407 players gathered in Washington D.C. this past weekend for an epic battle in the new lower-powered Modern format. Dig Through Time grabbed Birthing Pod and went on a Treasure Cruise to the banned list which drastically changed available archetypes for the pros.

After reading a lot of their retrospective articles about the event, I see that many of them came to the same conclusion. Tarmogoyf Control, in the vein of the Rock, with the flavor of Abzan, are the king of the hill.

The main way many pros chose to battle this enemy was with burn spells. Some players stayed true to other archetypes that have been around the Modern metagame for a while now. The following is the complete metagame breakdown for the 258 players that won their way into day two.

Abzan 73 28.30%
Burn 32 12.40%
Infect 19 7.40%
Affinity 17 6.60%
Zoo 14 5.40%
Blue-Red Twin 13 5.00%
Red-Green Tron 8 3.10%
Scapeshift 8 3.10%
Jund 7 2.70%
Storm 6 2.30%
White-Black Tokens 6 2.30%
Amulet Bloom 5 1.90%
Grixis Twin 5 1.90%
Jeskai Control 5 1.90%
Living End 5 1.90%
Merfolk 5 1.90%
Faeries 4 1.60%
Jund Loam 3 1.20%
Misc Decks with two or less copies 23 9.2%

[cardimage cardname='Tarmogoyf'][cardimage cardname='Liliana of the Veil']

The green Goyf giant might be reasserting his power once again, but there are still lots of options available in the format. I found it quite interesting that the Day 2 metagame breakdown looked extremely similar to the Day 1 breakdown. The field may have been smaller, but the archetypes were represented in basically the same amounts.

The two most played decks put multiple copies in the Top 8 and then two of the clear winners from the bannings rounded out the Sunday stage. Here’s the breakdown.

3 Abzan
2 Burn
2 Twin
1 Amulet Bloom

[cardimage cardname='Azusa, Lost but Seeking'][cardimage cardname='Vendilion Clique']

Although all the numbers only say Abzan, what we must remember is that there are lots of varieties of the three-color combination. Here are three examples of decks represented by the word Abzan.

As you can see, although these three decks play the same colors and do overlap on some cards, they are extremely different. This same type of deck construction is happening in Standard right now. There are good aggressive Abzan decks, solid midrange versions, as well as some combo versions with Whip of Erebos. In all honesty, that might bring Siege Rhino up in the ban discussion. I don’t want to be hasty--this is after all the first tournament with the newest banned list changes, but we may get to that point.

In fact, the other day we were discussing the bannings at my shop and I brought up Siege Rhino in reference to the Birthing Pod banning. While it’s true that Pod decks have been doing well at nearly every event for the past two years or so, there had to be something that pushed the deck over the top.

I mentioned Siege Rhino as the weight that tipped the scale. It wasn’t until Rhino was added to the Melira Pod strategy that we thought something needed banning. Both cards are clearly strong and combined together they do make for a potent combination. We will see if Rhino proves too good on its own. I know that I will be playing this beefy Bloodbraid Elf that always hits Lightning Helix and you probably should as well.

Getting back on topic, I want to bring up the metagame breakdown again. It seems like our metagame is going to boil down to Abzan vs. Burn with some Splinter Twin and a couple other strategies doing well from time to time.

It’s imperative to remember that pros tend to skew the expected meta perspective. So, the next time you go to a Modern event, you should not expect to play against mostly all opponents with these three decks.

Remember, Modern is an expensive format. Players often don’t switch decks quickly, if at all. Just because the pros did well with these couple archetypes doesn’t mean that all the rest of the diversity will disappear. You will still play against Living End, Tron, or whatever deck your opponent had built. They will be updated with new cards and adjusted for the new metagame, but there will always be a large selection of decks at any given event.

Take Jacob Wilson’s deck above, for example. His list is like combining the remnants of Melira Pod with some components of the Hate Bears deck and forming what I like to call a No Pod deck. This idea that decks that played Birthing Pod are dead is far from true. Wilson’s list is proof of that fact.

The cards that he played were all good on their own. Pod decks didn’t play bad cards, but they did play some sideboard style cards maindeck because of their ability to find any creature with ease. Now that Pod is banned, we are still left with a strong collection of creatures to pull from. This archetype isn’t going anywhere. In fact, I think this is one of the best places for innovation. Take a look at a deck I was working on six months ago that illustrates my point.

Back in August, I worked on this deck based on the idea that you didn’t need Birthing Pod to make a deck like this competitive. What I found at the time was that it was better against most of the decks in the field at the time, which are similar to what are legal now, but that it wasn’t as consistent in the mirror. Now that Pod is gone, and there is no mirror to be concerned about we can explore this deck and others like it once more.

