In Modern, there are plenty of archetypes for combo fanatics to choose from. Whether you enjoy convoluted land combos out of Amulet Titan or fast, spell-based combo kills out of Ruby Storm, there’s something for everyone.
Today, we wanted to highlight a really unique shell that put up a strong performance in a Regional Championship Qualifier. This deck abuses a popular Modern combo creature but adds a whole new dynamic that makes it stand out.
A Cool Take on Broodscale Combo
The card that this archetype is based around is Basking Broodscale. The powerful Modern Horizons 3 common has taken various Constructed formats by storm, thanks to its ability to combo with a multitude of other cards. In Pauper, Basking Broodscale was banned due to its interaction with Sadistic Glee, which easily enabled Basking Broodscale to grow infinitely large. In Modern, Basking Broodscale is typically paired with Blade of the Bloodchief for a similar reward.
This Modern deck, by contrast, doesn’t feature Blade of the Bloodchief at all. Instead, the pilot opted to go with a Selesnya build that abuses Rosie Cotton of South Lane as the other combo piece. Despite its combo potential, Rosie Cotton has been far from a Modern staple, but this deck does a good job maximizing its power. With Basking Broodscale in play, simply jamming Rosie Cotton will let you put infinite +1/+1 counters on the Eldrazi Lizard.
Rosie Cotton makes a Food when it enters. This triggers Rosie’s final ability, giving you the option to put a +1/+1 counter on Basking Broodscale. In doing so, Basking Broodscale will net you a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn token. This again triggers Rosie’s second ability, and you can continue putting +1/+1 counters on Basking Broodscale and repeat this process over and over.
While Rosie Cotton isn’t as efficient of a combo piece as Blade of the Bloodchief and can’t be found off of Urza’s Saga, there are some benefits to playing Rosie Cotton instead. For instance, you also net infinite Eldrazi Spawn tokens while executing your combo. In the event your opponent has blockers at the ready and you can’t get Basking Broodscale through, having infinite blockers of your own is nice.
Alongside Gavony Township, you’ll set up lethal for the following turn no problem. In conjunction with Guide of Souls, infinite token production also gains you infinite life.
Strong Backup Plan
Playing white then opens the door for you to have some extra support elements and a decent backup plan. Guide of Souls is obviously strong when you assemble your combo, but it’s quite threatening in its own right with other creatures.
The combination of Guide of Souls and Ocelot Pride is still as scary as ever. Ocelot Pride’s token production synergizes with Rosie Cotton, too, in the event you don’t draw Basking Broodscale.
To further bolster your combo, Giver of Runes protects Basking Broodscale and Rosie from removal spells. Outside of the combo, protecting Ocelot Pride and helping it attack past blockers is a great way to pull ahead.
In some matchups, keeping Clarion Conqueror around might singlehandedly give you as huge advantage. Clarion Conqueror excels versus Mox Opal strategies and even messes with more traditional Basking Broodscale decklists.
To make it easier to find your combo creatures, Clarion Conqueror, or Solitude when applicable, both Maleovlent Rumble and Eldritch Evolution go a long way. Malevolent Rumble is a format staple and needs no introduction. As for Eldritch Evolution, upgrading any Eldrazi Spawn or Cat token into a Basking Broodscale or sacrificing one of your one-drops to grab Rosie Cotton and go off are great options to have.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall, Selesnya Broodscale combos has some appealing qualities. Between Ocelot Pride, Guide of Souls, and Basking Broodscale, the deck presents a lot of must-kill threats. Clarion Conqueror can fall into that category, too, depending on the situation. This makes it tough for your opponent to answer all of your elite creatures. Combine this with the fast clock that your one-drops and Basking Broodscale present, and your opponent may struggle to keep pace.
When playing against decks with lots of removal, assembling the combo isn’t easy, though. Luckily, Flare of Fortitude and Veil of Summer out of the sideboard make setting up the combo more realistic.
You definitely can struggle against decks that interact with your creatures on the cheap and also apply pressure of their own. Esper midrange has a brutal Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd package, but can use Solitude, Fatal Push, and Thoughtseize to keep you off-balance at the same time.
Selesnya Broodscale’s strong performance is very interesting, considering that Rosie Cotton hasn’t had much of an impact on Modern at all since its printing. It seems unlikely that this version of Broodscale combo overtakes the more typical Glaring Fleshraker iterations. Still, perhaps there’s more room for innovation and exploration within the archetype than we may have thought.
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