Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue

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.
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

Set Review: Brewer’s Guide to Middle-Earth, Part 2

Season 18, Episode 18: Set Review (Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth)
With the full set of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth revealed and ready for action, Cavedan and Manacymbal join forces to rank the best new cards for Modern.
The set continues to deliver small role players and long shot build arounds, but few blue chip staples.
Stern Lesson is the cheapest version of Remove Soul, but that family of countermagic has no proven track record in constructed. Similarly, Flowering of the White Tree is the most powerful Anthem ever printed, but are Anthems viable in 2023 Modern? Goblins get a new toy in Moria Marauder, and Food strategies will be happy for the combo and value options that Samwise Gamgee provides.
Beyond those, we must look to the far green country for long shot brewing targets. Doors of Durin is both explosive and grindy, Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff has echoes of Ledger Shredder, and Phial of Galadriel offers intriguing card draw possibilities. One does not simply register a brew in Modern, but with good fellowship and true companions our quest for a new deck may yet succeed. Happy brewing!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Timestamps
[3:53] Housekeeping
[5:55] The One Ring bounty
[13:13] Great Hall of the Citadel
[14:53] Stern Scolding
[18:04] Troll of Khazad-dum
[20:21] Lorien Revealed
[21:10] Birthday Escape
[24:08] Stone of Erech
[26:59] Samwise Gamgee
[30:54] Moria Marauder
[33:36] Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
[36:13] Flowering of the White Tree
[38:43] Spiteful Banditry
[41:06] Shadow Summoning
[44:12] Theoden, King of Rohan
[45:52] Flame of Anur
[49:08] Phial of Galadriel
[53:24] Galadriel, the Lady of Lorien
[59:18] Sauron’s Ransom
[1:02:06] Radagast the Brown
[1:04:20] King of the Oathbreakers
[1:06:17] Doors of Durin
[1:10:20] There and Back Again
[1:13:38] The Balrogs
[1:16:17] Final thoughts

Pioneer State of the Format: June 2023 (ft. Lawson Zandi)

Season 18, Episode 17: Weekly Roundup
The US Regional Championships are in the books, where Pioneer took the spotlight once again. 1200 players descended upon Dreamhack Dallas to do battle with the strongest decks in the format, and put the newcomer Boros Convoke (”Boros Hogaak”) to the test. In the end, it was Engimatic Fires that ran the tables in the swiss, and Rakdos Sacrifice and Azorius Spirits that posted the top winrates overall. Boros, meanwhile, languished at a mere 47% win rate, and stock Rakdos Midrange (the most popular deck by far) performed even worse.
Lawson Zandi returns to analyze the state of Pioneer and share his findings testing for the event. What went wrong for Boros, and what can we expect going foward? Lawson and Cavedan also pick out under the radar sleepers from the RC, including a brand new Inverter-style combo using Archfiend of the Dross and Metamorphic Alteration.
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Decklists
Mono Green Devotion vs Lotus Field Matchup Strategy
Enigmatic Fires by Elliot Raff
Dimir Rogues by Toph Robinson
Boros Convoke by Max McVety
Mono Green Devotion by Evart Moughon
Rakdos Goblins by Luke Goodwin
Neoform Atraxa by Brent Waggoner
Archfiend Alteration by cftsoc

Set Review: Brewer’s Guide to Middle Earth, Part 1

Season 18, Episode 16: Set Review (Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth)
Morde and Manacymbal join forces to analyze the best Modern cards from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. Very few of these cards seem flashy enough for 2023 Modern, but heed Tolkien’s advice: all that is gold does not glitter. A brave little hobbit, such as Rosie Cotton of South Lane, might have the right stats to enable a new infinite combo, and the interactive value provided by Orcish Bowmasters gets more powerful in older formats. A legendary land cycle has generous activated abilities, and Equipment decks get a new toy in Forge Anew. Will any of these cards break in to the brutally powerful Modern meta? Let’s find out!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Timestamps
[2:47] Housekeeping
[4:02] Middle-Earth: First impressions
[10:37] Barad-dur
[11:51] Minas Tirith
[13:02] Mines of Moria
[13:55] Many Partings
[15:31] Delighted Halfling
[17:50] Oliphaunt + Generous Ent
[19:20] Long List of the Ents
[22:50] Shelob’s Ambush
[25:44] Orcish Bowmasters
[28:44] Westfold Rider
[30:13] Council’s Deliberation
[32:39] Nasty End
[33:17] Boromir, Warden of the Tower
[34:56] Rosie Cotton of South Lane
[38:46] Forge Anew
[42:17] Grishnakh, Brash Instigator
[44:18] Swarming of Moria
[45:13] Fires of Mount Doom
[47:38] Nazgul
[53:59] Bill the Pony
[56:19] Hew the Entwood
[58:16] Tom Bombadil
[59:07] Gandalf the White
[1:06:30] Aragorn, the Uniter
[1:07:50] Sauron, the Dark Lord
[1:09:38] March from the Black Gate
[1:15:24] Closing thoughts: the future of mini-sets

