I didn’t spend a ton of time testing for Minneapolis, because with the Pro Tour coming up I have been focused on Block Constructed, as well as getting things with work in order so I can leave for a week. I was reasonably happy with my deck from GP Richmond, but felt like it could be improved upon. I won’t be writing about Modern for several weeks at least for SCG, so I’ll share some of my thoughts here.

The three most important decks in Modern are Pod, Twin, and Affinity, and we’ve seen a sharp decline in both non-artifact aggro and midrange/control decks since the pro tour. This has made both Lightning Helix and Domri Rade worse, since those cards shine in those respective matchups and aren’t great against the big three. The card that *is* awesome against all three of those decks is Qasali Pridemage – who, similarly, wasn’t great before when both Kird Ape and Anger of the Gods were all over the place. I also made the swap from Domri to Chandra – Domri is great against decks like UWR and Jund, but not so hot against Pod (who can just attack it, and have resilient creatures that makes the fight effect worse) and pretty bad against the other two top decks. Chandra isn’t amazing against a lot of decks, but she’s a much more reliable source of card advantage that can also kill small creatures and force damage past blockers, which can matter a lot.

I’m writing this after day one, at which point I’m 7-2, (4-2 after byes) defeating U/W, Scapeshift, Affinity, and Pod, with my losses coming to Twin and Affinity. I’ve been really happy with the deck overall, especially since I won a grand total of zero die rolls on the day, so that record came while starting most games on the draw (which was actually very similar to my experience in Richmond, oddly enough)

The maindeck Mindcensor was mostly because I knew I wanted access to two of them but couldn’t fit them in my sideboard and it felt like the best card to play in the main. It’s possible that should be the Ajani (which was almost an Ajani, Mentor of Heroes before I chickened out on playing it with zero playtesting)

Hopefully by the time you read this, I’ll have pulled off a 6-0 record on day two and be playing in the Top 8!

*EDIT* I ended up going 5-1 on day two to finish 12-3 for 26th place, beating two Merfolk decks, a Tron deck, an Affinity deck, and an “Ajundi” deck, and losing to Naya pod.

On another note, it was incredible to me to see that the Pastimes booth (who are the manufacturers of my playmats via Gamermats.com) was sold out of my playmats on site by noon on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who picked them up – you guys are awesome. I’m working on some new designs for people who want to support the site but might not be keen on staring at my face throughout all of their matches. Stay tuned!

Anyway – here’s the deck!

GP Minneapolis Decklist – Naya Zoo

4 [card]Noble Hierarch[/card]

4 [card]Wild Nacatl[/card]

1 [card]Birds of Paradise[/card]

4 [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]

4 [card]Scavenging Ooze[/card]

4 [card]Qasali Pridemage[/card]

4 [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card]

2 [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]

1 [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card]

4 [card]Path to Exile[/card]

4 [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]

2 [card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card]

4 [card]Misty Rainforest[/card]

3 [card]Verdant Catacombs[/card]

4 [card]Arid Mesa[/card]

1 [card]Marsh Flats[/card]

2 [card]Stomping Ground[/card]

1 [card]Sacred Foundry[/card]

1 [card]Temple Garden[/card]

2 [card]Horizon Canopy[/card]

1 [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card]

2 [card]Forest[/card]

1 [card]Plains[/card]

Sideboard