going on here;I like the philosophy behind this deck. It is informed by the discard infested format and wants to have the best chance to draw live when everyone is hellbent after trading off all of their cards. This deck is ready to live off the top! I mean, even look at the Treetop Village hiding out in the lands for when things get grindy. Noll3n knew what kind of games he would have to win to do well, and by looking at his record, he won them.

For those of us in Modern who will stick with their deck of choice through thick and thin, your deck is probably still fine in this shaken up world. Just know the new rules of engagement. Your hand is going to get shredded by discard a lot. Be ready. Make your card decisions with that in mind. Embrace the grind. But don’t get too attached to the cards in your hand. Nothing is sacred.