Deck and Sideboard Guide 5/7/2024, PLUS plans for MH3!

Hello hello hello everyone, and welcome back to the last month of MH2 Modern. With MH3 dropping in June and the format about to see what is likely to be a huge shakeup, we have still seen a bit of change in the current meta. The biggest additions we’ve seen to the format are Affinity lists showcasing the strength of Simulacrum Synthesizer, as well as Prowess (Gruul, Izzet, and Temur) demonstrating the power of Slickshot Show-Off. 

Similarly to last month, I think Hammer’s spot is generally fine. I’ve seen more people start to pick Rakdos Scam back up in the last few weeks (bless), and so Hammer’s spot has gotten a bit better.

I am very excited for Modern Horizons 3 to drop, and see what happens with the meta going forward.

**As a note to everyone supporting me (that’s all of you right here, reading this): I am unsure what will happen when MH3 drops. The format may completely rotate similar to when MH2 dropped, new decks might rise up, old decks might come back, or existing decks will continue to dominate. There is really no way to know until we get closer to the set release. I can’t promise that I will still be playing this beloved archetype 3 months from now, but I can tell you that I will be trying out different versions in the coming months, and will adapt to a new archetype if Hammer does sink to a spot of unplayability. In the meantime, I appreciate everyone who sticks with me through that journey!**

***Additionally, I will be writing/recording separate content on the new cards as more become available and we get a more complete picture of what MH3 looks like.

With all that out of the way, here is the list for May!

Decklist

Sideboard Guide

**Disclaimer: make sure to adjust your mid-match decisions based on the specifics of any list you face and use this as a guideline, rather than a hard and fast rule! Sometimes vibes > guide.**

Notes on the current Configuration:

-No Gingerbrute, No Kaldra - Since this is still the most common question I’ve gotten recently, I figured it bears repeating. These haste threats simply don’t have the “oomph” that they once did. Why did they get worse though? 

• Yawgmoth nukes Cookie, and can even deal with the Kaldra.

• Leyline Binding and Boseiju have shifted the meta to simply be much more effective at removing the equipment, rather than the creatures. Additionally, Binding is very popular and simply cleans up the Kaldra.

• Lavaspur Boots are simply a much better topdeck, and can present much more consistent pressure. Additionally, they provide the haste utility that Cookie/Kaldra used to.

• Cryptic Coat largely replaces the evasion that both of these gave us. Additionally, the Ward 2 on the card means that it is quite a bit more resilient to Yawgmoth.

• Kaldra also used to simply end the game on the spot when you stuck it against RB Scam, Rhinos, or even Zoo. Now that RB scam is on a severe downswing, and both Rhinos/Zoo can race Kaldra with Scion + Leyline of the Guildpact, I am much less interested in grabbing the 7-mana monstrosity.

-Lavaspur Boots - Thi card has consistently impressed me, and it has been an excellent tool both at getting surprise kills, but also as a way to present repeated haste threats with Cryptic Coat in the late game.

- 0 Fomori Vault - Card was interesting, but ultimately it felt too slow in the fast matchups, and not impactful enough in the grindy matchups.

-Cryptic Coat - Coat has largely replaced both Gingerbrute and Kaldra, and has consistently overperformed by providing another backup plan all on its own against control/midrange shells. Reiterating my comments from last month in case you missed em, “ It is like what people always wanted Invisible Stalker to be. It is a solid body on its own, provides evasion, and can even grind out longer games by returning it to your hand and re-deploying it. Another thing to note: both Sigarda’s Aid and Paladin allow you to move the Coat. Aid lets you flash it in, create a free 2/2, and then move the Coat to another creature with the trigger. Puresteel Paladin grants the “equip 0” ability to the Coat, meaning that you can freely move it as long as you have Paladin in play. Coat also acts as a fair equipment that doubles as a shadowspear thanks to its evasion.”

-0 Giver - with 0 hatebears in the 75, and no need to play turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic and put Kaldra in, Giver simply has a lot less value than it used to.

-4 Thopter - Extra 0’s mean that we will go a bit faster more consistently. I’m about the thopter life right now.

-2 Memnite - With the addition of the boots to the deck, the turn 1 Saga, Drum, 0-drop creature are simply much more powerful. As such, maximizing those chances, as well as focusing on speed in the deck is a great spot to be at the moment.

-2 Gift - WIth the addition of Boots and Cryptic Coat over the last few months, Steelshaper’s Gift has picked up a lot more utility not only as extra hammers, but also the ability to grab haste/unblockable out of the deck at a moment’s notice.

-2/2 Surge MD/SB split - The meta is rewarding a faster kill at the moment right now, and is rewarding game 1 counterspells less than ever. The redundancy of removal spells has really pushed me to focus more on redundancy in threats rather than holding up protection spells. Postboard, Surge is a great tool to have more access to, and allows you to adjust to the expected removal suite.

Sideboard 

-2 Annul - This little counterspell has secretly been quite good for a while, but it didn’t hit quite enough targets/archetypes for me commit the slots. With the ability to attack Affinity while also tagging Ring, Leyline Binding, Amulet, Dryad, Dress Down, Hardened Scales, Oblivion Stone, and a slew of other cards, I think it is worth playing 1-2 copies at the moment. We trimmed 1 Cursed Totem and 1 Failure//Comply because the mapping worked out nicely that way, and we’ve seen a bit of a downtick in Yawgmoth’s popularity.

-2 Surge - Check the above commentary regarding the split. 

-3 Pierce - Having a ton of cheap interaction in the sideboard so you can flex numbers in and out according to expected games means that you have ways to fight just about everything. Pierce has picked up more utility since the adoption of Pick Your Poison to many decks in the format, and has a really wide angle of attack against the format writ large (especially post-board).

-2 Ending - Being able to trade even on mana with turn 1 threats is exactly what we want out of a removal spell in the deck, and being able to tag threats out of Prowess, Scam, Murktide are all really nice. Additionally, being able to slow down Yawg and Amulet Titan can be make or break in those matchups.

-2 Failure//Comply - The card still impresses me, but is a bit less impactful with us adding Annul as another counterspell. Card is good, but is likely the most cuttable piece in the current configuration.

-2 Totem - Even though there has been a downtick in it, Yawgmoth is still present and very spooky. Totem acts as the best card we’ve got against the deck, but it is hard to warrant the inclusion of 3 copies when Hardened Scales is basically non-existent in the meta. Deploy a Totem, protect it with a Surge, and you’re absolutely winning unless you have absolutely nothing going on.

-1 Needle - Card is incredibly flexible, and I always want to have access to 1 in my 75. 

-1 Soul-Guide Lantern - I wanted a card for Goryo’s Vengeance decks, and SGL is where I landed. I like it more than crypt since it can exile something on the way down and then also pops for 0 mana, or you can cash it in for a card if needed. Crypt is 0 mana, but is a 1-shot and is easier to play around for them. Plus it lacks the buyout clause which can be nice. Relic of Progenitus is the other reasonable choice, but I value the free Graveyard nuke over the slow eating that Relic provides with its tap ability.