Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue

Zendikar Rising, Episode 16: Modern Wish List

The snow is falling, the previews are sizzling, and the holiday spirit is in the air. And what says "holiday spirit" better than a giant wish list of cards we'd like to see printed into our favorite format? Modern Horizons 2 doesn't release until later next year, but that hasn't stopped us from dreaming big. Let's just hope that Modern is on the "Nice" list this year!

Meanwhile on the Flashback, our testing with Heartless Summoning led us down wildly divergent paths, from the clickiest of click-heavy combos, to the fairest of the fair Jund decks, to the greediest of greedy Titan decks. When the dust settled, we'd notched a 24-11 record across seven leagues, and Heartless felt incredibly powerful in every build. Is it possible that the card has been slept on for too long?

Also in this edition: a first look at Kaldheim, Splinter Fin combo, and an unholy alliance of Rogues and Crabs.

Decklists for Episode 85 can be found here: https://faithlessbrewing.com/40-cards-wed-like-to-see-in-modern-horizons-2/

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Zendikar Rising, Episode 15: Heartless Summoning

Heartless Summoning holds a special fascination for Modern brewers. So much of the card screams “broken”: it’s low cost, splashable, and provides massive cost reduction. The drawback of shrinking your creatures can be a combo enabler in itself. Effects like this are very rare, and very dangerous.

And yet, after 10 years, the ugly truth is that Heartless Summoning has yet to find any tournament success. Many have tried, and many have failed. Just four 5-0s are recorded in the last three years. Most brewers have cut their losses and given up the quest. For a few, the card has become an obsession, such as this modern day Captain Ahab who has uploaded 106(!) Heartless lists to MTGGoldfish in the past six months alone. 

So what does the future hold for Heartless Summoning? Modern has changed drastically in the last two years, and new tools are always being added. Is it possible that a broken Heartless deck is just waiting to be discovered? Or are we also doomed to failure as we chase Modern’s white whale? We’ve got five new decklists and a half-dozen more bizarre ideas, so let’s find out!

Decklists for Episode 84 can be found here: https://faithlessbrewing.com/heartless-summoning-the-white-whale-of-modern/

Also in this edition: 

Happy brewing!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Zendikar Rising, Episode 14: Sea Gate Stormcaller

Snapcaster Mage has been with us since 2011. In those ten years, we have learned an important lesson: Accept no substitutes! New printings might aspire to the throne, but no one can topple the King of Snap.

So what does that mean for a card like Sea Gate Stormcaller? The stats are similar, but the play pattern is entirely different: Stormcaller plays at sorcery speed, and only works on small spells that are still in your hand. The upside? You get a very tempo-positive turn, and a copy effect that interacts favorably with additional costs like Neoform or Village Rites. Stormcaller is a challenge to be sure, but a potentially rewarding one if we can crack the code. Time to put on our brewing caps and head to the queues!

Also in this edition: the impact of Lightning Bolt, Big Red in Pioneer, Mardu Smallpox in Modern, testing with Astral Drift, and more.

Decklists for Episode 83 can be found here

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Zendikar Rising, Episode 14: Brewers' Choice Nominees

Seventeen cards are on the ballot for the next edition of Brewers' Choice. The nominees run the gamut: exciting new printings (Valakut Exploration, Confounding Conundrum, Zendikar MDFCs), classic staples (Tarmogoyf, Life from the Loam, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord), tricky tools (Witch's Cottage, Lazav, the Multifarious), and wacky engines (Heartless Summoning, Mirror Gallery, Paradox Engine). There's even a card that first appeared in Legends, and is still best in class more than two decades later (Boomerang)!

We've done our best to assess each card's strengths and weaknesses, but what happens next is up to you. Which card(s) will get featured in an upcoming episode of Faithless Brewing? Sign up for our patron poll and tell us what you'd like to see!

