A Look at the Top 16 Modern Decks from Cardmarket Series Barcelona

- Tobi Henke
- 2019-10-04
As usual, the Modern field at the most recent stop of the Cardmarket Series was the most diverse. The Top 16 featured no less than 15 different archetypes! Let's take a look at the best of what the format has to offer now, after the departure of Hogaak and Faithless Looting plus the addition of Stoneforge Mystic.
Traditionally, Modern had always been one of the most wide-open Constructed formats. In the past, it wasn't rare for big tournaments to end up with a Top 8 comprised of eight types of deck. After some upheaval and several bannings, things seem to have reverted to this glorious state of unrivaled variety.
The Top 8
When the dust settled after eight rounds in Barcelona, eight players with seven different archetypes gathered for the playoffs. You can find all of their lists as well as the full metagame breakdown on the event's coverage page.
- 2 Jund (which had also been the most popular deck in the field at large)
- 1 White-Blue Control (which ended up winning the tournament)
- 1 Bogles
- 1 Living End
- 1 Hardened Scales
- 1 Spirits
- 1 Paradoxical Urza
It is notable that just one of the players made use of Stoneforge Mystic, and then not even of a full playset. Albert Casulleras Romero simply added another angle to his white-blue Spirits deck with three Mystics and two pieces of Equipment. These results, as well as others across the globe, have allayed fears of a possible Stoneforge dominance. Even White-Blue Control—which many had worried would morph into a Legacy-style Stoneblade deck—remains alive and well, quite evidently.
The 9th–16th Place Finishers
The level of diversity didn't go down either, when going down further in the standings. The players in 9th to 16th place added another eight archetypes to the mix. The lists themselves contained plenty spice too, for instance Tome Scour and Invigorated Rampage—hardly staples of the Modern format.

Grixis Shadow
Death's Shadow players had fallen onto hard times after the release of Modern Horizons. It wasn't just that their game, like all others, was overshadowed by the presence of Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis. They also had to contend with Aria of Flame out of virtually all blue-red Arclight Phoenix decks all of a sudden. Now, after the bannings, the Shadow is back. The deck even gets a flexible new tool in Throne of Eldraine's Drown in the Loch.
Aitor Gonzalez Aguirre, 9th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
17Lands | 15Creatures | 28Other Spells |
2Blood Crypt | 4Death's Shadow | 2Dismember |
4Bloodstained Mire | 4Gurmag Angler | 2Fatal Push |
1Island | 1Jace, Vryn's Prodigy // Jace, Telepath Unbound | 2Inquisition of Kozilek |
4Polluted Delta | 4Street Wraith | 2Kolaghan's Command |
2Scalding Tarn | 2Snapcaster Mage | 2Lightning Bolt |
1Steam Vents | 3Mishra's Bauble | |
1Swamp | 1Serum Visions | |
2Watery Grave | 4Stubborn Denial | |
4Thought Scour | ||
4Thoughtseize | ||
2Temur Battle Rage |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
1Alpine Moon | 1Fatal Push | 1Shenanigans |
2Ceremonious Rejection | 1Kolaghan's Command | 1Spell Snare |
2Collective Brutality | 1Liliana, the Last Hope | 1Terminate |
2Disdainful Stroke | 2Plague Engineer | |
Affinity
When you see a Modern deck with Arcbound Ravager, Mox Opal, and Inkmoth Nexus nowadays, it's usually Hardened Scales. But the traditional Affinity build with more cheap evasive creatures and Cranial Plating remains a powerful force too. Christophe Bacque proved as much with his near-miss finish in Barcelona. Galvanic Blast fits particularly nicely into the current Modern environment. It's never a dead card but a card that leaves Urza, Lord High Artificer dead—or just kills the opponent. It's no coincidence that Urza players have started to incorporate the card into their decks themselves.
