MTG Spider Man and Through the Omenpaths cards are finally available for tournament play, and there are already some really sweet brews running around. This set may be small, but there are a number of awesome build-arounds to maximize.
Yesterday, popular content creator Aspiringspike quickly managed to go 5-0 in a Modern League with a wild combo shell. Abusing the power of an underrated new enchantment, this deck has a lot going on.
Parker Luck in Modern
This deck presents an array of different ways to win the game, but one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is Parker Luck (Duskmourn’s Claim in Through the Omenpaths). Without any support, Parker Luck isn’t a great card for Constructed.
After all, the effect is symmetrical, and because this card triggers on your end step, your opponent will likely get the first crack at utilizing the extra card advantage during their turn. As such, in order to get the most out of Parker Luck, you need ways to set up the top of your deck so that the opponent loses tons of life in the process.
This is exactly what you set out to do here. You have access to enormous threats like Shadow of Mortality that can almost singlehandedly win you the game if revealed by Parker Luck.
Your first step is to get Shadow of Mortality into the graveyard. Effects like Faithless Looting and Bitter Reunion serve as your discard outlets.
From there, once you land Parker Luck, you’re able to fetch up Witch’s Cottage and put Shadow of Mortality back on top of your deck. Parker Land will trigger at the beginning of your end step and force your opponent to lose 15 life. This same exchange can be set up with Calibrated Blast instead of Parker Luck, too.
Even if you don’t find Shadow of Mortality, though, there’re still ways to take advantage of Parker Luck. Both Troll of Khazad-dum and Archon of Cruelty force the opponent to lose lots of life when revealed. It doesn’t take long before Parker Luck runs away with the game.
Reanimator Subtheme
To further maximize your big creatures and discard outlets, this deck also makes use of a Reanimator subtheme. Discarding Troll or Archon with Faithless Looting perfectly enables a turn two Persist. Even reanimating Shadow of Mortality puts a lot of pressure on the opponent early. Bitter Reunion is a bit less efficient than Faithless Looting as a discard spell, but if you ever get to resurrect Archon and give it Haste right away, you’ll pull super far ahead.
Most of the remainder of the deck is made up of interactive elements to buy you time. Thoughtseize is a premium discard spell that shines bright against combo shells. Thoughtseize doubles as a discard outlet in a pinch if you need to target yourself to get Archon in the graveyard.
As for removal, Lightning Bolt is your primary answer to small threats. Despite having access to Fatal Push, this decklist opts to use the full playset of Lightning Bolt alongside just one Fatal Push in order to maximize Bolt as a burn spell. Three damage alone isn’t much, yet when combined with the life loss from Parker Luck or Archon attacks, the damage may let you win a full turn ahead of schedule.
Dual Threat
With Spider Man cards having just become available, it’s hard to say whether this archetype will end up making an impact long term. However, the deck’s immediate success is noteworthy, and the way it attacks from multiple angles makes it easier to beat singular pieces of disruption.
Unlike traditional Reanimator shells, the presence of Parker Luck gives you a better shot at beating graveyard hate. Cards like Surgical Extraction are still a bit annoying since they mess with the effectiveness of Witch’s Cottage. Nonetheless, with a full playset of Cottage in the mix in conjunction with eight Fetchlands, you may be able to set up a window where in response to Surgical Extraction, you crack your second Fetchland to grab another copy of Cottage, put a big creature on top of your deck, and force Surgical Extraction to fizzle.
Parker Luck also shines against strategies with ample answers to Troll or Archon. If your opponent is relying on Solitude to keep your threats in check, Parker Luck may be a huge problem.
Of course, there are some decks like Boros Energy that will struggle to answer a quick Archon. Having access to two different gameplans that are both fast and demand different types of answers is a huge luxury.
Parker Luck putting up a strong performance in Modern was not on our bingo cards. We look forward to seeing how players continue to utilize all of the new tools we’ve been given.
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