Showing Prowess with Mardu Pyromancer in Modern

In Modern, there seems to be a stigma about certain color combinations. Combinations that have rarely, if ever, been considered competitive. RUG, Mardu, and BUG have all suffered this fate. But it seems that one of them has finally found its way out of the woodwork, and into the MTGO competitive scene. The deck is still way down the tier list, but it’s there, thanks in no small part to Selfeisek, who really brought the deck into the limelight, and continues to hold more of the deck’s finishes than any other player. You can see the list I played here, or just take a look at it below!

            This deck plays very heavily to the strengths that Mardu has always had: the best removal in the format, hands down. Lightning Bolt, Dreadbore, Terminate, Lightning Helix, and so much more, are available to this deck. I will say that the omission of Path to Exile seems a bit suspect, but given the lack of any basic Plains in the main, I suppose I’ll stick to the mantra of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The removal suite has some interesting pieces, like Burst Lightning and Forked Bolt, but in the end those seem to be more about having the option of extra reach, and potential 2-for-1s. Rounding out the removal is Kolaghan’s Command, a fantastically flexible card. We also have access to hand disruption, great for taking out anything our removal suite can’t, and Faithless Looting to help us dig for the right answer and trigger what few creatures we have. Blood Moon is here to help shut down decks with greedy manabases, or at least slow them down enough for us to get the edge.

            The creature suite is where Mardu has always struggled. People generally knew that Young Pyromancer was a good card, but that wasn’t always enough to end the game. Thankfully, Eldritch Moon brought us the wonderful Bedlam Reveler, which is quite good at...well, a lot of things, really. It’s cheap, often coming down for just two mana in this deck thanks to our cheap spells and Faithless Lootings. It’s big, growing with each spell we cast to take down our opponent, and it refills our hand. The odds are pretty high that by the time you cast this, your hand will be empty (or very close to it), which means the last ability will often just be “Draw three cards.” Yes, this is a 3/4 prowess for two mana, with an Ancestral Recall stapled to it. Yes, that does play just as beautifully as it sounds. Obviously this is the best-case scenario, but the best-case scenario, surprisingly, comes up a lot. We also have Monastery Swiftspear for early damage, as well as a decent beater in the mid- to late-game if we can keep the opponent’s board clear.

            The deck isn’t running any utility lands, so I want to finish talking about the main deck by mentioning my favorite card here. Actually, my favorite card probably in all of Magic. That card is, you guessed it, Lingering Souls. The rate of “four tokens for five mana” isn’t phenomenal, but the wonderful part is that the card is so much more than that. It gives you a turn three play, followed by something to do on turn 4 in addition to a Young Pyromancer or Lightning Bolt. It gives you an affordable installment plan for your tokens, and has great synergy with Looting and Reveler (and even K-Command, if you really need it). The card provides incredible value, and has long since earned its permanent spot in my heart.

            Moving onto the sideboard now, some things look a bit...unconventional. Good. Just the way we like it here. We have some pretty standard choices, like Fatal Push, Pithing Needle, Shattering Spree, a couple extra Blood Moons, Wear // Tear, and Leyline of the Void. But then we have the ones I really find fascinating, Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Dragon’s Claw. Kambal is good against Storm, making it very difficult for them to pull out a win between the life loss and our own life gain. It can also help in the mirror and against burn by forcing our opponent to remove him immediately, or else their spells will be slowly turning the tide in our favor. Dragon’s Claw is also great against burn or the mirror, since most of the spells being cast by both players in these matches will be red.

Tips:

• Make sure you fetch your swamp early if you can afford it. Running into a situation where a Blood Moon is really bad for your opponent, but will stop you from casting black spells, is a horrible scenario that can be easily avoided.
• Try to use up your creature removal before your burn spells. The burn can go to face once you start piling on the pressure, while the creature removal might just rot in your hand. The exception to this is if you have a Dreadbore in hand and know that your opponent has planeswalkers that you need to get rid of.
• Don’t forget your graveyard! I had games early on where I completely forgot that I had Faithless Lootings in my graveyard, and it cost me a couple games.
• This is less about the deck and more just a reminder of a rules change. Under a Blood Moon, your Blackcleave Cliffs and shocklands will enter untapped as mountains, thanks to the new rules change.

Potential Changes:

• Path to Exile definitely seems like a strong card in this deck, and I can’t find any particular reason to not run it other than the fact that the deck isn’t set up currently to make white mana reliably, but that can be corrected.
• Collective Brutality is such an incredible card, and I’d love to have it somewhere in the 75. As a bonus, it has great synergy with Lingering Souls.
• I don’t think an extra land would hurt things too much, as I often find myself struggling to hit my third land for the Kolaghan’s Command that’s stranded in my hand.

            The deck has plenty of strengths, especially against creature-based decks, and has the tools to hold its own against a decent chunk of the meta. Obviously any deck will have its weaknesses, but the challenges this deck faces feel more than beatable. The deck is semi-competitive, while still definitely falling into an area where I feel comfortable playing it for this column. The worst thing you can face down is a Rest in Peace, since it shuts down Souls, Looting, and Reveler, but we have Wear // Tear to deal with that. The deck is a lot of fun, with a much more removal-heavy playstyle than a lot of decks have. The deck plays like a weird mix of tempo, midrange, and burn, and I would recommend that anyone who likes these playstyles should give this a shot. It has a lot to catch the opponent off-guard, but is strong enough that it doesn’t have to rely on that to win. Give it a go!