Even with all of the power creep pushing Standard to insane speeds, it’s still a long way from Modern. After three Modern Horizons sets, the barrier to entry in the format is higher than ever; however, the format is currently in flux. Following massive unexpected bans and unbans, brewers have a chance in the Modern again, and they’re not letting it go to waste.
In a testament to how mixed up Modern is right now, a once-infamous Standard archetype has just topped a Modern league. While it’s unclear how this deck will do in the long run, it’s hard to ignore its potential for turn two kills. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, this deck managed a perfect lossless stream despite having a useless sideboard.
Standard to Modern
Essentially, this new Modern deck by MacIsaac is the Mono-Red Leyline combo from a little while back in Standard. Built around Leyline of Resonance, it uses pump spells like Turn Inside Out to buff up Monastery Swiftspear before flinging it with Callous Sell-Sword. When all goes to plan, this four-card combo can easily dish out lethal damage on turn two.
Considering all of these cards used to be legal in Standard last year, the fact that this deck is competitive in Modern is wild. Realistically, though, the chances of you hitting this combo every single time are somewhat dubious. Thankfully, for those interested in this deck, at least, there’s a ton of redundancy for these four cards.
On the creature side, Cacophony Scamp, Heartfire Hero, and Slickshot Show-Off are all similarly effective for ending games. Likewise, the tried and true Wild Ride, Monstrous Rage, and Ancestral Anger give you tons of options for pump spells. Curiously, while Mostrous Rage and Heartfire Hero were banned in Standard and Cacophony Scamp rotated out, Modern doesn’t bring a ton to the party.
With only two copies of Brute Force in the main board, the real star of the show is Mutagenic Growth. As a free pump spell, this card massively improves your odds for a turn two kill, giving the deck an extra edge. Even then, however, these upgrades are rather minor in the grand scheme of things, making the deck’s lossless 5-0 result remarkable.
As if this result wasn’t impressive enough already, the deck’s sideboard is literally a joke. As stated by MacIsaac on Twitter, the sideboard was never intended to be used, so it’s just Leylines and Poison Dart Frog. If nothing else, this means the deck has a lot of room for improvement, potentially making it the real deal.
A One Dimensional Plan
While Mono-Red Leyline’s main game plan is very straightforward, it actually lines up reasonably well against a handful of Modern strategies. Right off the bat, the deck’s blazing speed gives it a shot at racing decks like Ruby Storm and Broodscale Combo that don’t utilize much removal. Thanks to the combination of Callous Sell-Sword and Trample enablers, going over the top of blockers from Affinity or Boros Energy is also trivial.
Nonetheless, with minimal protection of its own, Mono-Red Leyline is quite vulnerable to hard removal. While Turn Inside Out can give you some recourse in the face of Fatal Push, playing around Solitude is another story. Decks like Esper Goryo’s and Azorius Blink even have access to Ephemerate, which, in conjunction with Solitude, can take out multiple beefy attackers at once.
With these weaknesses in mind, this deck is far from being an elite, breakout archetype. At the same time, though, it’s truly remarkable to see such a one-dimensional archetype with a meme-worthy sideboard put up a solid Modern result. For now, this deck will definitely be worth watching as the metagame settles, but don’t be surprised if it falls off.
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