For those who have been keeping up with the state of Modern since Murders at Karlov Manor dropped, it shouldn’t be too surprising that
Leyline of the Guildpact
Leyline of the Guildpact
If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Each nonland permanent you control is all colors.
Lands you control are every basic land type in addition to their other types.
is a dominant force to be reckoned with. In conjunction with Scion of Draco, you end up with a keyword monster that is extremely hard to deal with. Soon after the release of Murders at Karlov Manor, Domain Zoo decks featuring these two cards and
Leyline Binding
Leyline Binding
Flash
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
started to take over the format.
Fast forward to Regional Championship season, and players started to discover the power of the same combination of cards in Cascade shells. Scion paired nicely as an alternate win condition alongside
Crashing Footfalls
Crashing Footfalls
Suspend 4—{G} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {G} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens with trample.
. Little did we know, this was only the beginning.
This combination of cards has started showing up in a ton of different strategies, many of which have nothing to do with each other besides the Leyline/Scion/Binding package. Not only that, but they’ve also been dominating. So much so, that players are starting to think Leyline should’ve been banned all along. For anyone struggling to see just how absurdly strong and format warping Leyline has been in Modern, let’s take a closer look at a bunch of powerful archetypes all making use of the Enchantment.
An Absurd Last Chance Performance
The Modern deck with the biggest breakout performance over the last week certainly seems to be this fusion between Domain Zoo and Izzet Murktide. This week, lots of players were competing on Magic Online in Last Chance events. These events awarded invites to the Showcase Qualifier tournaments happening soon for players that ended with 5-0 records. Three Players that qualified were all playing this shell, which is extremely impressive.
The goal with this deck is to make use of the range of extremely strong cards that appear in Izzet Murktide decklists while still having access to busted Scion starts. Rather than rely on cards like
Nishoba Brawler
Nishoba Brawler
Trample
Domain — Nishoba Brawler's power is equal to the number of basic land types among lands you control.
and Wild Nacatl to try to end the game in short order[/tooltips], this deck adds
Preordain
Preordain
Scry 2, then draw a card. (To scry 2, look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom and the rest on top in any order.)
and
Expressive Iteration
Expressive Iteration
Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand, put one of them on the bottom of your library, and exile one of them. You may play the exiled card this turn.
to help dig for Scion.
Furthermore, the addition of these blue cards enables the inclusion of
Force of Negation
Force of Negation
If it's not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
, one of the strongest cards in the format. While it may seem a bit strange to see this deck that still utilizes
Territorial Kavu
Territorial Kavu
Domain — Territorial Kavu's power and toughness are each equal to the number of basic land types among lands you control.
Whenever this creature attacks, choose one —
• Discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
• Exile up to one target card from a graveyard.
eschew a ton of Zoo staples, there’s no denying its brilliant run this week.
Read More: Thunder Junction Teaser Reveals Terrifying MTG Abilities For Commander
Brews Galore
The innovation within the Zoo archetype hasn’t been the only avenue players have been exploring to maximize Leyline and Scion. In reality, Leyline and Scion have been popping up all over the place. Take the Esper
Goryo’s Vengeance
Goryo’s Vengeance
Return target legendary creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Splice onto Arcane {2}{B} (As you cast an Arcane spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.)
deck, for example. This deck has been dominant over the last month with minimal wiggle room for flex slots. Yet, recently, one player went undefeated in a Magic Online Modern League shoving Leyline and Scion into the archetype.
The typical reanimation package alongside
Grief
Grief
Menace
When this creature enters, target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
Evoke—Exile a black card from your hand.
,
Solitude
Solitude
Flash
Lifelink
When this creature enters, exile up to one other target creature. That creature's controller gains life equal to its power.
Evoke—Exile a white card from your hand.
, and
Ephemerate
Ephemerate
Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
still makes an appearance. However,
Fallaji Archaeologist
Fallaji Archaeologist
When this creature enters, mill three cards. You may put a noncreature, nonland card from among the cards milled this way into your hand. If you don't, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. (To mill a card, put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)
and some disruptive elements have been replaced with the Scion and Leyline package. What’s nice about Leyline and Scion in this deck is that, thanks to Tainted Indulgence and
Steamcore Scholar
Steamcore Scholar
Flying, vigilance
When this creature enters, draw two cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard an instant or sorcery card or a creature card with flying.
, getting rid of extra copies of Leyline is very easy.
Going deeper, Leyline even opened the door for some Enchantress shenanigans to take place. Like traditional Enchantress shells, this deck utilizes
Enchantress’s Presence
Enchantress’s Presence
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, draw a card.
and
Sythis, Harvest’s Hand
Sythis, Harvest’s Hand
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, you gain 1 life and draw a card.
as card advantage engines. However, you won’t find the likes of
Sterling Grove
Sterling Grove
Other enchantments you control have shroud. (They can't be the targets of spells or abilities.)
{1}, Sacrifice this enchantment: Search your library for an enchantment card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.
or
Solitary Confinement
Solitary Confinement
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this enchantment unless you discard a card.
Skip your draw step.
You have shroud. (You can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you.
here. Instead, this deck’s goal is to get a big mana advantage and take over the game that way.
Both
Sanctum Weaver
Sanctum Weaver
{T}: Add X mana of any one color, where X is the number of enchantments you control.
and
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
show up, allowing you to get extra mana alongside Leyline. From there, this deck plays a bunch of cheap Enchantments like Oath of Nissa and
Abundant Growth
Abundant Growth
Enchant land
When this Aura enters, draw a card.
Enchanted land has "{T}: Add one mana of any color."
to help you churn through your library and find your Scions to win the game with.
Read More: MTG Players Pleased with Major Regional Championship Changes
Where Do We Go From Here?
If it wasn’t already clear, Leyline and Scion are completely taking over Modern. Plenty of players are calling for a ban, and frankly, this doesn’t seem unreasonable. The play patterns involved with Leyline and Scion are pretty toxic. Considering that the range of interaction available to stop it is small, but the opportunity cost of adding these cards to your deck is also quite low, this combo is a real problem.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t strong cards against Leyline and Scion, but more that the format is being warped around them. For reference,
Pick Your Poison
Pick Your Poison
Choose one —
• Each opponent sacrifices an artifact of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices an enchantment of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices a creature with flying of their choice.
is the second most played non-Land card in Modern according to MTGGoldfish format staples, just behind
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell.
. It appears in roughly 38% of decks.
Obviously, Pick Your Poison has other utility against
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
decks and the like. Still, it almost certainly wouldn’t be this dominant if it didn’t help answer both Leyline and Scion. As players continue to stretch the boundaries with this potent combo, it’s essential to be prepared for it, even in decks where you least expect it.
Read More: Weird Random-Casting MTG My Little Pony Bonus Card Revealed!