Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue

Modern State of the Format: The Dark Lord Sauron Assembles Tron

Season 18, Episode 26: Weekly Roundup
Lawson Zandi returns to break down the results from Pro Tour: Barcelona, where The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters put on dominant displays. Big mana was the big winner, with Tron and Amulet Titan harnessing The One Ring to tremendous effect while going way over the top of midrange and control players who had planned to outduel Rakdos Scam. And as for Rakdos itself? The most popular deck was also among the winningest decks, making it a ripe target for action in Monday’s upcoming B&R window.
There’s plenty to unpack this week, as we take stock of the current state of the format and speculate where Modern can go from here. We also take a look at Wilds of Eldraine, analyzing the first batch of sneak peek preview cards.
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

The Time of the Orc Has Come: Modern Before the Pro Tour & Kefnet in Pioneer

Season 18, Episode 25: Weekly Roundup + Brew Session (God-Eternal Kefnet)
The age of man is over. You know what comes next.
David, Morde, and Manacymbal join forces this week for a Modern + Pioneer doubleheader. With Pro Tour weekend approaching, the M&M boys have their eyes on some spicy numbers in Modern, including a challenge-winning Game Objects deck with both Samwise Gamgee and Lonis, Cryptozoologist. Meanwhile, David is back in the laboratory in Pioneer, brewing up fresh concepts with a surprising combo engine: God-Eternal Kefnet!
 

The Best Kept Secret in Modern: An Interview with DackFayden07, the Lord of the Brews

Season 18, Episode 24: Modern 5-0s with Dack_Fayden07
The Greatest Thief in the Multiverse has stolen The One Ring, and stolen our hearts! Josip Jukic, better known as DackFayden07, has been on a stunning streak of 5-0 results, racking up trophy after trophy with original Lord of the Rings brews. He is the best kept secret in Modern, a Croatian aspiringspike, an indomitable brewer and a talented Blues Rock musician besides.
So what is the secret to Dack’s tremendous success? We find out today in a massive interview. Cavedan and Josip discuss the state of Modern with The One Ring, Orcish Bowmasters, and Delighted Halfling, and then take a deep dive into eight of Dack’s trophy winning Modern lists. They also peer into the Palantir to divine the future of Lord of the Rings in Modern. Which cards have more undiscovered potential? Josip has some ideas, and when he speaks, we listen.
Where to find Josip:
Subscribe to the Dack_Fayden07 YouTube Channel
Join the DackFayden07 Discord
Follow Josip on Twitter
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
Rakdos Rings ft. Waste Not (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Naya Winota Legends (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Bowmasters HollowVine (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Giada Flash Esper Scam (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Asmo Wizard Kitchen ft. Flame of Anor (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Urborg Scavengers Domain Zoo (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Zoo Ring ReScaminator (Decklist) (Gameplay)
Abzan Nissa Scam (Decklist) (Gameplay)

Archfiend Like a BOSS: Brewing with the New Dimir Inverter

Season 18, Episode 23: Brew Session (Archfiend of the Dross) + Flashback (Invasion of Gobakhan)
Archfiend of the Dross burst onto the scene at DreamHack Dallas, where cftsoc unleashed a devastating combo with Metamorphic Alteration that took the tournament by storm. Turning an opponent’s creature into a copy of Archfiend, without access to Oil counters, means instant death on their upkeep. The one two punch of a 6/6 flier for 2BB, paired with a blue two drop, harkens back to the days of Dimir Inverter, when the unique combo-control strategy menaced the Pioneer format while racking up an impressive 47% win rate.
Excitement for the Archfiend combo has abated in recent weeks. Despite the heavy scrutiny among dedicated Pioneer players, there is still no stock build of the combo that has delivered consistent results. While cftsoc splashed blue into a mostly Rakdos shell, others like laa11 and DJeffMTG have pushed for a dedicated Dimir build. Then there are weirder options like Golgari Fight Rigging, or even Jund with Harmless Offering — all decks predicated on the promising observation that Archfiend of the Dross is a powerful standalone card. This is a combo that should work, and it’s a great mystery why the new Inverter has so far failed to live up to its billing.
Today on Faithless Brewing, David and Cavedan put on their sleuthing caps to get to the bottom of the mysterious missing demon. We look at eight different Pioneer builds with Archfiend, some featuring Metamorphic Alteration, and others not. We also review our testing results with Invasion of Gobakhan, which snagged David a nifty 5-0 trophy with a unique aggro brew.
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
David’s Sultai Fiend Rigging
Sultai Fight Rigging by biz1 (5-0)
David’s Jund Harmless Offering
Dimir Archfiend Combo by DJeffMTG
Dimir Alteration (Yorion) by laa11 (5-0)
Dimir JVP Alteration by OafMcNamara (T16 Pioneer Challenge)
David’s Atraxa Rise to Glory
Drossed to Kill by KilgoreTrout503
David’s RW Shatterskull Invasion (5-0)
Dan’s BW Demonic Processors
 

