Season 15, Episode 14: Roundup (Brothers’ War Previews) + Brew Session (Tolarian Terror) + Flashback (Meria, Scholar of Antiquity)

Veteran players remember Gurmag Angler, the sleek delve threat once seen in decks like Grixis Shadow and Hollow One. At one mana, the Zombie Fish was brutally efficient and surprisingly hard to kill — so much so that Legacy players once thought Gurmag might need to be banned in their format (until cooler heads prevailed and identified Deathrite Shaman as the culprit).

The Zombie Fish has mostly disappeared from today’s Modern as removal has gotten better, black has gotten weaker, and stronger 1 mana threats have emerged. But what if Gurmag came with Ward? That’s the promise of Tolarian Terror, a new one mana threat from Dominaria United. Terror is in a much stronger color and doesn’t consume the graveyard, meaning that it’s possible to deploy multiple Serpents in one turn, while also leaving mana open for additional interaction. Sure, the opponent can kill them, but only at a tremendous tempo deficit thanks to Ward 2.

We are starting to see early returns on Tolarian Terror in both Modern and Pioneer. But questions remain. How far we can lean into the graveyard before exposing ourselves to hate? Can Terror earn its spot over even bigger options like Murktide Regent? Or can they perhaps be played together? Morde and Cavedan investigate this week, looking at several new decks.

On the Flashback, the crew shares their preliminary findings with Meria, Scholar of Antiquity, including Hullbreaker Horror Combo, Song of Creation Combo, and Artificers tribal Thopter-Sword. They also study the early previews from The Brothers’ War, including Urza, the Mightstone and Weakstone, and Surge Engine.

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Decklists and Timestamps

[2:19] The Brothers’ War First Look

[7:24] The Mightstone and Weakstone

[9:51] Urza, Lord Protector

[13:53] Queen Kayla bin-Kroog

[16:01] Mishra’s Foundry

[18:18] Surge Engine

[20:22] Recruitment Officer

[21:24] Special promos

[24:59] Brew Session: Tolarian Terror

[27:32] Lessons from Pauper

[33:49] Grixis Tolarian Tempo by Selfeisek

[39:58] Izzet Prowess by MonkeyDBaboo

[42:21] Dimir Third Path Control by strangledangles

[48:05] Flashback: Meria, Scholar of Antiquity

[50:12] Dan’s Meria Hullbreaker Combo

[57:12] David’s Meria Song of Creation

[1:00:52] Emi’s Artificers Thopter-Sword Combo

[1:08:27] Final thoughts on Meria

Season 15, Episode 13: Brewers’ Mailbag

Does Modern have a “five color problem”? If so, how can it be fixed? Has the format become hostile to brewing? And why has black become such a weak color?

Today, Cavedan and Morde open up the Brewers’ Mailbag to field listener questions about the state of Modern and Pioneer after several weeks of Dominaria United. Many listeners want to know, “What’s wrong with Modern?” and more importantly, what can be done about it? After a bit of soul searching (and weeping and gnashing of teeth), the crew has some recommendations to help you get the most out of these formats.

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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Timestamps

[4:17] Checking in

[7:33] White Rhinos by HamburgerJung

[10:02] Housekeeping

[12:15] Why not The Raven Man?

[14:55] Emi’s Micromancer Wizard Control

[22:36] The RCQ system: is it working?

[28:42] Brewing in Modern after MH2

[33:49] Are efficient answers good for brewing?

[35:27] Does Modern have a “5 color problem?”

[41:41] Search hate: pros and cons

[47:31] Rakdos Scam and how to beat it

[52:01] Deck building heuristics

[56:04] Should Morde be banned from Yorion decks?

[58:12] Deck diversity in Pioneer

[1:00:26] Reprints we want for Pioneer

[1:01:43] Why black is the worst color in Modern

[1:06:35] All time favorite limited format

[1:08:45] Card designs we want to see

Season 15, Episode 12: Brew Session (Jodah, the Unifier) + Flashback (Soul of Windgrace)

The people have spoken! The votes have been tallied for our next monthly project, and two cards stood head and shoulders above the rest. Mechanized Production, an intriguing alternate win con using artifact tokens, was bested by the narrowest of margins, losing only to a card that is even more insane: Jodah, the Unifier.

For five mana, in WUBRG colors, we had better be getting an amazing deal. Jodah has a ridiculous text box that certainly gives you a massive advantage while he is in play. But five mana without an ETB effect is a very tall order. That’s Niv-Mizzet mana, after all, and we know that Niv can win the game just by entering the battlefield once. Jodah is going to make us work harder, to guarantee that either his anthem effect or his “buy one, get one” coupon for legends is enough to put the game away. Cavedan has some ideas for how to pursue this, so let the brewing commence!

On the Flashback, the crew also reviews their testing results with Soul of Windgrace, a card that is enjoying a breakout week of finishes. Morde stuck to more traditional Yorion good stuff shells, while Cavedan ranged further afield with Bard Class, Shigeki Fires, and Titania’s Fury. If Soul is on track to become a staple of Modern and Pioneer, what can we expect from this card?

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Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!

Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

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[2:19] Voting results

Brew Session: Jodah, the Unifier

[7:24] Rules notes

[10:47] The Tibalt loophole

[14:30] Getting Jodah into play

[24:04] Building for anthem vs. building for cascade

[29:04] Micro-syngergies

[33:17] Jodah Pyre Humans by Rich Ellis

[36:39] Jodah Pyre Humans by DJeffMTG

[38:47] 5c Humans Company by IslandGoSAMe

[41:38] Dan’s 5c Jund Tibalt

[45:14] Jodah Winota by Mildpro

Flashback: Soul of Windgrace

[52:39] 5c Domain Delirium by aspiringspike

[54:17] Emi’s 5c Yorion Domain Delirium

[1:01:01] Jund Windgrace by claudioh

[1:04:09] Dan’s Jund Bard Class

[1:07:21] David’s Jund Shigeki Fires

[1:10:46] Dan’s Titania’s Fury

[1:16:50] Final thoughts on Soul of Windgrace