There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Beast Whisperer
4 Heritage Druid 4 Nettle Sentinel 4 Elvish Visionary 4 Llanowar Elves 1 Boreal Druid 1 Regal Force 1 Eternal Witness 1 Shaman of the Pack 1 Essence Warden 4 Dwynen's Elite 1 Dryad Arbor 4 Beck // Call 1 Manamorphose 4 Summoner's Pact 4 Cloudstone Curio 4 Forbidden Orchard 4 Windswept Heath 2 Wooded Foothills 1 Misty Rainforest 2 Forest 2 Breeding Pool 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 1 Stomping Ground
3 Gut Shot 4 Swan Song 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Reclamation Sage 4 Ancient Grudge 2 Outpost Siege
Random Trivia - I won my first ever PTQ with Matt Nass’s original Extended Combo Elves. Years later, I got my second GP Top 8 with Standard Hardened Scales, which was a Matt Nass creation that we randomly faced online and immediately started testing. I indirectly owe a lot of my success to Matt, even though I’ve never tested with him. Thanks Matt!
Although the tournament only went okay, the deck was capable of powerful things but never found a place in the meta, generally being outshined by non-Combo versions of Elves. With all that said, why would anyone be interested in a card that is twice the mana and dies to removal?
Well, I’m not sure if the card is worth building around, but there are some attractive qualities:
- Most importantly, it can be grabbed with cards like Summoner’s Pact, Chord of Calling, Lead the Stampede, or Primal Command
- As an Elf, it provides incidental benefit to cards like Heritage Druid and Elvish Archdruid
- It can be snuck in with Cavern of Souls, though the mana base is tight enough that there might not be room for it
- If you do manage to stick one in play versus Control, you get to draw cards off creatures you cast even if they get countered. Though, unlike Beck, you can’t take advantage of drawing off tokens
Playing Combo Elves is all about balancing card advantage and mana, the two main components of this engine deck. Being able to grab Beast Whisperer is a great outlet when you are heavy on mana and don’t have an Elvish Visionary / Heritage Druid / Cloudstone Curio loop ready to assemble. Perhaps the card ends up being too clunky and fragile, but the effect is powerful and worth exploring.Nullhide Ferox
Goblin Cratermaker
My theory on Modern sideboards is that you usually need to balance your 15 between cards that are homeruns in a narrow range of matchups and cards which are solid, but not game-ending, in a wide range of matchups. That’s because the format is too wide open to cover everything with narrow homerun cards, though White can get you the closest with access to Stony Silence and Rest in Peace.
Goblin Cratermaker is not going to be a homerun in any matchup, but it provides so much flexibility that it is almost maindeck worthy. It’s a bit too slow for the maindeck of the current hyper-aggro Goblins decks, but could be good enough if there is a slower Goblins deck, such as with lords. Note that if you are not taking advantage of the 2/2 body, the card is a lot less useful and Abrade could be better.
Necrotic Wound
What about elsewhere? Black midrange and control decks don’t play enough creatures for it to be reliable. In theory it could work out of Hollow One or Bridgevine but I don’t see it being worth any sideboard slots given both decks want to stick to their plan A of being aggressive.
Lava Coil
Macabre Hatchery (?) 3BB
Sorcery
Choose a creature card in your graveyard with converted mana cost 1. Then choose a creature with converted mana cost 2 and a creature with converted mana cost 3. Return those creatures to the battlefield.
This card hasn’t been officially revealed, but we can still consider the possibilities assuming it is real. It is reminiscent of cards like Rally the Ancestors and Return to the Ranks, being able to put bunch of creatures on the battlefield if you were willing to make the effort ahead of time to fill your graveyard. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this card was being able to grab Viscera Seer, Melira/Anafenza, and Kitchen Finks all at once. This could be useful postboard option for Melira Company versus grindy midrange and control matchups, but you need to make sure your graveyard won’t be under siege since your deck already relies on it a lot. Even if you’re not immediately grabbing your infinite combo from the graveyard, it’s pretty sweet value with Eternal Witness. Three arbitrary creatures might even be enough for the aggro plan B when coupled with Gavony Township.
What about as a maindeck card in a dedicated build? Unfortunately, costing 5 mana will likely prevent it from being competitive. Most of the proactive decks in Modern can effectively win by turn 4 if untouched and it’s unlikely you are going to have room for meaningful interaction to stall your opponents if you are focused on a fast graveyard-creature-combo. This is especially an issue if you don’t immediately win the game when you cast this sorcery. For example, you might gain infinite life and then get killed by an Inkmoth Nexus or have your board cleared and lose to Jace, Teferi, or Karn. If there’s a decent 1/2/3 instant kill in Modern, I’m a lot more interested, but not thrilled to build around filling my graveyard instead of getting to use Collected Company and Chord of Calling.
