I always pay attention to tournament results, especially Modern because I’m so interested in the direction of the format.

We’re in the midst of a Modern Pro Tour Qualifier season, and, of course, these events are global. I’ve been paying special attention to decklists from Japanese tournaments. It’s one of the historically great Magic countries, and they play a lot of Magic every day of the week.

I’ve always enjoyed decklists from Japan and I’m used to finding crazy decks doing well. It’s also a competitive place where a lot of nicely designed and tuned decklists rise to the top.

I’ve been following the trends of the metagame, which over the last month includes a couple of large PTQs) one with an incredible 280+ players), some large Open tournaments--one with 300 players--and a bunch of smaller store events.

I’ve noticed some trends in their metagame--some decks really showing their consistency and power compared to some of the other decks--and its data is worth comparing to the American and global Modern metagames.

Note that I’m just referring to the top of the metagame, the winningest decks that get shared, meaning this is the cream of the crop. Here’s how it looks:

All taken together, Birthing Pod decks, most somewhere between the two camps of Melira Pod and Angel Pod, make up the biggest chunk of the metagame.

What’s surprising is number two, BG Rock. I’m going to get more into that deck later. Number three is Affinity, not surprising given its strength against the top-two archetypes.

Next is all variations of Splinter Twin combo, UR, RUG, and UWR, followed right behind by Jund, which is essentially just BG Rock with more metagame positioning against Affinity and Birthing Pod.

The Green and Black Rock core may be the best in the metagame. Together, Jund and GB Rock take up the lion’s share of the Japanese metagame with nearly double the share of the next most popular deck. This is a big sign that these cards are again rising to the top of the post- Deathrite Shaman metagame. It makes sense, because, as a metagame develops, control decks and decks with lots of answers grow better, since they are able to predict what answers they will need.

GB Rock is more of a control deck now without Deathrite Shaman, and, as the metagame has started to take shape in a post-Deathrite Shaman world, BG can position itself in its new role playing by all the correct cards to perfectly attack the new metagame.

Here’s the Golgari core everyone knows and loves:

This core provides disruption, card advantage, and aggression in an efficient package. These cards are effective against each and every opponent, so they provide a strong core on which to deckbuild around. There is a wealth of card options, even within just GB, in addition to the option of adding a color.

The red addition of Jund offers an upgrade in card power and adds more specific answers to problems, but with the cost of mana consistency and lifepoints to shocklands. Some splash white for specific answers like Stony Silence, but it’s not nearly as popular.

In Japan, I have seen a specific variation of GB pick up steam, a version that forgoes Tectonic Edge in favor of Mutavault, which allows the to deck play more aggressively. I am a huge fan of this change, because manlands are so effective in conjunction with disruption. The GB deck is built to melt down both players’ hands and boards, so being left with a Mutavault can be game-winning. I used to play the combination of Mutavault and Treeop Village in Standard BG Elves, one of my all-time favorite decks, and I have been excited to play with it again.

The Decklists

Here’s the list that won a PTQ this past weekend:

Here’s the list that took 3rd, and closer to what I’d recommend playing in a more balanced metagame:

These decks help make up for the loss of Tectonic Edge with maindeck Fulminator Mage. The card is strong against most opponents. It’s great against Tron, of course, punishes Scapeshift by disrupting their lands, is excellent for grinding out UWR control and killing Celestial Colonnade. It’s good against Affinity for killing manlands like Inkmoth Nexus and is actually quite relevant in the mirror match. I’ve seen the Fulminator Mage adaption do well in the past, and it may just be the best way to go moving forward.

Note that functionally, Tectonic Edge and Fulminator Mage have some negative synergy in the fact that, as a land destruction spell, Fulminator Mage on turn 3 delays the impact of Tectonic Edge. On the other hand, Fulminator Mage creates synergy with Mutavault, which is ideal against an opponent light on land.

As to the details of the lists, Obstinate Baloth in the maindeck is strong against Burn, which is another deck performing well in Japan. The lifegain and 4/4 body are also excellent against aggressive tempo-based decks, including UR Tempo, and especially those with Restoration Angel or Geist of Saint Traft, which are popular in the Japanese metagame.

In a balanced metagame, I’d prefer the second approach of playing Courser of Kruphix in that slot and leaving the Obstinate Baloth in the sideboard. I am also a huge fan of maindeck Garruk Wildspeaker, which gives the deck an excellent clock with the ultimate ability and is particularly useful with Mutavault.

The Sideboard

It’s great to see Lifebane Zombie in Modern, where it punishes cards like the aforementioned Restoration Angel and Geist of Saint Traft. It’s also a potential star against Birthing Pod decks, and it’s just a solid threat all-around, much like in Standard. Going forward through the Modern season, Lifebane Zombie is something worth exploring.

The Affinity matchup can be difficult for GB Rock, so specialized hate cards like Creeping Corrosion are a must. Affinity is among the most popular decks in Japan, and I know it’s huge in the American GP and PTQ scene, so the more the better in this regard.

Conclusions

The BG Rock core has proven itself to be the best in Modern time and time again. Through two bannings, first Bloodbraid Elf then Deathrite Shaman, the deck continues to adapt to the world around it, and it’s still thriving.

The newest innovation, playing maindeck Mutavault, gives the deck a more aggressive angle to take advantage of its disruption package. In addition, Fulminator Mage is well-positioned as a maindeck card.

I’m excited to play this deck further, preliminary results have been great, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the metagame or the archetype.

For those interested, here's the link to all the decklists I've referenced for my metagame info, over at happymtg

-Adam