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Notes on the Modern Meta (Early 2026)

These are my notes on the decks you can encounter while playing Modern on MTGO and at tournaments. The decks are roughly sorted in tier (viability + prevalence) order:

The (subjective) tiers are about recent frequency and position in the meta, not about "which is the best deck". (Even a 🍌 deck can kick your butt at modern.) If deck power is of interest, WOTC has win rate data on their website.

For major decks, the notes include:

I am not a great MTG player, so take all this with a grain of salt. If anybody reading this has any corrections or comments, I'd be happy to learn from you. Let me know by email or DM me on Twitter.

🥇 {WR} Energy

Updated: 2026-01-09

Boros aggro deck with efficient creatures cast on curve. All of their stuff synergizes with all of their other stuff. Grinds well with two-for-one cards and recursive threats like Phlage.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Energy plays 24-26 efficient CMC 1-3 threats and about ~12 interaction. Their turns 3-4 are often explosive with Ajani + Bombardment, Phlage, lots of tokens, etc. Usually, energy gets on board quickly and wants to end the game by around turn 6.

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Some things to be aware of:

Energy can usually rebuild after the first board wipe, but the second, well-timed board wipe usually gets them.

Turn 1

Usually open with Ragavan or Guide of Souls.

Turn 2

If they connect with Ragavan, they might ramp into a turn 2 Blood Moon or Fable.

If there are blockers, Galvanic Discharge might clear path for Ragavan.

They'll deploy more threats:

Turn 3

Often explosive.

Turn 4

Expect Arena of Glory + Phlage or City's Blessing and lots of tokens.

Combat Math

It's their turn, first main phase. How much damage can they do per creature?

Creature Combat Bombardment Ajani Other
Voice of Victory 3 3 3
Ocelot Pride 1 2 1
Ocelot Pride (City's Blessing) 1 3 1
Ocelot Pride (City's Blessing) + Voice of Victory is in play 1 4 1
Phlage 6 1 1 3
Guide of Souls 1 1 1
Ragavan 2 1 1
Seasoned Pyromancer 2 1 1
Cat Warrior Token 2 1 1
Escaped Phlage + Arena 6 1 1 6

Example: flipped Ajani and Bombardment are both in play. They have a Voice of Victory and Ocelot Pride to attack with. If they have at least 3 lands, they will gain City's Blessing in the end step.

That's 18 damage dealt, even though the total power they had on board was 2.

Sideboard Plan

What's bad:

🥇 {G} Amulet Titan

Updated: 2026-01-10

Amulet has remained tier 0 or 1 through metas with KCI, Hogaak, Eldrazi, Oko, Mox Opal, Treasure Cruise/Dig Through Time, Faithless looting/Golgari Grave Troll Dredge, and to this day. The deck is always the most broken thing in modern and just avoids bans by being hard to play.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Amulet has endless lines to win, and trying to list them all would fill this whole page. A more complete look at the deck is All About Amulet Titan by Dom Harvey. It's not often seen on MTGO, because it's hard for the deck to play three games without running out the clock.

In brief, the Amulet deck has two basic modes:

With Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking

Without Amulet

Strategy

Amulet is not easily disrupted, because it mostly relies stuff entering without being cast, lands becoming copies of things (Mirrorpool...) and effects like channel. It can be

What's bad:

What to name for Disruptor Flute:

🥇 {UR} Affinity

Updated: 2026-03-07

Casts a lot of cheap artifacts to get a Kappa Cannoneer on turn 2 or 3. Very fast deck, synergistic deck. Recent lists also grind really well. Might be the best deck in Modern as of early 2026.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

The basic plan is to flood the board and then cast Kappa Cannoneer with improvise. They have many ways to generate a lot of artifacts:

Each of these lines (except maybe Emry) can also easily win the game on their own, if left unanswered.

Emry and a sac outlet like Arcbound Ravager can also be used to continually sac and recycle artifacts to pump Kappa. The same trick can also make extra mana with Mox Opal and turns Arcbound Ravager into an instant speed pump spell. (It can sac to itself and put counters on Kappa, then come back with Emry.)

