Top 8 Randomly Generated Under-the-Radar Modern Cards

Ryan Normandin
March 19, 2018
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I was planning on writing about the Top 8 cards for the beginning of Spring this week, until I heard we were likely getting hit with a fourth nor’easter later this week. As such, that article shall be postponed! Instead, I sat down on the couch with my buddy Gatherer and asked their thoughts on under-the-radar cards in Modern, since the format seems to be in a bit of a golden age. Unfortunately, Gatherer struggles with vague questions like this, begging me to fill in some of its query fields. When I stubbornly refused, Gatherer became fed up, and simply used its random card generator function to spit 8 cards into my face, attempting to make a mockery of me. Little did it know that I would run its idea!

 1. Razor Hippogriff

 

Many of us first met hippogriffs in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, where, thanks to a mix of time travel and meddling kids, the lovable Buckbeak managed to avoid execution. Razor Hippogriff is actually the first of only four hippogriffs in Magic, which is not at all representative of the number of hippogriffs in my heart. Or my shed.

Now, on the surface, Razor Hippogriff may just appear to be a 5-mana 3/3 with flying, and that’s not something that would excite most Modern players. But do you know what deck came close to winning GP Phoenix this weekend? No, it wasn’t hippogriff tribal, it was Krark-Clan Ironworks combo, which relies on returning artifacts from its graveyard to its hand.

Is it possible that this card could be a staple in a Tier 3 Modern deck? Might it just be the case that Razor Hippogriff is the missing powerhouse in a deck with only 14 lands? Could Razor Hippogriff transform this deck from a sleek artifact-based combo deck into a sleeker Hippogriff Tribal deck?

Only time will tell.

 

2. Flame Wave

 

 

I get it, I get it. In a format where three- and four-mana sweepers are the only ones that see play (All is Dust counts as a three-mana sweeper), is there really space for a 7-mana behemoth like this? And furthermore, in a format with greedy, greedy manabases, can we really squeeze in a sweeper that includes FOUR pips of red in its mana cost? And most importantly, could this be a hidden hate card against some of the most powerful decks in the format?

I’m happy to say that the answer to all of these questions is yes.

I’ve thought long and hard about clever ways to defeat Blood Moon. Take control of it, cast Starfield of Nyx, and then sacrifice it. Get my opponents low on cards and cast Consign // Oblivion. Pay a reasonable 10 mana to both Commit and Memory it. (You’ll never guess what deck I play in Standard.)

But now, we have a new solution. A solution that doesn’t even try to get rid of Blood Moon, but instead, embraces it. Imagine the look on your opponent’s face when, post-board, they Blood Moon you again, turning your beautiful tapestry of Watery Graves and Darkslick Shores into red eyesores and your response is not a single tear, but a smile. You untap, draw, and reveal your brilliant sideboard plan: you tap 7 of your newly christened Mountains to cast the mighty FLAME WAVE, dealing 4 damage to them and wiping away every last one of those annoying Young Pyromancer tokens and Arbor Elves. The horror on your opponent’s face as they cross out the 20 on their life pad and adjust it to… *shudder* 16… The hopelessness as your opponent realizes that they’re facing an opponent who they can not possibly outsmart, outplay, or outlast.

Of course, you’re definitely going to lose that game in the narrow sense of “your-life-total-will-hit-zero-before-your-opponent’s,” but in the broad, moral sense? You have won the match. Nay, you have won the day, the tournament, and the right to your opponent’s first-born child. Congratulations.

 

3. Flayed Nim

I remember when I first started playing Magic, one of the most powerful cards I owned was Thorn Elemental. Yes, the promo one from that 7th Edition starter kit. It had super-mega-trample, the powerful ability to completely ignore the creature that was blocking it and just slap your opponent silly in all its prickly splendor.

Unfortunately, 7 mana is a bit much in Modern, even for a powerhouse like Thorny McSharppants. But what if I told you that there was a BETTER Thorn Elemental for three less mana? One that deals damage to both the creature and the player? One that can never, ever die?

Enter… Flayed Nim.

They say that in Modern, you only cast 4-mana spells that win you the game. They also say that Flayed Nim was the one who came up with that rule, cuz you won’t find a more game-winning play than this mighty 2/2. Shenanigans aside, Flayed Nim is going to be a guaranteed 10-turn clock at minimum. Of course, once you throw a Batterskull on this Nim, it’s gonna be flaying you dow to zero a little bit faster. You can’t block it. You can’t kill it (except with Path). I know that when I see this fearful beast staring me down from across the table, I scoop up my cards. It’s a less humiliating experience than being beat down by a 4-mana 2/2.

 4. Skizzik Surger

 

You might be a little skeptical that one of the most powerful, overlooked cards in Modern is a 6-mana hasty 6/4, but hear me out. First of all, say the name of this card out loud a couple of times. Skizzik Surger. Skizzik Surger. SKIZZIK SURGER. What a kickass name. Your opponent throws this down and you just know that you’re going to die. As for the downside? What if I told you…

…it was an upside?