Random Ideas
Here are the rest of the notes I had while going through the cards revealed so far. Maybe they cause you to spark an interesting idea!
- Emmara, Soul of the Accord + Intruder Alarm + X for infinite lifelink tokens (Heritage Druid works)
- Ral, Izzet Viceroy or Expansion // Explosion in Storm sideboard. All three abilities on Ral work nicely for the deck postboard and you can play it early with rituals. Expansion can function as a counterspell in a counterwar, or let you double up on any of your spells. If you have a ton of mana with nothing to do, can Explosion to draw a bunch of cards
- Firemind’s Research - strong in a control mirror, but seems too mana intensive and better options exist like Search for Azcanta
- Chemister’s Insight - Hieroglyphic Illumination is seeing play now! The ability to cycle is too important, though
- Invert // Invent - Could be relevant if more 0/Xs start to see play, like back when Spellskite was popular and decks like Pod played a pile of mana creatures. Competes with Twisted Image
Which cards from Guilds of Ravnica do you think are viable in Modern? Did I overlook something in my analysis? Let me know in the comments!Previous Articles · Meet the Massdrop Teams: http://dro.ps/mtg-team-announce · *2nd* at Pro Tour Ixalan: http://dro.ps/ixalan · Unclaimed Creature Types: http://dro.ps/ari-creatures · Why I Never Drop From Tournaments: http://dro.ps/eric-nevergiveup · The Art of Sideboard Construction - Sultai Energy: http://dro.ps/jon-sideboard · A Commoner’s View on Pauper: http://dro.ps/mark-pauper · Blue Moon Beach Control: http://dro.ps/scott-bluemoon · Top 5 Modern Decks: http://dro.ps/pascal-modern · Storm in Vintage Cube: http://dro.ps/ben-storm · An Early Look at Rivals for Standard: http://dro.ps/shaun-rivals · A Standard Approach to Evaluating New Cards: http://dro.ps/rob-newcards · Drafting Rivals of Ixalan: http://dro.ps/tim-ixalan · Team Sealed Secrets: http://dro.ps/eric-secrets · Steal My Standard Ideas: http://dro.ps/tommy-secrets · Vexing Devil. Any Questions?: http://dro.ps/jon-devil · Team Massdrop Rivals of Ixalan Limited Primer: http://dro.ps/ari-primer · Gestation of RG Eldrazi: http://dro.ps/ben-gestation · Top Tim Tournament Training Tips: http://dro.ps/tim-tips · What Makes Someone Bogle?: http://dro.ps/tommy-bogle · A Pauper Adventure: http://dro.ps/pascal-pauper · Blue Moon at GP Phoenix: http://dro.ps/rob-bluemoon · Brawling into Dominaria: http://dro.ps/scott-brawling · Looking at The Current Lands(cape) of Legacy http://dro.ps/jarvis-land · Deconstructing Dominaria Limited: http://dro.ps/jon-dominaria · Diving into Dominaria Standard: http://dro.ps/mark-dominaria · What are your.. drives?: http://dro.ps/tommy-drives · Top 10 Cards for Dominaria Modern: http://dro.ps/rob-dominaria · Brewing Standard with Dominaria: http://dro.ps/pascal-dominaria · Dominaria Team Sealed: A Case Study: http://dro.ps/tim-dominaria · Battlebonding in Vintage and Legacy: http://dro.ps/jarvis-battlebond · Decks I Almost Played at PT Dominaria: http://dro.ps/ben-dominaria · RB Chainwhirler for the Non-Aggressive Player: http://dro.ps/jon-chainwhirler · Top 4 at GP Vegas: http://dro.ps/mark-top4vegas · Return to Core Set Limited: http://dro.ps/eric-core · Drafting Rares with Core Set 2019: http://dro.ps/ari-core · Tuning Jeskai Control in Modern: http://dro.ps/shaun-jeskai · Secrets of Sealed - http://dro.ps/eric-sealed · A Spike's 1v1 Commander Notes, Parentheticals, and Asides - http://dro.ps/tommy-spikes · Gang Green - http://dro.ps/tim-ganggreen · How to Steel Wins in Legacy: http://dro.ps/scott-steel · Hitting Hard and Ghast in Modern: http://dro.ps/shaun-ghast · Reconstructing Legacy for Richmond: http://dro.ps/jarvis-legacy · Three News Decks for New Standard: http://dro.ps/pascal-three