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Your priorities should be:

🥇 {wR} Storm

Updated: 2026-01-08

Combo deck that can go off out of nowhere, cast a lot of rituals and then kill with Grapeshot. It's surprisingly resilient with a skilled pilot and can go off through a lot of disruption.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Discard / counter / removal / surgical priorities:

  1. Discounters: Ral, Medallion, Artist's Talent
  2. Manamorphose
  3. Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve
  4. Pyretic Ritual, Desperate Ritual

What storm count is lethal (before starting the final chain listed here) and how much mana is needed assuming one Medallion is in play:

Lethal Storm Count Required Mana Final Chain
4-5 {4RRR} Artist's Talent from hand + Grapeshot
5-6 {4RR} Artist's Talent in play + Grapeshot
5-6 {2RR} Artist's Talent at level 2 + Grapeshot
5-6 {R} Artist's Talent already at level 3 + Grapeshot
7-8 {3RR} Wish + Empty the Warrens
15-18 {1RR} Wish + Grapeshot
16-19 {1R} Grapeshot

Additionally:

How to tell they're about to go off:

Sideboard Plan

What's bad & should be boarded out:

Updated: 2026-01-10

The most popular blink deck. (Two other variants being Esper and Bant.) It's a midrange deck built around using blink-like mechanics to abuse ETB triggers, cheat big creatures into play and remove opponent's permanents.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Some of their tricks:

Sideboard Plan

🥇 {Cg} Eldrazi Tron

Updated: 2026-02-01

Mostly colorless eldrazi deck that gets {7} mana on turn 3 and takes control with Ugin, Eye of the Storms, then kills with a heavy hitter like Ulamog.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Of note is Karn, the Great Creator, which gives access to their sideboard in game 1. The main ability is the -2, which they can use to fetch:

Karn's +1 ability becomes relevant when they need a blocker, or in fringe situations where they have Extinguisher Battleship but no way to station it.

Why Karn is a bigger threat than you think

Sideboard Tech

Because of Karn, the Great Creator, their sideboard is usually almost 100% artifacts.

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

For most decks, the plan against tron is to delay the main threats and try to win before they arrive. Once Ugin or Ulamog are on the board, the only lines to still win are combos.

A resoled Karn is a problem, but don't be hasty removing it. If you have e.g. Prismatic Ending, you can let them spend their turn getting a hate piece and spending mana, then remove it.

Sideboard Plan

The main workhorses against tron are Blood Moon and Consign to Memory. Counterspell works. Land destruction and bounce spells are tempo plays only.

🥈 {UG} Neobrand

Updated: 2026-01-09

Glass-cannon combo deck built around Neoform. Cheats a big creature (usually Griselbrand or Ghalta) around turn 3-4. With Ghalta + Xenagos, it can do 26 damage as early as turn 2.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Both Neoform and Eldritch Evolution are sorceries, so you might think removing the creature at instant speed stops them, but the sac is a cost. If played correctly, you will not have priority to cast removal between the creature entering and Neoform getting cast.

Maindeck Interaction

Entirely reactive, aimed at protecting the combo.

There is a variant that plays Glittering Wish.

Sideboard Tech

Strategy

What creature they're getting, based on what they have:

Note that Disciple of Freyalise is in the deck for two reasons:

  1. A land they can fetch via Summoner's Pact
  2. Enter as a creature via a Ghalta ETB trigger and potentially draw them 7-12 cards with its ETB trigger.

It helps to know the lines, but really the main takeaway is to stop Neoform. (This also applies to Eldritch Evolution.) Here's how, based on what you have:

Sideboarding Plan

What's bad:

🥈 {UR} Prowess

Updated: 2026-01-08

Explosive izzet aggro. Gets in chip damage on turns 1 and 2, then it can explode on turns 3 or 4 and deal 19 damage out of nowhere. Easily underestimated.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Against most decks, prowess is the beat down. Side out early small creatures like Ragavan - they will just hit them with the Lava Dart, which is not a trade you want (given the flashback).

Orim's Chant is bad, because they can just respond to it at instant speed, or go off a turn later.