Christophe Bacque, 10th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
17Lands | 24Creatures | 19Other Spells |
1Inventors' Fair | 1Master of Etherium | 4Mox Opal |
1Mountain | 2Memnite | 4Springleaf Drum |
4Blinkmoth Nexus | 2Steel Overseer | 4Cranial Plating |
4Inkmoth Nexus | 3Etched Champion | 4Galvanic Blast |
4Darksteel Citadel | 4Arcbound Ravager | 2Welding Jar |
3Spire of Industry | 4Ornithopter | 1Experimental Frenzy |
4Vault Skirge | ||
4Signal Pest |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
2Blood Moon | 2Spellskite | 2Dispatch |
1Torpor Orb | 2Spell Pierce | 2Rest in Peace |
2Ghirapur Aether Grid | 2Damping Sphere | |
Titan Shift
Scapeshifting into Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is another strategy that proved too slow during the Summer of Hogaak. It's also another strategy that has started to become more popular again after the latter's ousting. The newest trend for the archetype involves the addition of a single Field of the Dead and splitting basic lands between snow-covered and regular to hit the requisite number of different names.
Simão Escudeiro, 11th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
28Lands | 9Creatures | 23Other Spells |
3Cinder Glade | 1Obstinate Baloth | 1Prismatic Omen |
1Field of the Dead | 4Primeval Titan | 1Primal Command |
1Misty Rainforest | 4Sakura-Tribe Elder | 4Explore |
1Sheltered Thicket | 4Lightning Bolt | |
4Stomping Ground | 1Mwonvuli Acid-Moss | |
1Verdant Catacombs | 4Scapeshift | |
4Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle | 4Search for Tomorrow | |
1Windswept Heath | 3Summoner's Pact | |
4Wooded Foothills | 1Khalni Heart Expedition | |
1Forest | ||
3Mountain | ||
1Snow-Covered Forest | ||
3Snow-Covered Mountain |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
1Anger of the Gods | 2Force of Vigor | 1Tireless Tracker |
1Beast Within | 1Fry | 1Reclamation Sage |
1Collector Ouphe | 2Obstinate Baloth | 2Veil of Summer |
3Damping Sphere | ||
Goblins
The addition of Goblin Ringleader to the Modern card pool turned Goblins into a viable deck. Once again, the tribe hadn't been able to realize its potential while Hogaak was around, but it's coming into its own now. In fact, the event in Barcelona had more players running Goblins than Humans, and several Goblin decks hovered around the top tables until late in the tournament.
Enric Lazaro, 12th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
21Lands | 35Creatures | 4Other Spells |
3Cavern of Souls | 1Knucklebone Witch | 4Aether Vial |
2Field of Ruin | 2Frogtosser Banneret | |
3Blood Crypt | 4Munitions Expert | |
4Auntie's Hovel | 4Goblin Matron | |
4Mountain | 4Goblin Warchief | |
1Swamp | 1Krenko, Mob Boss | |
4Bloodstained Mire | 1Goblin Cratermaker | |
4Goblin Ringleader | ||
3Skirk Prospector | ||
1Goblin Trashmaster | ||
2Goblin Piledriver | ||
1Goblin Chieftain | ||
2Sling-Gang Lieutenant | ||
3Mogg War Marshal | ||
1Pashalik Mons | ||
1Earwig Squad |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
3Blood Moon | 2Damping Sphere | 1Goblin King |
1Thoughtseize | 2Icon of Ancestry | 1Collective Brutality |
2Earwig Squad | 2Dragon's Claw | 1Goblin Trashmaster |
Zoo
You wouldn't expect Invigorated Rampage to be much of a factor in Modern, but there you go. There's a place and a time for everything, and in this case the card found its place in an all-out aggressive Zoo deck with Dreadhorde Arcanist …
Sergio Quilis, 13th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
18Lands | 26Creatures | 16Other Spells |
2Bloodstained Mire | 4Bomat Courier | 2Invigorated Rampage |
2Copperline Gorge | 4Burning-Tree Emissary | 4Atarka's Command |
1Forest | 3Dreadhorde Arcanist | 4Lightning Bolt |
2Mountain | 4Goblin Guide | 2Mutagenic Growth |
4Ramunap Ruins | 4Monastery Swiftspear | 4Tarfire |
3Stomping Ground | 4Reckless Bushwhacker | |
4Wooded Foothills | 3Tarmogoyf |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
1Blood Moon | 1Collector Ouphe | 2Destructive Revelry |
1Dismember | 1Grafdigger's Cage | 1Guttural Response |
1Kari Zev's Expertise | 4Leyline of Combustion | 1Shattering Spree |
2Tormod's Crypt | ||
Death and Taxes
Finally, here's a deck with four copies of Stoneforge Mystic. Between that and Giver of Runes, Modern Death and Taxes is starting to resemble its Legacy cousin very closely.
