Since Pro Tour Marvel Super Heroes blew the Modern metagame wide open, one change has been extremely evident. Fast combo creature decks are now everywhere, causing players to react quickly, and then react to those reactions. Now, with tons of sideboard hate for abilities floating around, landless mono-blue decks are pivoting towards Selective Memory. In fact, an early build of the idea just top 16ed a 96-player Modern Challenge.
Selective Memory Combo
MTGO player Xenowan’s Selective Memory combo deck aims to resolve a copy of its namesake spell, exiling your own library to set up a win with Thassa’s Oracle or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries. By replacing all of your lands with MDFCs like Sea Gate Restoration, Selective Memory can truly exile your entire library.
Since this deck’s win conditions are all blue, this deck also runs a playset of Sapphire Medallion, speeding up your combo significantly. This also makes your card advantage spells cheaper, and turns one cheeky copy of Hidden Strings into a mana-positive ritual.
Even with Sapphire Medallion speeding things up, however, Selective Memory is much slower than other existing combo decks in Modern. As a result, the deck runs a total of eight free counterspells like Force of Negation to keep your opponent off-balance. Many of the MDFC lands themselves, like Sink Into Stupor and Jwari Disruption, aid this controlling game plan, allowing this combo to play well into the late game.
This deck even has the option of sideboarding into a more controlling plan, using Namor, the Sub-Mariner to take over games singlehandedly. Throw in Unable to Scream and Into the Flood Maw to deal with hate, and Selective Memory Combo has game against every deck with the right draw.
A Very Promising Adaptation
Moving away from abilities, Selective Memory combo both dodges the rise of Clarion Conqueror-esque effects in the sideboard, and runs hate of its own in the form of Cursed Totem. By not relying on artifacts like many mono-blue decks, you also get to dodge Karn, the Great Creator from Eldrazi Tron decks, improving that matchup significantly.
With lots of controlling options and a combo to shut the door, Selective Memory combo easily beats up on Modern’s slower, fair decks like Boros Energy. Throw in the obscene amount of countermagic on offer, and fragile, faster combo decks are in for a bad time. Spell Snare is particularly good here, catching everything from Psychic Frog to Neoform.
Of course, with how wide Modern’s metagame is, there’s bound to be some bad matchups for Selective Memory combo, and Affinity is the worst of them. The deck pressures you far too quickly, and runs just enough interaction to delay your combo win. Additionally, Dimir Murktide, packing grindy threats, hand disruption, and countermagic, has been on the rise, and looks tough for Selective Memory.
For now, the Selective Memory combo is a promising option for MTG players looking to try something different. It’s impossible to know whether this deck will stick around in the long term, but if enough people keep innovating, the combo could become something scary.
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