Sideboard Plan

🥈 {WUB} Goryo's

Updated: 2026-01-09

A frog deck with an extra combo using Goryo's Vengeance and Ephemerate to cheat an Atraxa and abuse ETB triggers.

Typical list.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Their goal is to cheat into play Atraxa or Griselbrand through the graveyard. The steps are:

If they have Frog and 15 or more life, then Goryo's Vengeance + Griselbrand usually wins the game immediately by drawing 14, discarding 14 and attacking with the flying frog for 15+ damage.

Plan B is to play a fair game with Frog and Quantum Riddler.

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Sideboard Plan

What's bad:

🚧 🥈 {WUbRg} Domain Zoo

Updated: 2026-01-11

Five-(actually four)-color aggro deck. Like Energy, it opens with Ragavan and often ends games with a hasted Phlage, but it also has access to Leyline Binding and countermagic.

Typical List

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Most domain lists are not actually real 5c decks, but effectively Jeskai with a green splash for Territorial Kavu and a single triome that could, but never does make {B}. This means their sideboards are very similar to jeskai sideboards, but there are exceptions.

Occasional Sideboard Tech

🚧 Strategy

🚧

Sideboard

What's bad:

🚧 🥈 {BG} Yawgmoth

Updated: 2026-02-01

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

The deck packs multiple combo lines, can win through aggro and finish games with Grist.

In general, their plan is:

  1. Ramp with mana dorks
  2. Do the main combo with Yawgmoth or a variation with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.

Failing that, their plan B is grindy aggro, greatly helped by Badgermole Cub. They can close with Grist.

Basic Combo Line: Yawgmoth + Undying + finisher

The main combo line is really a template with two pieces:

  1. The basic loop
  2. The finisher

Both the loop and the finisher can be varied. Here are the basic forms:

The classical Yawg loop requires Yawgmoth and 2 undying creatures, usually Young Wolf. One of the Young Wolfs should have a +1/+1 counter on it. (This is easy to arrange by sacrificing it to Yawgmoth's second ability once, to trigger undying.) Here's how it goes:

  1. Activate Yawgmoth's second ability to sac the Young Wolf with no counters on it, targetting the Young Wolf with a +1/+1 counter.
  2. The sacrificed Young Wolf returns immediately with a +1/+1 counter.
  3. Yawgmoth's ability resolves, placing a -1/-1 counter, which cancels (rule 122.3) the previous +1/+1 counter.
  4. The board is now back in the initial state and the loop can be repeated.

The classical finishers are:

The Role of Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Agatha's Soul Cauldron is what makes this deck formidable. It makes the combo more consistent and opens up new lines and new finishers.

The most obvious use is that you don't need to have the combo pieces on board, they just need to be in the graveyard. Generally, you exile Yawgmoth and a creature with undying, making the loop work with any three creatures.

Secondly, the Cauldron makes it possible to generate infinite mana:

There are many lines involving the Cauldron, but the most popular one is infinite mana + Walking Ballista.

The role of Grist, the Hunger Tide

Grist is a toolbox card. He's a creature while in the library or graveyard, so he can be easily tutored and counts towards his own -5 ability. The primary uses are:

Other Minor Lines

The fun thing about Yawgmoth is that it can win on the spot with no obvious warning, unless you know the deck. For example:

Strategy

TBD

Sideboard Plan

🚧 🥈 {CG} Basking Broodscale

Updated: 2026-01-11

Eldrazi deck that combos Basking Broodscale with Blade of the Bloodchief to make a big lizard and infinite mana.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

The combo line works like this:

All they need to kick this off (other than the two cards in play) is {2G} to equip the blade and use adapt.

The combo can turn lethal immediately in two ways:

Other ways the combo wins:

How they get the combo:

Their plan B is to be a slower Eldrazi Ramp deck with Ugin's Labyrinth, Springleaf Drum and Eldrazi Temple.

Maindeck interaction

Sideboard Tech

Similar to other eldrazi decks:

🚧 Strategy

🚧

🚧 🥈 {UG} or {UBG} Ritual

🚧 🥉 {WU} Azorius Control

Example List

🥉 {CGr} Eldrazi Ramp

Updated: 2026-02-07

Typical list

(Yes, someone took 2nd place at a destination qualifier with a 61-card deck.)

