Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards are finally legal on Magic Online and MTG Arena, and it’s no surprise that players are eager to try out the new goodies. There are lots of interesting and powerful synergies involving new cards that players have hyped up for a while. Now, we have the opportunity to try them out. Will Jace Reawakened and Valki, God of Lies take over Pioneer? Is Oko, the Ringleader worthy of praise, or will it completely fall short of its predecessor?
As players work on finding out the answers to these questions, it’ll be interesting to see what cards end up overperforming. There are a lot of unique cards with plenty of untapped potential. On top of that, one of the cool things about this set is that many of the cards, while clearly powerful, don’t inherently slot right into top-tier archetypes. In fact, many of them require relatively specific supporting casts to maximize, which should make this phase of deckbuilding experimentation even more intriguing.
Today, we are going to focus on a handful of cards that may be able to revive some underperforming archetypes. These upgrades may be able to provide the necessary spark to give these strategies new life. Let’s start by taking a look at two awesome designs that could help take Modern Affinity to the next level.
Tooling with Modern Affinity
Affinity is a deck that once thrived in Modern. Cards like Cranial Plating and Arcbound Ravager built the backbone of an incredibly explosive and scary deck to play against. However, the banning of
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
largely took the wind out of its sails.
In recent years, Affinity decks in Modern have gotten by thanks to the power of
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
but have been structured quite differently. The deck has become a lot less aggressive, as cards like
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
and
Sojourner’s Companion
Sojourner’s Companion
Affinity for artifacts
Artifact landcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for an artifact land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)
have made their presences felt.
Unfortunately, Affinity in its current state has a lot of air and is rather reliant on Construct tokens from Urza’s Saga to help close the game. Add on the fact that Artifact hate cards like Force of Vigor are quite problematic, and it makes sense why the deck has faltered. Well, Simulacrum Synthesizer is here to change that.
Simulacrum Synthesizer is an incredible card when paired with Affinity Creatures like Frogmite and Myr Enforcer. Thanks to Artifact Lands like Mistvault Bridge and
Darksteel Citadel
Darksteel Citadel
Indestructible
{T}: Add {C}.
as well as cheap other Artifacts such as
Ornithopter
Ornithopter
Flying
and Springleaf Drum, it’s not difficult to imagine following up Synthesizer by casting multiple Affinity payoffs for free. Despite spending zero mana, Synthesizer will still trigger and provide some enormous Constructs.
Taking things a step further, some players have suggested adding
Satoru, the Infiltrator
Satoru, the Infiltrator
Menace
Whenever Satoru and/or one or more other nontoken creatures you control enter, if none of them were cast or no mana was spent to cast them, draw a card.
as a card advantage engine. Given the sheer volume of cards you can cast for zero mana in this deck, the upside is certainly there. Synthesizer provides lots of pressure while Satoru helps you never run out of gas, which were two areas that prevented this deck from being more popular. I’m excited to see this deck in action.
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A Powerful Two-Drop for a Deck That Needs It
Slickshot Show-Off is undoubtedly one of the stronger cards in the set and is a great upgrade for red aggressive decks in Standard and Pioneer. However, one deck in Modern has been begging for this card for quite some time. Modern Prowess has been in dire need of a potent two-drop, and we may have finally found the answer.
Monastery Swiftspear
Monastery Swiftspear
Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
and
Soul-Scar Mage
Soul-Scar Mage
Prowess
If a source you control would deal noncombat damage to a creature an opponent controls, put that many -1/-1 counters on that creature instead.
are slam-dunk inclusions in Modern Prowess shells. They pair super nicely with all of your cheap cantrips, burn spells, and free spells like
Mishra’s Bauble
Mishra’s Bauble
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Look at the top card of target player's library. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
and Mutagenic Growth. Meanwhile Dragon’s Rage Channeler is excellent here given the high density of spells and helps make
Underworld Breach
Underworld Breach
Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.)
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.
an incredible finisher.
