Imagine it is 2020, Underworld Breach was just revealed and you begin to think about the combo between Mox Opal, Grinding Station, and two new cards, Underworld Breach and Thassa’s Oracle. Underworld Breach allows you to cast spells repeatedly from your graveyard at a surprisingly low cost, only having to exile 3 cards from your graveyard. Thassa’s Oracle seems equally busted, a Labratory Maniac effect that is triggered upon entering the battlefield. You can mill your entire library and win the game on the spot with a 3 card combo where 2 of the cards, Opal and Breach, are already pretty decent on their own. Then, Mox Opal is banned right before the set releases and Underworld Breach becomes legal.
This is the brief story of Jesse Robkin and the origin of Breach combo in modern.
This weekend the 2nd US Regional Championship for the Modern Format took place. The metagame was fairly diverse with Breach Combo at 23%, Orzhov Midrange at 15%, Eldrazi at 12%, Boros Energy at 10%, and a multitude of other decks played at a rate below 10%. However, I predict this tournament will be the last time Breach Combo will be legal for a major tournament. The deck, powered up by Mox Opal’s unbanning, put 6 copies into the top 8 and had 16 total copies in the top 32. Despite only being 23% of the initial metagame it was 75% of the top 8 and 50% of the top 32.
To continue with Breach combo’s origin, Jesse Robkin then began to experiment with Mox Amber, Breach, and Grinding Station but found it wasn’t good enough as there were not sufficient legendary enablers for the Amber. The deck got a boost with Modern Horizons 2 and the printing of Ragavan. Everyone’s favorite bird lawyer saw some play in the deck for a time as Ledger Shredder worked well with Mox Amber, Mishra’s Bauble, and the plethora of cheap spells. The deck continued to evolve but got a major boost with Modern Horizons 3. In Modern Horizons 3 the printing of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Scholar and Malevolent Rumble provided a cheap legendary for Mox Amber and an incredibly efficient card selection and graveyard-filling spell. Then Mox Opal was unbanned. The Mox Opal unban put the deck over the top. In the 5 years since Opal had been banned Mox Amber's playability had greatly increased due to the many efficiently costed legends meaning the deck could play up to 8 moxen.
In the years between the printing of Ragavan and Modern Horizons 3’s additions Jesse Robkin played a lot of Breach Combo. At every Modern NRG Tournament Jesse was almost always playing Breach combo. Jesse Robkin created breach combo and played it relentlessly. However, for this Regional Championship, a perfect storm arrived. The unbanning of Mox Opal, the shift in play design towards cheap legendary creatures, and some key role players like Malevolent Rumble meant Breach became the best deck.
Jesse had recently taken a step away from Magic. She bought a plane ticket to Charlotte because she wanted to play Breach for one last time while the deck was still legal. She was not qualified for the Regional Championship on Friday Morning. She flew to Charlotte with a plan to LCQ (Last Chance Qualifier). The inventor of the deck unsurprisingly won an LCQ on her first try, qualifying for the Regional Championship the following day. On day 1 Jesse finished with a record of 8-1. On Day 2 before the top 8 she went 4-1-1, with her draw being an intentional draw to ensure her place in the top 8. In the top 8 she of course went 3-0, winning the tournament. An overall record on the weekend of 20-2-1. She never lost a mirror the entire weekend.
Jesse’s success in this tournament reminds me of Reid Duke’s tweet after his Pro Tour Win.
Jesse Robkin had an incredible advantage in this tournament. She had both created the deck and played more Underworld Breach than any other magic player.
Jesse’s story is what every magic player imagines when they think of a cool new deck idea. They are going to build a deck and then show up to a tournament and destroy everyone with their awesome brew! For Jesse, it just took a couple of years but her initial brews during spoiler season in January 2020 eventually came to fruition. Now on the pro tour and qualified for worlds it will be exciting where she goes from here.
Modern Post Breach
Presuming that Underworld Breach is banned in the coming months the meta will shift as the balance of power is disrupted. Orzhov, the second-best deck right now, is built with 4 maindeck Relic of Progenitus, which synergizes with Ketramose, the New Dawn but also acts as maindeck graveyard hate for Breach. So Orzhov will fall from favor a bit.
-Eldrazi will see more play. Eldrazi does not have a good breach match-up and with its banning will see a tick-up in play.
-Zoo will be a decent choice still. The deck gets to play the most potent interaction because it is 5 colors which makes it adaptable to most metagames.
-UW Control is a good choice right now given the prevalence of breach but if Eldrazi increases in share UW Control will likely see a decrease in play because the matchup isn’t great.