Guillem Capdevila Saus, 14th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
23Lands | 27Creatures | 10Other Spells |
4Eldrazi Temple | 2Thraben Inspector | 4Aether Vial |
4Field of Ruin | 4Giver of Runes | 4Path to Exile |
2Mutavault | 4Thalia, Guardian of Thraben | 1Batterskull |
2Shefet Dunes | 4Stoneforge Mystic | 1Sword of Fire and Ice |
1Silent Clearing | 2Blade Splicer | |
1Horizon Canopy | 2Flickerwisp | |
1Eiganjo Castle | 2Ranger-Captain of Eos | |
1Flagstones of Trokair | 4Eldrazi Displacer | |
7Plains | 3Thought-Knot Seer |
Dredge
While the bannings brought graveyard strategies down to a more reasonable power level, they haven't been eliminated as a metagame factor. Dredge even gets to abuse the engine of Life from the Loam and Forgotten Cave now, to fuel greater Conflagrate than ever before. It's likely that the community also hasn't found the optimal build yet. The one in Barcelona's Top 16 included the somewhat unusual Tome Scour; others included Insolent Neonate.
Josep Garcia, 15th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
20Lands | 18Creatures | 22Other Spells |
4Wooded Foothills | 4Bloodghast | 4Tome Scour |
3Bloodstained Mire | 4Narcomoeba | 4Shriekhorn |
3Mana Confluence | 2Golgari Thug | 2Conflagrate |
2Stomping Ground | 4Stinkweed Imp | 4Cathartic Reunion |
2Forgotten Cave | 4Prized Amalgam | 4Life from the Loam |
1Copperline Gorge | 4Creeping Chill | |
1Spirebluff Canal | ||
1Steam Vents | ||
1Blood Crypt | ||
1Gemstone Mine | ||
1Mountain |
Sideboard | ||
---|---|---|
3Nature's Claim | 3Lightning Axe | 2Thoughtseize |
1Darkblast | 2Ancient Grudge | 1Shenanigans |
2Leyline of the Void | 1Rotting Regisaur | |
RUG Delver
The Death and Taxes list above already borrowed heavily from Legacy. However, the following clearly earns the top prize in the Legacy lookalike contest. There's a wealth of card selection spells for 1 blue mana. There's Delver, Tarmogoyf, and some Pyromancers. Gerard Coll even included Forces and Wrenn and Six. Granted, his Force was Force of Negation instead of Force of Will and his planeswalker would recycle Ghost Quarter rather than Wasteland. But the similarities are staggering.
Gerard Coll, 16th Place | ||
---|---|---|
Main Deck | ||
20Lands | 14Creatures | 26Other Spells |
4Scalding Tarn | 4Delver of Secrets / Insectile Aberration | 4Serum Visions |
3Misty Rainforest | 4Tarmogoyf | 4Opt |
2Fiery Islet | 3Snapcaster Mage | 4Lightning Bolt |
2Steam Vents | 1Young Pyromancer | 2Vapor Snag |
1Breeding Pool | 1Vendilion Clique | 2Mana Leak |
1Stomping Ground | 1Seasoned Pyromancer | 2Force of Negation |
1Botanical Sanctum | 2Spell Pierce | |
1Spirebluff Canal | 1Dismember | |
1Lonely Sandbar | 1Abrade | |
1Ghost Quarter | 2Spell Snare | |
1Mountain | 2Wrenn and Six | |
2Island |
2 Comments
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RUG Delver in Modern. Is my dream finally coming true?
Stefannelson89, it's still too early to say whether it's a trend or a fluke, but various RUG Tempo decks have been popping up increasingly often.