Surprisingly, despite the chokehold decks like Boros Energy and mono-blue Belcher have on the Modern format, a handful of innovative archetypes have been popping up as of late. Recently, we talked about two distinct strategies that made runs in various Magic Online Modern Challenges out of nowhere.
One of them was a mono-white Heliod, Sun-Crowned combo deck maximizing the power of Leyline of Hope. The other was a Golgari burn deck built around Necrodominance. Today, we have yet another unique deck to share.
This unusual mono-white control shell has a lot going on. There’s plenty of removal, a land destruction package, and even a cool combo that prevents the opponent from resolving spells that aren’t instants! This two-card combination is absolutely brutal, so let’s see what this deck is all about.
Isochron Scepter and Friends
The main engine behind this mono-white deck is undoubtedly Isochron Scepter. Isochron Scepter is an interesting card that is capable of generating a ton of value. Primarily, Scepter is known for its role in Commander, but it appears the card is making a Modern splash as well.
In this deck, the best card to put Imprint with Scepter is definitely Orim’s Chant. Orim’s Chant is a neat upgrade to Silence that gives you the option to pay the Kicker cost to prevent the opponent from attacking as well. With Scepter in the mix, this is a huge difference.
On your opponent’s upkeep, you simply pay two mana to cast Orim’s Chant for free and then kick it. This locks your opponent out of playing any card during their turn except for instants in response to Scepter. Thanks to the Kicker ability, you don’t have to worry about losing via combat damage if you’re behind on board. Barring an instant-speed answer to Scepter, the opponent will be in a world of trouble.
If you don’t happen to draw Orim’s Chant, there are still plenty of other solid cards to Imprint that will keep the opponent off-balance. In creature matchups, getting to cast Path to Exile every turn presents a great avenue to victory. Versus combo decks, Imprinting Reprieve can be quite a nuisance. Plus, you’ll get to generate a bunch of card advantage in the process.
Supporting Cast
- Mana Value: WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons 3
- Card Text: Flying, first strike. When White Orchid Phantom enters the battlefield, destroy up to one target nonbasic land. Its controller may search their library for a basic land, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Beyond the Isochron Scepter section of the deck, the rest of the archetype is focused on keeping the board clear and winning a grindy game. Removal spells like March of Otherworldly Light are extremely versatile. March can even answer Urza’s Saga for the small price of one mana. Solitude is another solid removal spell that can serve as a win condition in long, drawn out games.
To help supplement Reprieve in matchups where the opponent tries to resolve potent noncreature spells, Mana Tithe is an extremely cheap option. Getting to counter The One Ring is super important, and Mana Tithe helps the cause for the mono-white deck. Mana Tithe does run the risk of becoming a dead card late in games, but at least you can always pitch it to Solitude or March when applicable.
To help hold big mana decks at bay, there are a multitude of tools here that destroy opposing nonbasic lands. White Orchid Phantom, for instance, is excellent against Amulet Titan and Ugin’s Labyrinth strategies. Demolition Field and Ghost Quarter perform a similar task.
Eventually, there’s a good chance you can run the opponent out of basic lands to grab. Decks like Grinding Breach and Esper Goryo’s run very few basic lands to begin with. This land destruction plan is particularly effective against mono-blue Belcher, which plays zero basic lands in game 1 to search for.
Notably, it is surprising to see zero copies of Flagstones of Trokair in this decklist. Having the option to use White Orchid Phantom as a ramp spell by targeting your own Flagstones could be quite powerful, especially for a deck looking to hard cast Solitude.
Intriguing Matchup Spread
- Mana Value: W
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 1/1
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons 3
- Card Text: First strike, lifelink. Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city’s blessing for the rest of the game). At the beginning of your end step, if you gained life this turn, create a 1/1 white Cat creature token. Then if you have the city’s blessing, for each token you control that entered the battlefield this turn, create a token that’s a copy of it.
As weird as this deck may look on paper, there are some matchups where removing all of the opponent’s threats and then locking them out of the game can shine. First and foremost, this deck actually looks well suited to take on Boros Energy.
Path to Exile and March can stave off early pressure from Ocelot Pride and Guide of Souls. Wrath of God is clearly excellent here. And, above all, Isochron Scepter is a reliable win condition. Boros Energy doesn’t typically have the tools to get Scepter off the board, at least in the first game. Static Prison is the only exception, but even that doesn’t stop the Scepter+Orim’s Chant combination.
Where things can get a bit dicey is when facing down decks that can reliably keep Scepter off the table. Once you Imprint a card, getting Scepter blown up can be devastating. Boseiju, Who Endures is a key card to watch out for when facing down green decks, as it gets around Orim’s Chant and Reprieve just fine.
Given how popular Boros Energy and mono-blue Belcher are currently, though, there is some merit to playing a deck like this. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to bust out Scepter in Modern, now may be your chance.