Things get really dicey after that, though. Some players choose to splash for Questing Druid, but this card is a bit on the slower side. Others stay the course and play Sprite Dragon, but this card is incredibly weak to
Orcish Bowmasters
Orcish Bowmasters
Flash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1.
and
Wrenn and Six
Wrenn and Six
+1: Return up to one target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
−1: Wrenn and Six deals 1 damage to any target.
−7: You get an emblem with "Instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard have retrace." (You may cast instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying their other costs.)
.
Enter: Slickshot Show-Off. This card hits harder than Dragon, survives turn-two Bowmasters, and can easily end the game in one hit with Breach or some Mutagenic Growths. This card should add an immediate upgrade to Modern Prowess, which has not been a top-tier archetype for a while.
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An Elite One-Drop for a Deck That Needs It
Next, we transition over to Pioneer. As a recursive one-drop with two power, Forsaken Miner is a very similar card to Bloodsoaked Champion. However, there are a few things separating it from other cards like it.
Right off the bat, we should mention just how easy committing Crimes is. Almost any black deck will be playing
Thoughtseize
Thoughtseize
Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. You lose 2 life.
and
Fatal Push
Fatal Push
Destroy target creature if it has mana value 2 or less.
Revolt — Destroy that creature if it has mana value 4 or less instead if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn.
as is, so returning Forsaken Miner to play is easy. Like Bloodsoaked Champion, Forsaken Miner unfortunately cannot block, which restricts its versatility. However, aggressive decks can still make use of this.
This brings us to our next point. Obviously, mono-black aggro is the perfect home for Forsaken Miner. It works well with
Smuggler’s Copter
Smuggler’s Copter
Flying
Whenever this Vehicle attacks or blocks, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
and the deck is naturally assertive. The issue is, even an improvement in the one-drop slot might not be enough to bring this deck back from the dead. So, what other deck could make use of this card?
While it isn’t a clear inclusion, there’s an argument that Pioneer Rogues decks can utilize this card. Beyond the usual suspects, this deck plays
Drown in the Loch
Drown in the Loch
Choose one —
• Counter target spell with mana value less than or equal to the number of cards in its controller's graveyard.
• Destroy target creature with mana value less than or equal to the number of cards in its controller's graveyard.
as yet another way to commit a Crime. The deck has been severely lacking a one-drop Rogue to pair with Thieves’ Guild Enforcer, and this card delivers. Adding an extra one-mana Rogue not only makes it more likely you can curve out, but it makes Soaring Thought-Thief much stronger. Not being a good blocker is a big knock in Forsaken Miner, but it definitely helps with the Tempo-style starts the Rogues deck is capable of.
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Solid Flash Threat Joins the Party
Finally, we have Aven Interrupter for Standard. Aven Interrupter isn’t the most incredible card, since any spell you exile your opponent can replay the following turn. Still, this is a big tempo swing in your favor. As such, some players are hyped for its potential role in Boros Convoke sideboards. Even delaying a board wipe a turn can be big game given how explosive Convoke can be.
In addition, though, this card may be able to help Azorius Flash shells which have fallen out of favor in recent months. On top of being a solid Flier with Flash, there are a number of strong cards that are good to counter with this.
Worldsoul’s Rage
Worldsoul’s Rage
Worldsoul's Rage deals X damage to any target. Put up to X land cards from your hand and/or graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
and [tooltip]Memory Deluge[/tooltips] out of Temur ramp, for instance, get way worse when your opponent casts them without paying their mana costs.
Now, you can pass with three mana at the ready, and your opponent has to fear any mix of Aven Interrupter,
Tishana’s Tidebinder
Tishana’s Tidebinder
Flash
When this creature enters, counter up to one target activated or triggered ability. If an ability of an artifact, creature, or planeswalker is countered this way, that permanent loses all abilities for as long as this creature remains on the battlefield. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)
, and Werefox Bodyguard, which all help cover different bases. This card, along with the rest of the Thunder Junction cards we mentioned, are very strong when built around. As players start to innovate with all that the new set has to offer, we look forward to seeing which new cards end up standing out.
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