Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue

A Magic: the Gathering podcast for the spike rogue. Each week, we brew new decks in Modern and Pioneer. We put our creations to the test and share our findings on the air: what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved for next time. Are you sick of going 0-5? We can help you go 3-2, in style! Created by Dan Schriever (@CavedanMTG), David Robertson (resident brew master), and Damon Alexander (brewer emeritus), and featuring Zach Ryl (@Manacymbal) & Emi Sagasti (@MordeToLight). Whether you’re a jank brewer, Day 2 warrior, FNM hero, or kitchen table end boss, our goal is to inspire your next great Magic deck. Take the Oath of Brewers and join our Discord community at patreon.com/faithlessbrewing, and visit our homepage FaithlessBrewing.com for all of our latest decklists.
Episodes
Episodes


Friday Oct 15, 2021
Murktide Musings: Phoenix, Titan‘s Nest, and #GazeGang 5-0s
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Season 11, Episode 12: Weekly Roundup + Flashback (Otherworldy Gaze, Suspicious Stowaway)
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Sunday Oct 10, 2021
Wolves on a Sailboat: Suspicious Brews with Seafaring Werewolf
Sunday Oct 10, 2021
Sunday Oct 10, 2021
Season 11, Episode 11: Brew Session (Suspicious Stowaway // Seafaring Werewolf) + Flashback (Slogurk, the Overslime)
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Timestamps
Brew Session: Suspicious Stowaway[2:18] Theorycrafting[9:12] Sketch 1: Mono Blue Tempo[14:20] Sketch 2: Bant Jolrael[16:54] Sketch 3: Werewolf Flash[21:14] Sketch 4: Rielle Looters[23:16] Sketch 5: Esper Lurrus ControlFlashback: Slogurk, the Overslime[30:36] Bears Go Brrrrr: 0-5 league[40:12] Sultai Goryo's: 2-3 league[48:03] Bant Value Town: 3-2 league[52:00] 4c Yorion Blink: 3-2 league[58:25] Closing thoughts


Friday Oct 08, 2021
Breaking the Curse of Silence in Modern
Friday Oct 08, 2021
Friday Oct 08, 2021
Season 11, Episode 10: Brew Session (Curse of Silence)
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Saturday Oct 02, 2021
Slime Time! Modern Combos with Slogurk, the Overslime
Saturday Oct 02, 2021
Saturday Oct 02, 2021
Season 11, Episode 9: Brew Session (Slogurk, the Overslime) + Flashback (Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset)
Creatures above two mana have a hard time breaking into Modern, but Slogurk, the Overslime just might have what it takes. The leaves-the-battlefield trigger is worth three cards, which you get no matter what happens to Slogurk. The Ooze even comes with a built-in way to bounce itself, protecting itself from removal and cashing in on those three cards.
Broadly speaking, Slogurk asks us to 1) Put lands into the graveyard, then 2) Get lands back from the graveyard. We need to find cards that enable this efficiently and profit from the effort. This will take us into the Lands space, as well as synergies with Graveyard recursion and self-mill space. We also need to decide if we want to trigger Slogurk’s leaves-the-battlefield effect ourselves, or be content with relying on our opponent to kill Slogurk.
The list of Modern playables that feed into these synergies is very long indeed, so we’ll need to do our research to unlock the secrets of this ooze. We’ve got five new decklists with Slogurk to try to find a home for it in Modern. Slogurk is oozing with potential (sorry, had to do it) so let’s see what it can do!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Timestamps
Brew Session: Slogurk, the Overslime[4:38] Rules notes[7:49] How powerful is Slogurk?[11:02] Words of caution[13:13] Main play patterns[15:16] Sacrificing lands[17:50] Self mill[19:46] Discard outlets[22:05] Cards with similar payoffs[24:44] Landfall payoffs[26:20] Bears Go Brrrrr by Dylan_mtg[32:58] Goryo's Vengeance[38:06] 4c Landfall by Mordeka1ser[41:13] 4c Titania Knightfall[47:11] Bant Value TownFlashback: Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset[53:11] Bant Teferi BTL


Thursday Sep 30, 2021
Gazing at the New Modern: Zombies, Reclamation, and More
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
Season 11, Episode 8: Weekly Roundup + Flashback (Otherworldly Gaze)
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Timestamps
[4:40] CFB Las Vegas[6:23] COVID safety[13:16] SCG Con[16:18] A reminder that vaccines save lives[17:18] Roundup: New Modern tech[18:00] Rakdos Zombardment v1 by D00mwake[19:53] Rakdos Zombardment v2 by D00mwake[23:09] Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia[25:40] Memory Deluge[28:24] Sultai Reclamation[28:49] Temur Reclamation[32:01] Storm the Festival Ramp[37:49] Flashback: Otherworldly Gaze[45:32] Cavedan's Murktide Phoenix[48:02] Murktide Phoenix by AndySCWilson[49:22] Pyromancer Ascension 1.0[52:10] Pyromancer Ascension 1.1