Their Plan

Early turns: Ramps quickly with Talisman of Impulse, Utopia Sprawl, multi-{C} lands and Malevolent Rumble.

Mid-game: Destroys opponent mana with Ghost Quarter, sometimes World Breaker. Sowing Mycospawn does that and ramps further. Digs for cards with Kozilek's Command and Malevolent Rumble. A recent mid-game addition is Icetill Explorer.

Late-game: Ugin, then [Emrakul].

Interaction

4 Kozilek's Command is a given, but they mostly use it to make tokens and scry.

Unlike other Eldrazi decks, they also often have 2 or 3 Kozilek's Return against Energy and other wide decks.

Unlike tron, this deck has no Karn and so the sideboard is less of a toolbox and there are more hate cards maindeck, e.g. Bojuka Bog.

Strategy

Ramp mulligans aggressively to have at least 2 or 3 ramp cards. They are not as fast or as consistent as tron, and need to stay on schedule, casting stuff for {4} on turn 3 and {6} on turn 4. Disrupting that plan can derail them completely.

Unlike tron, enchantment and graveyard hate are relevant, meaning cards like Thraben Charm have a role.

As with all Eldrazi decks, Consign is amazing. Don't forget it can hit the cast-triggered abilities.

Bounce pseudo-counterspells are strong against their big-mana spells. Reprieve on [Emrakul] is strong. However, be aware that many Eldrazi abilities are cast-trigger.

🚧 🥉 {UBR} Grixis Reanimator

Typical list

🥉 {U} Blue Belcher

Updated: 2026-01-16

Combo deck that wins by Goblin Charbelcher because it plays no lands, only multi-faced modal spells with a land on the back side.

Typical list

Belcher is in a weird spot in the meta. It's definitely viable and keeps ending up in top 10. It's strong against Energy and Storm, which are popular at the moment. On the other hand, any Frog deck, stomps it, as do Prowess and Affinity. If it ever becomes popular and people sideboard against it, it won't do so well.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Goblin Charbelcher reveals their whole deck, because they play no lands. To do that, they need a lot of mana, which they can get from Lotus Bloom and the combo with Tameshi.

Tameshi/Lotus Combo

This is a way for them to generate a mana boost: Tameshi's second ability can bounce their lands back to hand, letting them recurse a Lotus Bloom from the graveyard as many times as they have lands.

This isn't necessary for them to win, but they do need at least {7} to do the thing, and some extra {U} to protect it.

Digging

Fallaji Archaeologist and Thundertrap Trainer are the main ways for them to dig for the combo pieces. Whir of Invention comes up occasionally.

Maindeck Interaction

Mostly a countermagic suite:

The following MDFCs are relevant as spells, as well as lands:

The others don't come up much.

Their Sideboard

Strategy

Random notes:

🥉 {WUR} Jeskai Control

Example List

This deck exists on a spectrum between Azorius Control and Jeskai Blink. Some lists are just a control deck splashing {R} for Lightning Bolt or Galvanic Discharge, while others are basically blink decks with a few more card draw and countermagic thrown in.

Both ends of the spectrum are viable in the meta, the middle really isn't.

🦕 {UR} Murktide

Updated: 2026-01-09

Typical list

Tempo deck that wants to delay the opponent and then play a Murktide Regent.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Sideboard Plan

🦕 {UB} Mill

Crab mill deck with some extra tricks.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

The plan is to mill your deck.

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Milling 3 cards is sort of like taking 1 damage.

Mill potential from various sources and how much it costs:

Cost Trigger Card Mill Amount
{0} Searching library, usually in response to a fetch land Archive Trap 13
{U} Landfall Hedron Crab 3
{U} Landfall Ruin Crab 3
{B/P} Card in graveyard Surgical Extraction 0-3
{UUU} - Fractured Sanity (cast) 14
{1U} - Fractured Sanity (cycled) 4
{1UU} - Tasha's Hideous Laughter typically 5-20
{2} - Field of Ruin 1 + can trigger Archive Trap

🦕 {UB} Frogtide

The og Frog deck, and related to UR Murktide. It's mostly been replaced in the meta by Esper Blink decks, Dimir Midrange and Goryo's, but can still kick butt with a skilled pilot.