That’s right. You just need to play Skizzik Surger with lands that do powerful things when they die. For example, Dunes of the Dead will make you a 2/2 Zombie to go along with your crazy Scorpion Elemental MONSTER. Flagstones of Trokair will get you a nice Plains for your Skizzik Surger to frolick through, in between bouts of slaughtering the innocent. And finally, Gods Eye, Gate to the Reikai will give you a 1/1 Spirit. Just be careful – Skizzik Surger loves massacre so much, it might just devour the spirit too. That’s right – even death is not a safe haven from this horrific, largely translucent nightmare.

5. Bloodlord of Vaasgoth

 

In Magic, we often put things in boxes. We have narrow conceptions of what a card is and what it does. We hear “bear,” we think 2/2. We hear “lord,” we think bear that gives +1/+1. We hear “Lantern,” we promptly consider burning our cards, burning Wizards of the Coast to the ground, and then smashing every source of illumination in your home so that you are never again reminded of that archetype in a card game that you’d rather not play against but other people enjoy.

But then, we’re proven wrong.

They print Ursine Fylgja, a 3/3 spirit bear that heals your heart, mind, and soul along with Bearer of the Heavens, a 10/10 nuclear bomb that blows up the world when his arms get tired. They print Chromatic Lantern and Seer’s Lantern, and you realize that Lanterns don’t all have to make you hate your life; some are actually really good and others are actually straight garbage. And they print Bloodlord of Vaasgoth, a lord who is so baller that he has “Lord” in his name. What’s he the lord of, you ask? Oh, just Vaasgoth, the most metal-sounding place you’ve ever visited, gone insane, and transcended to become a Guitar Hero.

The point is, if you’re rocking out hard enough, Bloody V here is a 5-mana 6/6 that makes sure all of its death metal friends are similarly swole. Olivia Voldaren starts off as a 6/6 too. You thought Vampire Conquistador was annoying? Wait until it’s a 1-mana 4/5.

His Royal Bloodiness basically wants you to stop putting Lords in a box. Lords can have any power and toughness and grant any ability to their friends; no matter what they look like, every lord is beautiful.

 6. Sunpetal Grove

You wanna know why my good friend Gatherer and I consider Sunpetal Grove to be underplayed in Modern? Cuz its effing gorgeous, that’s why. Look at that art. It’s literally a grove of glowing-like-the-sun petals. Now, while I’m sure Sunpetal Grove would be a hotspot for potheads, I’m sure it would also be a popular location for marriage proposals. A place that could bring together such disparate parts of our society is a place that deserves more attention.

This also seems like a good opportunity to complain about the new art for Sunpetal Grove. Like, sure, it’s a grove of the “Sun Empire” so it’s kind of appropriate? But like… where are the petals? All I see are jungle trees. I much prefer the original art, and if I ever see anyone playing the new Sunpetal Grove in a Modern event, I will happily take my DQ for asking to see it, pulling it out of its sleeve, throwing it onto the ground, and lighting it on fire as I shout at it, “Yeah, NOW you’re glowing, aren’t you? AREN’T YOU?” If they’d just got some nice, original, Sunpetal Grove art with its pretty glowing sunpetals, we could’ve avoided this whole fiasco.

 7. Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier

 

 

So I’m really happy that this is one of the cards Gatherer’s RNG bestowed upon me because I (no lie) have actually played this card in Modern, in the sideboard of an Esper Control list alongside Baneslayer Angel. The primary reason to play this card is because of the utter confusion and surprise it elicits from opponents and because, well… it’s kinda good.

Some of my favorite moments include flashing this in against Eldrazi Tron alongside Baneslayer Angel, nombling up two of their tentacle monsters, and then swinging for nine the next turn; flashing this in against a lethal Bogle, blocking it, and then buying me another 10 turns as the Bogles player desperate searched for a lifelink aura, as otherwise, I could chump their attacker with a Lingering Soul, flip Avacyn, and kill them on the crackback; and flashing this in, Pushing a Spirit with the trigger on the stack, and wiping away my opponent’s entire board while being left with a flying, very angry 6/5 the next turn.

Avacyn may have rotated out of Standard, but she never rotated out of my heart.

 8. Emrakul, the Promised End

 

Okay, YOU GOT ME, this one wasn’t randomly generated, but it is most definitely underplayed in Modern. If you cast this card, you win. I’ve been playing it in Eldrazi Tron as a 1-of since the very first time I picked up the deck around 15 years ago.

For around 8 or 9 mana, you get to Mindslaver your opponent, emptying their hand of any sorcery-speed removal that could kill your 13/13, flying, trampling, unkillable god. Then, you give them a normal turn so that they can flail around pathetically as they attempt to not die to your 13/13, flying, trampling, unkillable god. Then, you make them die with your 13/13, flying, trampling, unkillable god. Seriously, I think I’ve lost like once ever after casting this lady. If someone can find a good shell for Emmy, they could crush.

As a sidenote, I’ve just always wanted to cast Emrakul against a combo player so that I could do their combo and then kill them with it. Ravager away their board, Scapeshift and kill them, become a Storm player and Grapeshot them for lethal; I Promise, the possibilities are Endless!

And there you have it! The 8 most underplayed cards in Modern, as decided by the random generator on Gatherer and rationalized by me! What do you think is missing from this list?

 

Ryan is a grinder from Boston with SCG & GP Top 8’s and a PT Day 2. His fragile self-esteem is built on approval from others, so be sure to tell him what you think of his articles on Twitter @RyanNormandin and in his Twitch chat at twitch.tv/norm_the_ryno.