There are many possibilities with former Pod decks, especially because we still have Chord of Calling to work with. So, if you were a Pod player, don’t give up on your favorite deck. Adapt. Develop a new list using the core cards from your previous one and keep moving forward. Modern is a huge format with lots of unexplored corners.

Have you done exactly this and innovated in the face of bannings? Start the discussion in the comments below. If not, use this article and my previous one as the spark to start the creative process.

PTFRF Finance

After scouring the available deck lists from the Pro Tour, I noticed lots of Standard cards being played in Modern. The reason this is significant is that these cards are readily available right now. While players still have lots of copies in their trade binders, these cards are safe investments because of their Modern playability. Take a look at what Standard cards the pros brought to battle with.

[cardimage cardname='Tasigur, the Golden Fang'][cardimage cardname='Siege Rhino']

Both Tasigur and Rhino saw a lot of press in this event, but they also overperformed. These two seem like excellent long-term investments. We could even see price bumps on these creatures in a couple months when fewer packs are being opened. Rhino in particular should be double digits soon enough.

[cardimage cardname='Sorin, Solemn Visitor'][cardimage cardname='Thoughtseize']

You may not know this but one of the most popular Standard cards to see play in Modern was the latest version of Sorin. If we need ways to fight Burn, pumping all of your guys and giving them lifelink seems like a great way to survive. Thoughtseize as well, unsurprisingly, saw tons of play. I mention this sorcery because we are getting closer to it rotating from Standard which means you are running out of time to stock up at this price.

[cardimage cardname='Monastery Swiftspear'][cardimage cardname='Eidolon of the Great Revel']

Neither of these Burn cards are expensive right now, but they are both staples of the Modern Burn decks as well as seeing some play in Standard. You might not find Swiftspears in draft leftovers but plenty of players are willing to part with this uncommon easily. Eidolon might be at his floor as well.

[cardimage cardname='Courser of Kruphix'][cardimage cardname='Chord of Calling']

There were not a lot of players that brought Coursers to gain card advantage with, but moving forward they seem like a great way to succeed in the mirror. I also love it in any deck you are trying to combo with because you have some control over your draw step.

Now that Birthing Pod is gone, Chord is left to pick up the pieces and innovate with. It can’t get any lower than the already extremely low price so don’t miss this opportunity. I already have tons of copies of this card and I’m still buying.

[cardimage cardname='Ugin, the Spirit Dragon'][cardimage cardname='Anger of the Gods']

We all assumed that Ugin would slot right into Tron and we were all right. It is quite good in the deck as well except against Affinity. The most copies I saw in one deck was two, but it’s definitely going to be a mainstay of the archetype moving forward. If the deck could figure out a way to make double red, we could even see it utilizing Anger of the Gods. Other players used Anger as a potent sideboard option against the No Pod decks. The exiling creatures makes Anger a card that will see play for a long time to come.

[cardimage cardname='Ajani, Mentor of Heroes'][cardimage cardname='Deflecting Palm']

Now onto the more surprising cards. I never expected to see either of these two cards in Modern deck lists, but they both make sense with the expected metagame. Ajani will help in those grindy midrange mirrors and Palm is clearly one of the main tools players used to fight Burn.

[cardimage cardname='Jace, Architect of Thought'][cardimage cardname='Voice of Resurgence']

Next up we have some recently rotated cards that are as low as they can go. Voice is back with a vengeance and we are likely to see even more of this card moving forward. If you got out before rotation, now’s the time to get back in. This is a great long-term investment that could see short-term gains as well.

Jace AoT was a huge surprise for me and at first I thought it was a joke. Upon a moment's thought, Jace actually seems amazing in a field full of Lingering Souls. I imagine we will start seeing more of this planeswalker in the metagame.

[cardimage cardname='Scavenging Ooze']

Scavenging Ooze. We all know how good you are. What we don’t understand is your price tag. You are one of the best creatures in Modern, and yet you are still so cheap. Players will soon realize you are back and ready to rock, then your price will go up, just be patient.

[cardimage cardname='Loxodon Smiter'][cardimage cardname='Tempered Steel']

Lastly, we have our bulk bin picks of the week. You know about Loxodon Smiter seeing play because it’s in one of the Top 8 decks, but did you see Paul Reitzl’s deck? He was playing Tempered Steel Affinity! I’m surprised he did not do better, but he did have at least six wins in Modern with his list. Both of these cards should be snapped up from your local bulk bin immediately.

That’s all for today, Magic players. The Pro Tour is awesome and tons of fun to watch. So, until we qualify, we’ll just keep watching some great coverage of the best players and reaping the financial benefits. Make sure to post your thoughts about the financial implications of these or other cards in the comments as well as your thoughts on the format in general.

Until next time,
Unleash the Force on Modern!

Mike Lanigan
MtgJedi on Twitter
Jedicouncilman23@gmail.com