Example List

Some decks play Oculus rather than Murktide as the top threat, but tradition calls for a Murktide Regent.

Noawadays, Kaito and Riddler are common additions.

Early Tells

Their Plan

The deck cares about tempo. Their goal is to disrupt the enemy until they can do their plan:

  1. Discard a lot of cards to Frog
  2. Cast a Murktide Regent

Plays lots of interaction:

🍌 {R} Red Burn

Updated: 2026-01-27

Straightforward burn deck. Attacks with fast, small creatures like Goblin Guide and plays a lot of direct damage burn spells. Plays beatdown in every match.

Typical list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Lines to Win

Maindeck Interaction

Sideboard Tech

Occasional Sideboard Tech

Strategy

Burn needs to win fast, so sideboard strategy should focus on surviving into later turns, when the balance will shift in favor of the deck playing control to burn's beatdown.

Sideboard Plan

🚧 🍌 {UB} Dimir Midrange

🍌 {Crg} Eldrazi Aggro

Eldrazi deck without much ramp, built like tribal aggro. Where most eldrazi decks (like tron and ramp) want to cast big, game-ending threats as early as turn 3, this deck follows a more regular mana curve and tops out at Sire of Seven Deaths. Main interaction is Kozilek's Command, sometimes there's Unholy Heat.

Example List

There is also a whole spectrum of decks between the typical aggro list above, and Eldrazi Ramp.

🍌 {WBG} Samwise Combo

Updated: 2026-02-02

Abzan combo deck that was briefly popular in 2025. Combos Samwise Gamgee, Viscera Seer and Cauldron Familiar to kill at instant speed.

Typical list

Their Plan

The combo has three pieces: Cauldron Familiar + Samwise Gamgee + a sac outlet, like Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder or similar.

Typically light on interaction, usually just Boseiju. Sideboard will have white lockdown pieces, Fatal Push, Endurance, Force of Vigor and similar.

Strategy

The deck plays 30 creatures and can get Grist into play with Chord of Calling or Birthing Ritual. They don't play any threats bigger than Sephiroth and Grist, though. If the combo is prevented, they can be beaten at fair magic.

Target list:

🚧 🍌 {BRG} Cosmo Fling

🚧 🍌 {UGR} Song of Creation

🦕 {UR} Phoenix

Updated: 2026-01-16

A really neat Izzet deck built around Arclight Phoenix and Thing in the Ice and/or Demilich. Plays lots of spells to get hasted phoenixes or flip the thing.

Typical list

Their Plan

Maindeck Interaction

🦕 {UBRg} Dredge

Updated: 2026-01-16

Dredge is a combo deck that goes off on one big turn. It's similar to Phoenix, but operates completely through their graveyard, which they can fill very quickly.

List with Green List with Narcomoeba

Their Plan

The plan has two steps:

  1. Fill the graveyard quickly
  2. Use cards in the graveyard to win the game

Step 1 is mostly done with dredge, which combos with Artist's Talent. Every time they cast a spell, the talent lets them discard a card and draw a card, which turn on the dredge effect and adds between 3 and 5 cards to the graveyard. Auxiliary discard comes from surveil (lands, Otherworldly Gaze) and Faithless Looting.

Step 2 is done with three effects:

Maindeck Interaction

Not a lot: basically only what they need to fight graveyard hate like Rest in Peace.

Sideboard Tech

Usually they have some of these:

Strategy

Priority targets:

  1. Artist's Talent should be countered or removed immediately
  2. Exile their graveyard
  3. Hit Arclight Phoenix with Surgical Extraction

Sideboarding Plan

🚧 🍌 {BRG} Hollow One

Typical list

🚧 🦕 {WB} Lantern Control

Example List

🚧 🦕 {WUR} Jeskai Ascendancy

🚧 🦕 {wUBrg} Living End

🍌 {R} Red Belcher Storm

Updated: 2026-01-27

Surprisingly viable red variant of the Goblin Charbelcher deck with elements of Ruby Storm.