Decklists for Episode 82

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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David has been pretty adamant that Zendikar Rising's party mechanic is not meant for Constructed. It's not hard to see why: getting four unique creatures onto the battlefield is exceedingly rare in Modern and Pioneer. It doesn't help that most of the Party payoff cards use cost reduction: imagine trying to cast Karn Liberated if all of your Mines, Towers, and Power Plants died to Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt.

Nevertheless, some of the payoffs are enticing, especially Coveted Prize, Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats, and Archpriest of Iona. 2020 has been an exceedingly long year, and we sure would like to party. There’s no shortage of Rogues, Clerics, Warriors, and Wizards if you’re willing to do a little digging, so fire up Scryfall and let’s dig! The decklists are spicy and the squad is lit, so grab the supplies, assemble your crew and let’s get the party started!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Zendikar Rising, Episode 11: Glasspool Mimic

The best-kept secret from Zendikar Rising has been hiding right in your manabase. While flashier mythics have grabbed the headlines, Glasspool has quietly burrowed into a huge variety of successful decklists. Does your deck play creatures? Would you perhaps like more of those creatures? Look no further, Glasspool is your Mimic, at the low cost of a tapped blue land.

Optionality is powerful and the baseline stats are already solid, but synergies with Aether Vial, Collected Company, and blink effects might just take Glasspool to the next level. There's only one way to find out!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Decklists for Episode 80

Zendikar Rising, Episode 10: Leveling Up with Aspiringspike

Fresh off a PTQ win, Evart Moughon aka Aspiringspike returns to answer listener questions about the state of Modern and Pioneer, the future of control, tips for aspiring brewers, and how to improve as a Magic player. Also on the Flashback: another trophy with Zombies, and a cool new twist on Reanimator.

Where to find Evart

Stream: twitch.tv/aspiringspike (9am-3pm CST, Mon-Fri)

Twitter: @MoughonEvart

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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New articles this week:

"At the Dive-In: Heliod Company Is the Deck to Beat This Weekend" by Stanislav

Zendikar Rising, Episode 9: Halloween Spooktacular

The Day of Reckoning draws closer as the US elections are just days away. But before that, it's All Hallows' Eve! What could be more fitting than a full-on Halloween Thriller, with Zombies, creepy crawlies, and monsters rising from the grave? You can join the army of the Walking Dead, or you can Thwart the Grave and fight another day. The choice is yours!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Decklists for Episode 78

New articles this week:

"At the Dive-In: Heliod Company Is the Deck to Beat This Weekend" by Stanislav

"Daily Brew: Abzan Counters with Luminarch Aspirant" by David

Zendikar Rising, Episode 8: Rogues Week

Thieves' Guild Enforcer doesn't look like much, but the sneaky 1-drop has begun to prove its chops across Magic's formats. What began as a mini renaissance for delver strategies has blossomed into full-on Rogues tribal with the advent of Zendikar Rising. So what exactly is a Rogues deck, and which Rogues are strong enough to make the cut? We've got a few different builds for Modern and Pioneer, so let's find out in the queues!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Decklists for Episode 77

Zendikar Rising, Episode 7: Luminarch Aspirant

Alright, we admit it: we've been known to bag on the color White in the past. We called it the worst color for constructed, and even dedicated a whole episode to seven bad white cards from Core 2021. Wizards vowed to improve the color's fortunes, even promising that Zendikar Rising would contain powerful White cards. And you know what? They delivered!

With Skyclave Apparition currently the darling of Modern, we're taking a week to highlight another strong creature that is still mostly flying under the radar. Luminarch Aspirant may not look like much, but it is quietly putting up 5-0s in both Modern and Pioneer. This is perhaps the largest standalone 2 drop White has ever seen, and it synergizes with +1/+1 counters and Human tribal to boot. Don't sleep on it!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Decklists for Episode 76

New articles this week:

From the Ashes: Magmatic Channeler and the Return of Izzet Phoenix

Daily Brew: Ninja Rogues in Modern

Daily Brew: Mardu Vampire Channeler