This past weekend, Magic: The Gathering players descended on Charlotte in their droves for the latest SCG Con. There was plenty going on across the three-day event, but the competitive highlight was undoubtedly the Modern Regional Championship (RC). Over 1,300 players rocked up to test their Modern mettle; a stunning show of support for the format, given how rocky it’s been since the unbans. While Underworld Breach decks were still dominant other interesting MTG strategies also had the chance to shine through, including a spicy list I’ll be calling ‘Temur Rhino Twin’ here.
This deck, which comes to us via Allison Coleman, made the top 128 of the event with a 10-5 record overall. If that doesn’t sound too impressive to you, remember the esteemed company the list was playing in over the weekend. Also bear in mind that it’s essentially a rogue brew, in a format that’s feeling more solved by the day. Coleman’s list may not be the best thing you could be doing in Modern but it’s something new, which counts for an awful lot right now.
Temur Rhino Twin MTG
As the name suggests, Coleman’s deck is a Temur list which combines the Cascade/Crashing Footfalls Rhino package with the classic MTG Splinter Twin combo. Right off the bat this is highly unconventional. Both decks on their own are playing pretty specific combo lines and interactions, so logic would dictate that putting them together would dilute their effectiveness. Based on Coleman’s results, however, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
I’ll start with the Cascade element of the deck, since it informs more of the wider deckbuilding decisions here. This side of things is entirely enabled by Shardless Agent, which is a simple 2/2 for three with Cascade. By running only spells that cost three or more and Crashing Footfalls, you have a 100% chance to cast Footfalls for free when Agent hits. That’s a 2/2 and two 4/4 Tramplers for three mana: a great deal by anyone’s standards.
Playing a deck with a curve that starts at three does, naturally, pose some problems in the early game. Against decks like Boros Energy, giving them two free turns of build up simply isn’t an option. To that end, Coleman runs some cards that cleverly get around this restriction.
The Modern Horizons 2 Incarnations, Endurance and Subtlety, for example, cost three or more but can be cast for free. Dismember is similar, costing three but able to come down for one and four life. There are also split cards in Dead/Gone and Fire/Ice, which act as early removal while not being valid Cascade hits, since the mechanic checks the combined mana value of both sides when deciding to cast them or not.
A Surprise Hit At RC Charlotte
So that’s the Rhino part of this MTG deck; now onto the Temur Twin part. You’re probably familiar with the basic idea of the combo at this point. Since Splinter Twin was unbanned back in December, players have been experimenting with different versions of the deck. Across all of them, the core strategy remains the same.
If you can enchant a creature that untaps a creature when it enters play with Splinter Twin, then you can generate an infinitely large board of hasty creatures and win the game on the spot. Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch are the classic targets, but we’ve also seen Village Bell-Ringer tried out in the role too. In Coleman’s deck, one copy of Exarch joins a full playset of Bounding Krasis to form the ‘Twin target’ package. This makes a lot of sense as a split; since Coleman is running blue anyway, Krasis is the better creature since it can do more in combat outside of the combo turn.
Since all of the cards needed to pull of the Splinter Twin combo cost three or more mana, they can slot in alongside the Cascade stuff with no issues. While there’s no huge synergy between the two halves, they do complement each other well. Cascading into Footfalls can take over the game early on, but if your opponent removes the Rhinos you’re left a bit stuck. The Splinter Twin package gives the game a long-term plan for such scenarios.
These two main packages aside, Coleman’s deck is just a solid Temur Tempo list with plenty of disruption. You can easily control the first few turns with free spells, then land a combo to turn the corner. It’s refreshing to see a Magic: The Gathering Combo deck with such a solid contingency plan.
A Real Contender?
Coleman’s Temur Rhino Twin list isn’t just a gimmick, then; it’s an MTG deck with some serious play to it. That said, Modern is a very hostile format right now. As interesting as the list is, it may not be enough to withstand the all-out aggression on display elsewhere.
To address the 3/3 Elephant in the room first, Breach decks are a major problem right now. This is another combo deck, but one that can pop off much faster and more consistently than Rhino Twin can. Cards like Endurance and Force of Negation can help a lot in terms of slowing them down, but in most cases Breach will outpace the deck and end the game quickly. Many players are hoping that Breach eats the ban hammer soon, but until then it’s a big roadblock for Rhino Twin.
Amulet Titan is also a potential issue, since it can combo off consistently in the early game too. It’s a touch slower than Breach though, which gives Coleman’s deck more time to find answers and disruption. It’s not an easy matchup, but it’s a better one than Breach.
The other big Modern deck at the moment, Boros Energy, poses challenges of its own, but is a decent matchups for Coleman’s list regardless. Boros Energy can certainly run the deck over in the early game, but it can also stumble to removal and find itself walled by Rhinos real quick. From there, Rhino Twin can stabilize and combo off for the win.
Overall Temur Rhino Twin has some good matchups, but it’s unlikely to find itself at the top of Modern tier lists any time soon. That said, it’s a welcome flash of innovation in a format rapidly growing stale.
