Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue

Set Review: The Best of The Brothers’ War in Modern and Pioneer, Part 1

Season 16, Episode 3: Brewers' Guide to #MTGBRO, Part 1
 
Tuesday November 8 is election day in the United States. If you’re in the US, this is your friendly reminder to get out there and cast your vote.
Maybe you already voted, or already made plans to? If that’s the case, congratulations, you are awesome. Why not check on your people today?Check on your parents, check on your friends. A gentle reminder can go a long way, and voting in these midterms is one of the most important things you can do.
So go take care of that, and then come back here because we’ve got a great show for you coming up.
 
[3:11] Housekeeping
[5:44] Fortified Beachhead
[8:54] Haywire Mite
[11:58] Teething Wurmlet
[15:12] Lay Down Arms
[16:58] Audacity
[18:21] Bushwhack
[20:32] Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist
[25:47] Goblin Blastrunner
[27:02] Combat Courier
[28:17] Mishra’s Command
[30:29] Fallaji Archaeologist
[34:47] Go for the Throat
[35:55] Thopter Mechanic
[38:10] Zephyr Sentinel
[40:16] Feldon, Ronom Excavator
[43:35] Sarinth Steelseeker
[47:14] Soul Partition
[50:01] Diabolic Intent
[53:17] Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam
[56:20] Awaken the Woods
[58:13] Bitter Reunion
[1:00:42] Scrapwork Mutt
[1:03:18] Harbin, Vanguard Aviator
[1:05:01] Third Path Iconoclast
[1:09:29] Evangel of Synthesis
[1:11:44] Bladewhip Transmogrant
[1:14:05] Transmogrant’s Crown
[1:17:12] The Stone Brain
[1:18:15] Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard
[1:19:37] Levitating Statue
[1:20:40] Recommission
[1:22:22] Yotian Dissident
[1:23:34] Obliterating Bolt
[1:24:38] Final thoughts

The Faithless Brewing Secret Lair: 30 Years of Sweet Designs, Part 2

Season 16, Episode 2: The Faithless Brewing SL, part 2On today´s episode, Cavedan and Morde go into the remaining years of their own customised secret lair through the ages. Will they agree on most of their choices? Or will Morde keep making choices that will drive Dan insane? Tune in to find out.
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
 
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 

The Faithless Brewing Secret Lair: 30 Years of Sweet Designs, Part 1

Season 16, Episode 1: Magic 30 Celebration

Angels and Demons: Fun Pioneer Decks to Try Before #MTGBRO

Season 15, Episode 20: Brew Session (Ertai Resurrected, Vesuvan Duplimancy, Kaalia, Zenith Seeker) + Flashback (The Elder Dragon War)
The end of days approaches! Or at least, the end of Dominaria United season. With The Brothers’ War just around the corner, David has unfinished business with a few intriguing cards from recent sets.
Have you ever countered your own Demonic Pact trigger with Ertai Resurrected? Or used Kaalia, Zenith Seeker to find Serra Paragon and Blade of the Oni, and then re-bought the Kaalia with the Paragon? Or how about setting up Vesuvan Duplimancy and then unleashing Goblin Dark-Dwellers for an instant army in a can?
If you answered “No” to these questions, it’s possible that you’ve settled for having less fun than you could. David is here to explain some of his wilder Pioneer concepts, with an assist from the prodigal co-host, Zach “Manacymbal” Ryl.
The crew also discusses their testing results with The Elder Dragon War, looking at two different concepts.
 
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
 
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
Zach’s Izzet Rielle Looting
David’s Naya Brought Back
David’s Naya Brought Back (proposed update)
David’s Grixis Demonic Release
David’s Mardu Angels and Demons
David’s Izzet Duplimancy

The Elder Dragon War: When 4x Fable of the Mirror-Breaker Just Isn’t Enough

Season 15, Episode 19: Brew Session (The Elder Dragon War) + Flashback (Haughty Djinn)
You can get a lot from a Saga these days. For just one easy payment of 2RR, you can get a fresh hand of cards, a large flying Dragon, and maybe even some removal to boot. That would be a pretty good deal, if not for the fact that Fable of the Mirror-Breaker offers an even better deal at a lower price point.
There’s no doubt that The Elder Dragon War is a weaker card than Fable, but the two play similar roles. Is it perhaps time for a Batman & Robin style team-up? If Fable is a key card in several strategies, would those decks want even more copies of the Fable effect?
Today we explore this possibility in both Modern and Pioneer. A surprising Power Conduit Sagas deck has already made a splash in Modern, and in the more forgiving Pioneer format there are many potential synergies to unlock. We explore four possible homes for EDW (and yes, they all start with a playset of Fable).
On the Flashback, we review our findings with Haughty Djinn in Pioneer.
 