The Training Grounds: Activate Your Game with Omen Hawker

Season 18, Episode 15: Brew Session (Omen Hawker + Training Grounds)
The dream of Sol Ring is alive and well thanks to March of the Machine’s astonishing blue mana dork, Omen Hawker. This little one drop taps for stunning amounts of mana — but only to pay for activated abilities. It’s the kind of unique effect that promises so much power, but at the expense of consistency. Outside of oddballs like Zirda, Biomancer’s Familiar, Powerstone tokens and Renowned Weaponsmith, specialized mana producers like Omen Hawker were mostly going it alone.
Enter Training Grounds. This slick little reprint from March of the Machine: Aftermath suddenly doubles our options for a deck full of activated abilities, and opens up combo loops besides. It’s not an exact parallel: not every Omen Hawker deck will be a Training Grounds deck, but every Training Grounds deck can potential benefit from the Omen Hawker. This is a brewing space that has barely been touched in three decades of competitive Magic, so it’s all the more exciting to finally see what activated abilities can do.
Cavedan and David are brewing up a storm with eight new decklists featuring Omen Hawker, Training Grounds, or both. We’ve got Pioneer Drafna combo decks, Shark Typhoon control decks, pump knight aggro, Nykthos devotion, and even turbo Urza’s Saga. If that sounds far fetched, consider that Omen Hawker has already notched a 12th place Challenge finish in Modern, using Wizardcycling of all things! And the synergies in Pioneer keep getting better and better. It’s a great time to be a blue creature brewer, so head on down to The Training Grounds and Activate Your Game (TM).
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
 
Timestamps
[0:00] Manacymbal presents: Activate Your Game
[8:06] Brew Session: Omen Hawker + Training Grounds
[10:36] Key synergies
[16:41] Key similarities and differences
[21:05] UW Hawker Control by Pascal Maynard
[22:23] David’s UW Lotus Hawker
[29:59] David’s Simic Drafna Combo
[39:05] David’s Sultai Tome Diviner
[43:30] Dan’s Dimir Captive Weird
[47:38] David’s Dimir Wizard Class Combo
[52:17] Article: The complete guide to Blue Nykthos Devotion (ft. Omen Hawker) by laa11
[57:59] Izzet Wizardcycling by xfile
[1:02:13] Dan’s Sultai Tyvar Kitchen

Hogaak Summer 2023? Top Picks for Modern & Pioneer (ft. Manacymbal)

Season 18, Episode 14: Weekly Roundup
Magic Twitter is a place prone to meltdowns, that’s no surprise. But a meltdown over a Boros Convoke deck using Venerated Loxodon? That’s a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, with the Regional Championships around the corner, a “Hogaak Summer” has been declared by many grinders trying to break through in Pioneer.
Prolific streamer and Faithless Brewer-at-large Zach “Manacymbal” Ryl returns to help us sort through the latest technology in Modern and Pioneer, from new flavors of Izzet Control with Chandra, Hope’s Beacon, to a unique Golgari Elves toolbox, and a surprisingly competitive build of Cragganwick Kitchen featuring Yargle and Multani. We also peer into the future of Standard with a major B&R coming that will set the tone for what 3-year Standard will look like.
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Timestamps
[1:34] Catching up with Manacymbal
[5:27] Housekeeping
[8:15] The future of Standard
[18:35] The Aftermath of MOM:Aftermath
[20:20] Boros Hogaak (RW Convoke) by Sodek
[27:56] Cragganwick Kitchen by Alesha_
[36:12] Jund Yargle Traverse by nikkuniku
[38:13] Pia Nalaar Prowess by Dack_Fayden07
[42:15] Izzet Chandra Control by TSPJendrek
[53:25] Golgari Elves Toolbox by rage_hs
[57:21] Gruul Samut Aggro by DookieTrouserMD

Can Lava Spike Save Pioneer? Brewer’s Mailbag May 2023

Season 18, Episode 13: Mailbag
David and Cavedan open up the brewer’s mailbag to field listener questions about the state of brewing in Modern and Pioneer, the health of the metagame, the future of Magic crossovers, and more. They also look at an impressive new combo deck using the Pioneer Elementals package and the Vadrok + Double Major combo.
 
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

Aftermath Six-Pack: Sarkhan Aflame, Ob Will Be One, Urborg Soulflayer and More

Season 18, Episode 12: Brew Session (Sarkhan, Soul Aflame, Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin, Narset, Enlightened Exile, Urborg Scavengers)
And just like that, March of the Machine: The Aftermath is here. Not sure where to get started? Never fear? David Robertson, our resident Pioneer brewmaster, has been cooking up a half dozen spicy decklists to get you ready for battle on Day 1. Here’s what’s on the menu:
Sarkhan, Soul Aflame allows explosive sequences with 5 mana dragons, building on Izzet ramp shells we’ve had good results with in the past. Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin can be a curve topper in value decks but also has a unique combo finish with All Will Be One. Narset, Enlightened Exile has drawn comparisons to Sheoldred: a seemingly clunky 4 drop that nevertheless runs away with the game if you untap. And Urborg Scavengers gives us a higher density of Soulflayers than ever before.
Can any of these decks crack the tier 1 Pioneer meta? Let’s find out!
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Timestamps
[4:46] Aftermath First Impressions
[14:34] Housekeeping
[16:08] Deck 1: Izzet Sarkhan Aflame
[27:11] Deck 2: Rakdos Backup
[36:36] Deck 3: Ob Will Be One
[46:43] Deck 4: Jeskai Narset Spells
[49:32] Deck 5: Boros Narset Tokens
[59:27] Deck 6: Sultai Urborg Scavengers