While the collective hype of seeing Wizards unveil new cards is undoubtedly intoxicating, the most exciting part of any new Magic set actually comes after that. Once the dust settles, and players get the chance to try out new cards in their decks, that’s where the real innovation happens. With Avatar, we’ve seen this in spades, with new archetypes aplenty popping up in multiple formats.
One new MTG card from the set that’s received a lot of love so far is Momo, Friendly Flier. Not only is this little Lemur adorable, but it’s also, essentially, a white mana dork for Flying-focused decks. Players quickly cottoned on to the card’s potential during previews, and now that it’s here it’s inspiring fresh brews in multiple formats. It’s early days yet, but the sky really is the limit for this one.
Momo, Friendly Flier In MTG Standard
As you’d expect, MTG Standard is where Momo, Friendly Flier has done a lot of its work so far. The card has been cropping up in a couple of interesting decks, both newcomers with Avatar.
The first of these is Bant Airbending Combo, one of the big up-and-comers in the new metagame. This deck leverages the infinite Airbending combo with Aang, Swift Savior and Appa, Steadfast Guardian as its main win condition, with some solid tempo tools thrown in for good measure. The optimal build of this deck is still evolving, but players like AsianKoala are testing out Momo as a potential addition.
This makes a ton of sense. Momo’s discount applies to both Aang and Appa, which makes it much easier to get both combo pieces out early. The card also gives the deck some crucial presence in the early game, which helps it keep pace with Izzet Seal and Mono-Red Aggro. While not every Bant Airbending list is running the card yet, I reckon more will be soon.
Momo is also putting in work in another new deck, Azorius Fliers. Unlike Bant Airbending Combo, this is much more of a niche player at present, with Munkeemanometal’s top 32 Standard Showcase finish being its only real result so far.
Essentially, this is a full-on Flying Typal deck. It runs no less than 24 creatures with Flying, as well as Empyrean Eagle and Air Nomad Legacy to buff them. In a deck like this, Momo is a dream come true. It lets you get your aggressive Fliers out quickly, and also scales up as you drop them.
Wings Of Discovery
Outside of MTG Standard, Momo, Friendly Flier is also making some moves in Pioneer. This time it’s not just in new decks, either, but in established brews.
The big one here is or Selesnya Angels. This deck has been a staple of the Pioneer metagame for a while now, and, for players like Kadono Ryunosuke, Momo offers it a very nice new tool indeed. For the most part, the goal with this deck is to assemble an unbeatable board of Angels via Collected Company, then win an aggressive victory in the air.
Momo makes that much easier by giving you a way to drop multiple Angels a turn without Company’s help. Curving Momo on one into Righteous Valkyrie on two into Bishop of Wings plus Giada, Font of Hope on three should pretty much end the game. The card adds an aggressive edge to Selesnya Company, and another turn one play alongside Elvish Mystic.
Straying from the beaten track a bit, Momo has also made in appearance in what could well be a brand-new archetype for Pioneer: Azorius Midrange. Making its debut in today’s Pioneer League with a 5-0 finish, and piloted by SeventhProphet, this is a combination of an aggressive Flying Typal deck and a value-based blink one.
This deck runs plenty of Fliers, like Elite Spellbinder, for Momo to discount. It also throws in both Quantum Riddler and Starfield Shepherd, which, combined with Momo’s discount and Essence Flux, you can have out permanently on turn two. The potential value swings here are ridiculous, allowing you to easily fuel a tempo game off the back of them. While it’s certainly not an established deck yet, I could easily see this list muscling in on Azorius Spirits’ turf soon.
Soaring Into Modern
Finally, Momo, Friendly Flier is also seeing a bit of play in Azorius Blink decks in MTG Modern. Blink decks, in one color combination or another, have been crushing it in Modern for months now. Essentially, this is a deck about flickering creatures for value with cards like Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and Ephemerate, and eventually grinding out a win.
While the Jeskai version of this deck plays more of a Midrange game, Azorius Blink has an aggressive edge to it. Card like Guide of Souls and Ocelot Pride let it come out of the gate faster than its peers, and disruption pieces like White Orchid Phantom help it press the advantage. Momo slots in perfectly here, giving you a cheap, scaling threat that can get in easy early damage. It can also pull off the same “turn two Quantum Riddler” trick mentioned above, but with Ephemerate this time for even more value.
Momo seems like a great fit in Azorius Blink, but so far, adoption of the card has been slow. Players like Dyllex have incorporated a copy or two in their lists, but it’s not seeing the same kind of success here yet as it is in Standard and Pioneer.
It may well be that Momo simply isn’t good enough for the big leagues of Modern, but I personally think it has more work to do in the format yet. It’s not every day we get a card this cheap, and with such wide-ranging applications, after all.
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