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
 
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists and Timestamps
Brew Session: The Elder Dragon War
[3:44] Key questions
[11:06] Power Conduit Sagas by Xenowan
[20:34] Gruul Possibility Storm by Zeth4
[26:28] David’s Izzet Rielle Looting
[32:20] David’s Naya Brought Back
Flashback: Haughty Djinn
[43:30] David’s Izzet Flying

These Cards Should Be Unbanned in Modern

Season 15, Episode 18: Weekly Roundup
Yorion, Sky Nomad is the latest addition to Modern’s endless ranks of the banned. There are now 48 cards in Modern jail, some of which have been there since the beginning.
Today on Faithless Brewing, the crew takes a hard look at the Modern ban list to see whether it stands up to scrutiny in the post-MH2 era. With so much power creep, many cards could likely be released back into the format safely, joining the ranks of successful unbans like Sword of the Meek, Valakut, Wild Nacatl, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Broadly speaking, the banned cards fall into six categories.
Category 1: Gone forever. These are the best of the best, the most broken of the broko. They should be locked away until the end of time. (Example: Hogaak, Oko, Dark Depths).
Category 2: Banished for reasons other than power level. These cards are problematic for reasons other than win rate, and are therefore also gone forever. (Ex: Sensei’s Divining Top, Second Sunrise, KCI).
Category 3: Safe, but no upside. Some cards only support a single deck or combo. Even if those combos are not overpowered (and in fact some are likely quite weak), their existence would be a net negative on the format. There is no upside to ever unbanning these cards. (Ex: Blazing Shoal, Hypergenesis, Splinter Twin)
Category 4: Risky and probably not okay. These cards used to be too powerful. Today, they’d fall in the gray area. If you want to live dangerously, you could unban them, but they are likely still too strong. (Ex: Mystic Sanctuary, Eye of Ugin, Glimpse of Nature)
Category 5: Risky but probably okay. These are powerful cards that would impact the meta. The resulting decks would likely be fine, but would need to be watched carefully. (Ex: Faithless Looting, Birthing Pod, Seething Song)
Category 6: Should be unbanned today. These cards are completely safe to unban, and Wizards should do so as soon as possible. (Ex: Preordain, Bridge from Below, artifact lands).
Cavedan and Morde don’t see eye to eye on everything, but they broadly agree that the current ban list is outdated and too conservative. Which cards are the most controversial, and which ones did we get right and wrong? Listen to the full episode to find out!
 
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
 
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists and Timestamps
[1:01] Eulogy for a Sky Noodle
[4:42] Housekeeping
[6:56] Dissecting the Yorion ban
[13:18] Where does Modern go next?
[20:44] Brewing after Yorion: Morde’s journey begins
[30:16] The state of the Modern ban list: Oct 2022
[36:35] Category 1: Gone forever
[40:47] Category 2: Banished for reasons other than power level
[42:29] Category 3: Safe, but no upside
[46:24] Category 4: Risky and probably not okay
[51:43] Category 5: Risky but probably okay
[56:42] Category 6: Should be unbanned today
[1:11:18] A modest proposal
 
 
 
 

Haughty Djinn: Don’t Sleep On This Genie

Season 15, Episode 17: Brew Session (Haughty Djinn) + Flashback (Soul of Windgrace, Tolarian Terror)
Cost reduction creatures are incredibly dangerous. Modern players know that Baral, Chief of Compliance and Goblin Electromancer must be killed on sight. If your opponent untaps with a cost reducer, you will surely be buried beneath an avalanche of spells.
Still, it’s not so hard to kill a 2/2 or 1/3. Electromancer isn’t scaring anyone in the red zone, and Baral has skipped leg day every day of his life. For most of Magic’s history, phenomenal cost reduction also means itty bitty power and toughness.
But all that is about to change. Haughty Djinn is a cost reduction creature that slaps HARD. We’re talking Enigma Drake, Crackling Drake, massive one-hit-kill territory. To be sure, Drakes also need to be killed on sight, so there’s not a huge change on that front. But we’ve never seen cost reduction paired with such impressive power and toughness, on a flyer no less. This is a rare combination and a dream worth chasing.
David has some ideas for Haughty Djinn in Pioneer, and Cavedan is dusting off the spellbook to find the best instants and sorceries to feed the genie. Will this be the Djinn that grants all of our wishes? There’s only one way to find out.
 
****
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
****
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
****
 
Decklists and Timestamps
[2:19] Housekeeping
[5:12] Brew Session: Haughty Djinn
[8:02] Building around cost reduction
[11:43] Theat packages
[13:30] Key synergies
[18:53] David’s Izzet Djinn
[24:05] David’s Dimir Flying
[37:28] Flashback: Soul of Windgrace, Tolarian Terror
[38:24] David’s Jund Titan Ramp
[47:55] Dimir Terror by erbianchuibeifang

Conspiracy Town: The REAL Story Behind $1000 Boosters