Example list

Early Tells

Their Plan

Primary line is Goblin Charbelcher. They can get the mana to cast and activate it with Ruby Medallion + Pyretic Ritual or Desperate Ritual, or Irencrag Feat.

Second line is rituals + Stormscale Scion. Bitter Reunion can give the dragons haste.

They also tend to play Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon.

🚧 🍌 {UR} Izzet Steel Cutter

Example List

🍌 {WUbrg} Humans

Many human tribal decks exist. Usually they center in white. Almost always will play 36-40 creatures, 4 Cavern of Souls and all interaction will be ETB triggers or activated abilities.

This deck was tier 2 in Pioneer and it is not viable in modern.

Popular pieces:

🚧 🍌 {WUBG} Kethis Combo

Typical list

🚧 🍌 {UBG} Sultai Midrange

🚧 🦕 {BRG} Boomer Jund

🚧 🦕 {U} Blue Tron

Example List

🦕 {UW} Miracles

Example List

In the current meta, miracles are basically the Azorius Control deck with a few Terminus and Entreat the Angels. Very occasional spicy additions are [Banishing Stroke] and maybe Thunderous Wrath.

I think there used to be a version of this deck more centered on the miracle mechanic, but I've never seen it.

🦕 {UW} Narset Control

Updated: 2026-01-10

A variant of Azorius Control built around the Narset, Parter of Veils + Day's Undoing combo. It's usually not aggregated as a separate deck, getting lumped in with regular UW control, but it functions more like a prison deck, than traditional control. Honestly, I think their wincon is running out the clock.

Typical List

Their Plan

The deck's plan is to use Narset, Parter of Veils to deny their opponent cards in hand. This combos well with Day's Undoing, whose effect is to discard their opponents hand. Teferi, Time Raveler helps them do this at instant speed, usually right after the draw step.

Remaining threats are controlled by Chalice of the Void, regular countermagic, Isochron Scepter + Orim's Chant and Subtlety + Solitude.

After locking their opponent out, they theoretically win by chip damage from Solitude or a man-land like Hall of Storm Giants. In practice, they win by the opponent conceding.

Strategy

Their lock consists mainly of planeswalkers and the occasional artifact, so it's not difficult to remove.

Priority targets:

If you can, remove planeswalkers with damage and keep universal removal for Chalice of the Void and any other lockout pieces they might play against you (e.g. Pithing Needle).

Otherwise, the plan is the same as against any control deck:

🚧 🦕 {WURG} Omnath

Typical list

🦕 {WR} Hammer Time

Boros equipment deck with the Colossus Hammer + Puresteel Paladin combo. Makes a 12/12 as early as turn 2.

Typical List

Some lists also splash blue for Metallic Rebuke and Consign.

Early Tells

Their Plan

Plan B is to go wide with Urza's Saga and Cori-Steel Cutter.

Their sideboard seems often to be a toolbox of artifacts and white removal.

Strategy

Sideboard

🍌 {W} White Land Destruction

Updated: 2026-01-11

This deck sucks. Its whole plan is to slowly blow up the opponent's mana base and win around turn 30 with Castle Ardenvale. (That's not an exaggeration.)

Typical List

Early Tells

Their Plan

Maindeck Interaction

🚧 Strategy

Just concede, it's not worth it.

🚧 🍌 {B} Monoblack Midrange

🚧 🦕 {G} Elves

🦕 {U} Merfolk

Updated: 2026-02-07

Tribal deck with around 36 merfolk and multiple lords. The 4 non-creatures are [Aether Vile].

Example List

Sometimes splashes white for removal and Unsettled Mariner. Interaction is usually [Sink Into Stupor], doubling as a land, and Otawara. There used to be a Simic version that's not played anymore.