The Brew Review: We Asked Listeners for Their Spiciest Decklists

Season 18, Episode 22: The Brew Review (July 2023)
David and Cavedan review 10 spicy decks submitted by our listeners. Is the next great Modern or Pioneer deck hiding among them?
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
Naya Exile by LurkingEvil
UB Rogues by Woosh
the Rock by Briger
Dredge for Bones by TuesdayTastic
Ms. Marvel by Ignacio E.
Legendary Combos by Patrick Thomas (ptom)
Winota Mardu Blink by Spencer Hanks
UB Cauldron (Pioneer Living End) by Odince
Vesuvan Mindbreaker of the Dross by Brandon Redden
Mono Green Jeskai Ascendancy by Topher

Orcish Bowmasters: Looks Like Meat’s Back on the Menu, Boys!

Season 18, Episode 21: Brew Session (Orcish Bowmasters) + Flashback (Chrome Host Seedshark)
Orcish Bowmasters was flagged early on as one of the top Modern cards from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth — and, it turns out, one of the most powerful Commander cards to boot. Everyone loved the base stats (a guaranteed 1/1! a free ping! instant speed!) and the potential for so much more. The only problem? No one could actually name a deck where Bowmasters fit.
One week after release, questions are beginning to be answered. Is Bowmasters strong enough on rate to slot into fair, low synergy decks? For Rakdos Scam and BG Rock players, the answer seems to be yes. But the ceiling on Bowmasters is much higher, and its baseline strength opens up many further brewing possibilities.
Today on Faithless Brewing, cavedan and Manacymbal tumble down the rabbit hole of Bowmaster brews, going deep into the world of Slitherwisp Flash, go-wide strategies with Convoke or Winota, and good old fashioned Sacrifice synergies. But we don’t stop there. Down in the icy depths, far beneath the iceberg, more adventurous brews await with forced card draw and “wheel” effects, from Narset + Dark Deal, to Burning Inquiry, and even Waste Not. Many of these strategies have already found success, and there’s still so much further to go.
Long term, it’s unclear whether Bowmasters has Modern legs. But what about their legs? They don’t need those. All we know for sure is that meat’s back on the menu, and we’re here for it. Happy brewing!
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
Rakdos Scam by yungdingo (5-0)
Esper Goryo’s by Gab Nassif (5-0)
BG Rock with Saga by ElectricBob (5-0)
Golgari Yawgmoth by Xerk (Challenge Winner)
Rakdos Sac by aspiringspike
4c Slitherwisp by MordeToLight
UB Narset Wheels by wutup (T16 Modern Challenge)
Burning Inquiry Breach by benchsummer (4-1)
Flumph Combo by Iamthelaw2004
 

One Ring to Rule Them All: Day 1 Modern Brews

Season 18, Episode 20: Brew Session (Lord of the Rings Day 1)
Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth hit the digital streets this week and already the Modern format is awash in brews. Morde and Manacymbal are on the case, sorting the wheat from the chaff and also firing off a half dozen decklists of their own.
The early winner is The One Ring, a card that looks so intensely powerful that the sky is the limit. Any deck capable of generating sufficient mana to cast The One Ring and deploy the endless cards it draws should slip on Bilbo’s ring. After all, why not? Why shouldn’t we brew it?
Beyond the raw power of the Ring, specific combos are the next big winner. Samwise Gamgee supports a new Cauldron Familiar loop, while Forge Anew gives more options to Hammer (and is especially tricksy with Kaldra Compleat). Orcish Bowmasters has massive hype (largely from EDH) but struggles to find a decent home outside of Morde’s crazy Esper Flash.
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Decklists
Mono Black Coffers
Unholy Tron Mashup
Green Tron (Sourced from AspiringSpike)
Freakunasty Samwise 1
Freakunasty Samwise 2

Gobakhan Girls, Training Grounds, and the Sad Tale of Owen Hawker

Season 18, Episode 19: Brew Session (Invasion of Gobakhan) + Flashback (Omen Hawker + Training Grounds)
Where were you when they invaded Gobakhan? On that fateful morning, when the World Tree stopped turning?
We asked our researchers some important questions, like, Where is Gobakhan anyway? What is a Battle? Why did Invasion of Gobakhan spike to $20, and still hovers at $10 despite being a medium powered rare?
Answers are coming, but we’ll need to put on our brewing caps. David has three Pioneer decks meant to exploit Invasion of Gobakhan, using synergies with +1/+1 counters, Eldrazi Processors, and even casting things from exile (thanks, Pia Nalaar!).
On the Flashback, Zach went deep on Omen Hawker and Training Grounds, building numerous versions of combo decks with Drafna and Rona, while brewer extraordinaire laa11 honed a Blue Devotion Omen Hawker list. We also tried UW Lotus Field, which has finally seen breakout success in Pioneer in recent weeks.
Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!
Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com