Sunday Sep 26, 2021
Time Walkin‘ with Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
Sunday Sep 26, 2021
Sunday Sep 26, 2021
Season 11, Episode 7: Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset (Brew Session) + Picks of the Week
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Friday Sep 24, 2021
Otherworldly Gaze Is the Truth
Friday Sep 24, 2021
Friday Sep 24, 2021
Season 11, Episode 6: Otherworldly Gaze (Brew Session) + Faithful Mending (Flashback)
Otherworldly Gaze is the most polarizing card to come out of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. For some, the very idea of Gaze is anathema. “It doesn’t draw a card,” the haters say. “It’s Taigam’s Scamming all over again,” they say. “This effect is never worth a card.”
Haters are going to hate, but that doesn’t mean we have to listen to them. The truth is that any card with flashback does secretly say “draw a card” -- it’s just that the card you draw is always another copy of the spell. Then factor in that the flashback is often free if you manage to mill or discard Otherworldly Gaze (say, for example, off your first casting of Otherworldly Gaze). Both halves of Gaze are priced to move, at instant speed no less, and we already know that “surveil 3” is very powerful. If we can’t figure out how to make “surveil 3 twice” into a useful effect, that’s a deckbuilding failure, not a problem with Gaze itself.
Our testing last week with Faithful Mending already showed us the awesome power of Gaze, as we notched two 5-0 trophies (17-3 overall) with Jeskai Phoenix. Our build relies on Murktide Regent rather than Demilich, and uses a full boat of Otherworldly Gaze to find Arclight Phoenix and Ox of Agonas. We also tested out variations on Esper Reanimator, and found that Otherworldly Gaze has a nice home in that deck as well.
Today, we are going even deeper. Emboldened by his early successes, cavedan is looking to harness the power of Gaze in a slew of different archetypes in both Modern and Pioneer. There are infinite ways to get value from self mill + card selection, from old favorites like Pyromancer Ascension, Miracles, and Crabvine, to new toys like Calibrated Blast and Slogurk, the Overslime. We even get a little wild with a brew using Otherworldly Gaze to fuel Titan’s Nest and Willow Geist. And even this is just the tip of the iceberg. What other decks might be able to harness the power of the Gaze?
Happy brewing!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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Timestamps
[4:18] Flashback: Faithful Mending[6:08] Esper Reanimator by Spiderspace[15:18] Mulldrifter Reanimator by Watoo[18:32] Jeskai Demi Phoenix by aspiringspike[22:24] Jeskai Murktide Phoenix by cavedan[32:28] Deathless Peace of Mind by David[42:06] Brew Session: Otherworldly Gaze[45:46] Otherworldly Reanimator[49:53] Neoform + Gurmag Angler[52:11] Calibrated Blast[54:30] Echo of Eons[57:43] Crabvine[1:01:44] Sultai Titan's Nest[1:04:36] Jeskai Pyromancer Ascension[1:10:32] Izzet Phoenix[1:14:11] Closing Thoughts


Sunday Sep 19, 2021
Faithful Mending: A Second Chance at Looting, a Second Chance at Love
Sunday Sep 19, 2021
Sunday Sep 19, 2021
Season 11, Episode 5: Brew Session (Faithful Mending)
The great thing about Looting? You always get a second chance. Faithful Mending has all the rules text we love: draw 2, discard 2, flash it back for value. It is an instant, which opens up reactive play patterns that Faithless Looting could only dream of. You even pick up some life for your troubles. This is, beyond doubt, one of the most powerful cards from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt for the non-rotating formats.
Still, it is no easy thing to learn to fall in love again. Faithless Looting offered speed and efficiency that we will never see again. Mending’s best draws will always be slower than Looting, and the mana of Mending decks is also likely to be much more complicated than Looting ever was. Can we simply slot Faithful Mending into all of our old Looting decks and call it a day? Clearly not, although people will certainly try.
Today’s brew session marks the beginning of what is sure to be a long affair with Faithful Mending. We start with obvious homes like Izzet Phoenix and Esper Reanimator, both of which already notched Top 8 appearances in this weekend’s Modern Challenge. We also consider Esper Urza’s Kitchen, Dredge, and Blue-White Control. But the gloves really come off in Pioneer, where David has plans for Faithful Mending in God-Pharaoh’s Gift and some truly wild decks with Peace of Mind and Paladin Class.
“What has been banned can be restored. Faithless Looting lives on within us.” If the card is good, we have to rename the podcast.
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Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
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S11E05 Timestamps
[2:13] Brew Session: Faithful Mending[6:49] Dredge[9:22] Jeskai Phoenix[13:25] Esper Reanimator[19:49] Esper Urza's Kitchen[24:36] UW Chalice Control[28:55] UW God-Pharaoh's Gift[35:30] Deathless Peace of Mind[42:16] Cleric Class Lifegain




