We had a feeling that Dour Port-Mage was going to do something amazing. This card was so close to being good. All someone needed to do was break the restriction placed on it to unlock the possibilities. Infinite card draw on a two-drop is pretty absurd, and someone finally found a way to break it.
Interestingly, Dour Port-Mage turned an unsuccessful combo deck into one that really works. Aluren, an old and powerful enchantment, got a callback in Modern Horizons 3. Returning as Primal Prayers, you can go infinite with this card, but you need to jump through a few hoops. Fortunately, Dour Port-Mage makes those hoops a reasonable fit!
Primal Prayers
- Mana Value: 2GG
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- Card Text: When Primal Prayers enters the battlefield, you get two energy counters. You may cast creature spells with mana value 3 or less by paying one energy counter rather than paying their mana costs. If you cast a spell this way, you may cast it as though it had Flash.
If you’re a fan of the Modern format in MTG, you know who Aspiringspike is. This content creator is known for whipping up all kinds of crazy brews in the Modern format. His better showings routinely take a temporary foothold in the larger Modern metagame.
This time, it appears Aspiringspike has finally created a working version of the Primal Prayers combo deck. Functioning similarly to the Aluren combos of old, the goal of this deck is to resolve Primal Prayers and go infinite with a combination of different creatures with mana value three or less.
The particular combo you’re looking to assemble this time around involves Primal Prayers, Dour Port-Mage, and Greenbelt Rampager. On their own, the combination of Primal Prayers and Greenbelt Rampager creates infinite ETBs and bounces. This is exactly what Dour Port-Mage needs to unlock its busted potential.
Once these three cards are in play, you get to draw your entire deck. From here, you can simply use Primal Prayers to cheat Thassa’s Oracle in and win the game. Thankfully, this combo doesn’t even have to worry about energy, as the Greenbelt Rampager loop takes care of that.
Two Different Options
In a recent Twitter post, Aspiringspike offered players two different Primal Prayers decks for consideration. The Temur version offers a much quicker combo, utilizing Amped Raptor for extra Energy, and Imperial Recruiter to help assemble the combo.
While this variant is a bit faster than the alternative, Aspiringspike actually recommends players try the Bant version that he’s been playing. While this deck has a much slower combo, it has a much better plan B, which has proven to be the more viable strategy.
On top of the main combo, you can find whispers of successful Energy decks in this Bant variation. Ocelot Pride and Guide of Souls both offer an insane amount of early value. Ranger-Captain of Eos is a cheeky tutor capable of finding Dour Port-Mage, while also shutting down noncreature spells on your combo turn. Shrieking Drake and Guide of Souls also create a secondary combo with Primal Prayers, allowing you to gain infinite life.
Aspiringspike believes that this deck could be viable after the bans occurring on August 26th which should remove Nadu, Winged Wisdom from the format. Until then, this deck doesn’t stand much of a chance against the winged menace.
A Few More Things to Try
Outside of Dour Port-Mage, Aspiringspike has looked into a few other cards from Bloomburrow and how they apply to the Modern format. Mockingbird, in particular, looks to have some legs in the format. Whether you’re copying Death’s Shadow for one mana, or a variety of other threats, this card has a ton of applications. Otherwise, Kitsa, Otterball Elite and Portent of Calamity appear to have some legs.
Even though Bloomburrow paled in comparison to Modern Horizons 3 as far as power level goes, there are still ways for the new set to impact the Modern format. Unfortunately, because bans are still quite a ways away, it’s tough to know just how viable anything is until Nadu, Winged Wisdom leaves the Modern format.
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