🚧 🦕 {Gr} Hardened Scales

Example List

🚧 🍌 {WG} Bogles

Updated: 2026-02-05

Voltron/auras deck featuring hexproof creatures like Slippery Bogle and Gladecover Scout. Very fast and aggressive, but is it fast enough for Modern? (Spoiler: not really.)

Example List

Bogles relies on the lack of interaction in the current meta that could hit a hexproof creature. They can get Ethereal Armor to go exponential, Rancor for trample and Sheltered by Ghosts to remove any early problems.

Weak to board wipes, countermagic, lockdown.

🍌 {UR} Gift Storm

Updated: 2026-02-05

Storm deck without the Medallion and often without Ral. Instead it plays Baral, Chief of Compliance, [Goblin Electromancer], Stormcatch Mentor and other wizards. I believe this is pretty close to storm before Modern Horizons 3.

Example List

This deck relies on countering spells, often plays Gifts Ungiven and Flame of Anor, but ultimately their plan is the same as ruby storm, even if this version is more interactive.

Still viable today and played by a few people on MTGO.

🚧 🦕 {UR} Splinter Twin

Example List

🚧 🦕 {uRBg} Indomitable Creativity

Updated: 2026-03-07

The plan is to cheat multiple Archon of Cruelty into play with Indomitable Creativity destroying cheap token permanents, like foods, goblin shamans from Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or dwarf tokens from Dwarven Mine.

Often plays 4 Wrenn and Six. As it's almost a domain deck, sometimes they have Leyline Binding and/or Prismatic Ending. Generally, interaction varies from deck to deck, but Spell Snare, Thoughtseize, Reprieve and Pawpatch Formation seem common.

🚧 🦕 {CUR} Through the Breach

Typical list

🍌 {RG} Titanshift

Updated: 2026-01-16

Amulet Titan in Gruul, without the Amulet. Landfall / ramp deck that ramps into Primeval Titan and wants to win via landfall with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Scapeshift can win on the spot.

Typical List

🚧 🦕 {B} Monoblack Burn

🚧 🍌 {UR} Wizards

🍌 {WUBRG} Domain Helga Keruga

Updated: 2026-01-31

Example List

Early tells:

Another take on domain aggro. The enabling cards are the same: Leyline of the Guildpact, Leyline Binding, Zagoth Triome. The threats are different: Helga, Skittish Seer wants to see big creatures and provides ramp to enable casting them. Combines with Scion of Draco and Keruga in the sideboard.

Their interaction typically plays countermagic (mostly Force of Negation) rather than Lightning Bolt.

Omnath deck.

🍌 {UB} Asmo Food

Updated: 2026-01-31

Example List

This deck wants to discard a lot to Monument to Endurance, Frog, Underworld Cookbook. Doing that turns on Asmo and Moonshadow. Ovalchase Daredevil is a good discard target to, because it keeps coming back for food tokens.

The two main combo lines are:

Stack ranked threats:

Interaction:

🍌 {WbG} Devoted Druid

Updated: 2026-01-31

Combo line:

The rest of the deck does two things:

If splashing black, they also play Grist and Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler.

🦕 {RG} Ponza

Gruul land destruction deck. Plays 4 Blood Moon, 4 Stone Rain, 4 Molten Rain. Ramps fast with Utopia Sprawl + Arbor Elf combo. How it wins, differs - the Ponza shell lends itself to big green creatures, a combo with the Kalonian Hydra and [Meek Attack], or just playing green aggro.

🦕 {BG} The Rock

Golgari midrange archetype with a long tradition all the way back to the Extended format. It's named for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who kind of looks like the card Deranged Hermit, which was in the original list.

The Rock doesn't have any specific game plan - in fact, it's a different pile of Golgari "good stuff" every season. It's mainly characterized by playing efficient interaction and prefers grinding games where it eventually exhausts the opponent and wins through late-game threats. This requires solid knowledge of the metagame and a skilled pilot.

Nowadays, that mostly means interaction like this:

Some lists run land destruction:

For the past few months, most list have run 4 Orcish Bowmasters.

Otherwise, each list is very different.

✨ {UBR} Grixis Shadows

Example List

{BGR} Jund Delirium

Example List

Interesting Rogue Lists