This past Monday, Modern and Legacy players awaited a ban announcement that felt inevitable. Bans to powerhouses like The One Ring and Psychic Frog felt long overdue in Modern and Legacy, respectively. What many people didn’t anticipate, though, were the sheer number of unbans that occurred in Modern.
Splinter Twin is back, and combo enthusiasts are rejoicing. Mox Opal has already spiked considerably in price. Perhaps the card that will have the most impact across an array of archetypes, though, is Faithless Looting.
As you might expect, one of the first places players have looked to implement the newly unbanned card is in Arclight Phoenix shells. While Izzet Phoenix seems like the obvious go-to, one player had immediate success with a mono-red version. With a super fast 5-0 Magic Online Modern League result, this incredibly cheap mono-red deck is already beginning to prove it has what it takes to compete.
Supporting Arclight Phoenix
- Mana Value: 3R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- Card Type: Creature- Phoenix
- MTG Sets: Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Remastered.
- Card Text: Flying, haste. At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you’ve cast three or more spells this turn, return Arclight Phoenix from your graveyard to the battlefield.
In order to fully maximize Arclight Phoenix, you need to have a high density of efficient spells. Dipping into blue gives you more access to cantrips, but this deck isn’t really looking to spin its wheels. Instead, this archetype is built to use speed to its advantage.
With this in mind, it’s important to utilize a decent chunk of free spells. This can give you the opportunity to bring back Arclight Phoenix as early as turn two.
To no surprise, the best “free” spell is Manamorphose. As a cantrip, Manamorphose does a great job enabling Arclight Phoenix without coming at a huge cost.
From there, you’ll also find a duo of one-damage spells in Gut Shot and Lava Dart. Both of these cards are naturally excellent against Ocelot Pride and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. They also help ensure you don’t get blown out by Orcish Bowmasters being cast in response to your Faithless Lootings. Further, they make it trivial to cast Light up the Stage for one mana.
Lava Dart in particular bolsters the Arclight Phoenix plan well since it acts as two spells in one, thanks to Flashback. With so many cheap spells at your disposal, Bedlam Reveler becomes a decent finisher and card advantage machine in attrition battles. This deck’s got a lot going on, and we’re just getting started.
The Need for Speed
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 1/2
- Card Type: Creature- Human Monk
- MTG Sets: Khans of Tarkir, Iconic Masters, Time Spiral Remastered, Double Masters 2022, The Brother’s War
- Card Text: Haste. Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
We mentioned that this deck is built to put a lot of pressure on the opponent early. Arclight Phoenix plays a role, but it isn’t the only creature that plays nicely alongside all these free spells. Any creature with Prowess also fits the bill.
Well, Monastery Swiftspear and Soul-Scar Mage are as good as they come. In some games, you won’t even need to find Arclight Phoenix. Playing some of these bad boys and casting a flurry of burn spells can do the trick.
Speaking of burn spells, this deck wouldn’t be complete without Lightning Bolt. Lava Spike even joins in on the fun to provide some extra reach. Winning the game on turn three is very realistic for this deck if the opponent isn’t prepared.
Playing on a Budget
- Mana Value: 2R
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: The Dark, Chronicles, Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition, Modern Masters, Modern Masters 2017, Masters 25, Double Masters, Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales
- Card Text: Nonbasic lands are Mountains.
At the end of the day, it’s still too early to tell exactly how the Modern metagame will shake out. That being said, there is one specific factor that makes mono-red Phoenix very appealing: the cost.
According to MTGGoldfish, this iteration of mono-red Phoenix can be purchased for under $75! Nearly $20 worth comes from the three copies of Blood Moon in the sideboard, too, so if you need to cut costs further, you can. This is an incredible bargain.
On top of that, there’s still plenty of room to explore within the archetype. This decklist uses essentially no tech from the last few years, so it would not be shocking if additional improvements can be made.
For starters, Dragon’s Rage Channeler feels like a very reasonable inclusion. Dragon’s Rage Channeler is aggressive, you have tons of spells to fuel it, and Surveilling Arclight Phoenixes into the graveyard sounds awesome. Throw in some copies of Mishra’s Bauble to set up Delirium more consistently, and you’re golden.
Boltwave is another easy card to add. Getting around Leyline of Sanctity can be essential in some spots, which is an area where Lava Spike fails.
Finally, this deck could definitely turn to additional ways to get Arclight Phoenix into the graveyard besides Faithless Looting. Highway Robbery is a worthwhile consideration, since you can Plot it on turn two, then cast it for free on turn three and chain together a bunch of spells. This is a bit contradictory to the “speed first” gameplan but fits nicely in a grindier version of the deck with more Bedlam Revelers.
We look forward to seeing how the format shakes out. Monday’s announcement truly opened up a world of opportunities.
