It’s become crystal clear over the past few weeks that Ketramose, the New Dawn is a force to be reckoned with in Modern. Whether you’re playing it in an Orzhov Phelia shell or going deeper in Orzhov Necrodominance, Ketramose is going to shine.
Recently, though, one particular Ketramose decklist caught our eye. Boasting an undefeated result in a League, this Abzan shell features an array of card choices that we don’t typically see in Modern. If you’re looking for something unique to play at your next FNM, look no further.
Ketramose Package
- Mana Value: 1WB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Type: Legendary Creature- God
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Card Text: Menace, lifelink, indestructible. Ketramose can’t attack or block unless there are seven or more cards in exile. Whenever one or more cards are put into exile from graveyards and/or the battlefield during your turn, you draw a card and lose 1 life.
The basis for this deck is to consistently find Ketramose and generate as much value as you can while disrupting your opponent. This deck utilizes a boatload of ways to exile cards from graveyards and the battlefield, making Ketramose a reliable engine.
Some of the pieces used alongside Ketramose are not that atypical. Relic of Progenitus obviously makes an appearance, providing consistent Ketramose triggers every turn. In a format dominated by Fetchlands, it’s unlikely you’ll run out of fuel for Relic.
Solitude is another reactive card that isn’t a surprising inclusion. With Ketramose in play, you won’t actually end up down on resources even if you pitch a card from your hand to cast Solitude for free.
Where things start to get a bit strange is with the addition of Invasion of Theros. Invasion of Theros is rather slow, but for a deck that’s so heavily built around Ketramose, being able to tutor the powerful God at will is awesome.
Notably, if you already have Ketramose rolled up, there are a few auras you can search up. At the top of the list, we have On Thin Ice. This deck plays snow basic lands to enable On Thin Ice, which is a cheap removal spell that conveniently triggers Ketramose. Other cheap tutor targets include Omen of the Dead and Strength of the Harvest if you want to keep hitting your land drops.
Gearhulk Package
- Mana Value: GGWW
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Type: Artifact Creature – Construct
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Card Text: First Strike, Trample.
When this creature enters, you may search your library for up to two artifact, creature, and/or enchantment cards with mana value 1 or less, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle.
These one-mana auras make Invasion of Theros a worthy inclusion, but they also make Brightglass Gearhulk a very strong card in its own right. Brightglass Gearhulk sometimes pops up in Selesnya Ritual decks in Modern as a value engine. Here, the Construct does a great job tutoring up cards that pair well with Ketramose.
Brightglass Gearhulk doesn’t just grab On Thin Ice or other one-mana auras. It can also find Relic of Progenitus as well as impactful sideboard cards like Haywire Mite. All this value attached to a 4/4 with first strike and trample is a lot. The key is being able to cast it.
That’s where Arbor Elf and Utopia Sprawl come into play. Both of these cards do a good job letting you cast Ketramose, Invasion of Theros, or Brightglass Gearhulk ahead of schedule. In the event where you draw both Arbor Elf and Utopia Sprawl and your Arbor Elf survives past turn one, you have the opportunity to cast Brightglass Gearhulk on turn two and really get ahead on board.
The Arbor Elf+Utopia Sprawl package makes hard casting Solitude a much more realistic feat. In games where you can slam Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines a turn or two early, you can start getting double triggers from your Solitudes, Gearhulks, Invasions, and beyond. All the while, your opponents won’t get enters-the-battlefield triggers from cards like Primeval Titan, which can be the difference between winning and losing.
Fighting a Good Fight
- Mana Value: 2
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Artifact
- MTG Sets: Fifth Dawn, Mystery Booster 2
- Card Text: Tap, Sacrifice an artifact: Target player mills three cards. Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield, you may untap Grinding Station.
Ultimately, this deck does bring some powerful stuff to the table in the Modern metagame. Between On Thin Ice, Solitude, and Ossification, this deck is well set up to answer elite threats on the spot. You run little risk of letting Ocelot Pride or Guide of Souls run away with the game. Relic then keeps Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury in check, and Ketramose and Gearhulk help you pull ahead on resources.
In this sense, the Boros Energy matchup is quite reasonable. With so much exile-based removal, Psychic Frog out of Dimir Murktide is also of little concern. This deck has a great gameplan against most decks that rely on connecting in combat with creatures to win.
The biggest issue this strategy has is that it doesn’t apply pressure well. As such, combo decks can be problematic. Your removal does very little to save you from Belcher. Even versus Eldrazi ramp, you give your opponent a lot of time to set up their mana and slam huge haymakers. World Breaker in particular is incredibly awkward, since it blows up your lands that are enchanted with Utopia Sprawl or On Thin Ice.
Of course, we also have to talk about the elephant in the room when evaluating this deck: Grinding Breach. You do have some nice tools for the matchup. Your removal keeps Emry, Lurker of the Loch in check, and Relic keeps Underworld Breach in check. You don’t deal a lot of damage in the early game, but Brightglass Gearhulk can find you multiple pieces of interaction at once, including Pithing Needle to mess with the Grinding Station combo.
As a whole, Abzan Ketramose has what it takes to compete, even if it’s far from a tier one deck at the moment. Given how powerful Ketramose is, it’s important to keep exploring ways to maximize the card, especially with a potential Modern ban looming at the end of the month.