The three bad guys, according to mtgo-stats.com in order of metagame percentage (sorted by the last 2 weeks of MTGO + live results), are Splinter Twin (18%), Birthing Pod (13%), and Affinity (8%).
Modern is fundamentally a turn 4 format, as stated by Wizards of the Coast. To build a powerful deck in this format demands that you either try to win before turn 4 (Infect, Griselbrand Reanimator), present efficient, redunant aggro threats (Zoo, Affinity, Pod), win with an uninteractive combo (Hexproof Auras, Eggs, Storm, Burn), or win through an active denial of resources (Discard, UWR Control). Splinter Twin decks occupy the space between uninteractive combo and aggro, playing out both ways according to the matchup.
This deck plays in the same space as Tempo-Twin, but with less emphasis on combo and more attention given to
efficient early threats.
The Red Menace
If you’re looking to play in Modern, and you’re looking to play with creatures, you need to be aware of the primary weapon against them.
Easily the most played removal spell in Modern, your creatures need to survive a Lightning Bolt, provide value even before or after dying to a Lightning Bolt, or be otherwise expendable enough to make spending a Lightning Bolt on it unattractive.
This deck features, among other things, a heavy emphasis on Lightning Bolt resistance. Several of the creatures have toughness 4 (Brimaz, Hero of Bladehold, Restoration Angel, Spellskite), or can be made into a 4 toughness creature at instant speed (Figure of Destiny). Auriok Champion can’t be targeted by Lightning Bolt. Spellskite can redirect Lightning Bolts (and survive them). Restoration Angel can blink a creature in response to a Lightning Bolt, or any other single-target removal.
Oops, I Win!
The deck features two turn 5 combos, one degenerate, one fair.
Restoration Angel + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can win the game in a single turn if your opponent taps out, letting you flash in an Angel at their end of turn and combo with Kiki-Jiki on turn 5.
If you’re not playing a reactive game vs. a fair deck, you can alternatively tap out for Hero of Bladehold, and cast Kiki-Jiki on turn 5. A Hero of Bladehold, plus a copy from Kiki-Jiki, can attack for exactly 20 damage if you stack triggers correctly (put both Battle Cry triggers on the bottom, you’ll end up with a 4/4, a 4/4, and 4 3/1s).
Even if you’re not threatening a combo, you can still just attack with a bunch of efficient creatures, hold up mana for instant-speed removal, or fight fairly as needed. You won’t be drawing any dead Splinter Twins in the late-game.
Against a board stall, you can send copies of creatures into the red zone with Kiki-Jiki, threatening deathtouch activation with Vault of the Archangel and making blocking a nightmare for your opponent.
Oops, You Can’t Win!
Disruptive creatures Auriok Champion and Spellskite can, almost single-handedly, make the Splinter Twin matchup laughably easy, assuming that you also have board presence to take advantage of their disruption. With a single Auriok Champion on the field, an opponent cannot win with a Deceiver Exarch / Splinter Twin combo (you can gain a life for every 1 power copy he puts on the board). With two, an opponent cannot win with a Pestermite / Splinter Twin combo (you’ll gain 2 for every 2 power copy). With a Spellskite on the field, you can steal a Splinter Twin enchantment from the stack. Occasionally, Spellskite steals the Infect / Hexproof Aura match as added value.
From the sideboard, Hide // Seek single-handedly turns the Ad Nauseam / Lightning Storm match into a cakewalk (assuming you draw it), since they play only 1 copy of Lightning Storm or Conflagrate. It occasionally searches out and exiles an Emrakul from Tron, or a 1-of Gifts target, or pulls the winning Valakut from a Scapeshift player. Hide acts as Path to Exile 4-8 against Wurmcoil Engine, denying them the 3/3 tokens. It’s also instant speed removal against the entirety of the Affinity deck (you can hide their Darksteel Citadel, if needed).
Leyline of Sanctity is difficult for a Scapeshift deck to fight through, impossible for a Burn deck to handle, and a real bummer for the player piloting 8-rack or any other targeted discard deck.
Rest in Peace is a giant hoser for a Storm deck relying on Past in Flames, a Pod deck looking to abuse an infinite Persist combo featuring Melira, Sylvok Outcast, and Living End. It shrinks Goyfs to 0/1s and Knights of the Reliquary to 2/2s.
Batterskull is here as a test for grindy matchups.
Dat Synergy, Son
On top of the degenerate Kiki combos, Auriok Champion can gain arbitrarily large amounts of life with your tokens entering the battlefield from Brimaz / Hero of Bladehold. If the opponent has a Rain of Gore, the trigger says “may”, so you can choose not to gain life. Seems fine!
The mana base is highly suited to playing and playing against Blood Moon. Nearly every dual taps for red, so a Blood Moon won’t hurt if you’ve fetched out 2 Plains. If you only have 1, you have access to Path to Exile to find the other. Under a Blood Moon, the most restrictive mana cost is [mana]1WW[/mana], which is quite reasonable.
I don’t play any Blood Moons, but I could.
Tweaks and Tips
In a future revision of the deck, I might like to incorporate Blade Splicer as another blink target with bonus Kiki-Jiki synergy, carve out a few sideboard slots for a Blood Moon, and play Linvala, Keeper of Silence as (YET ANOTHER) hoser against Twin, Melira Pod and Affinity.
Lists
[deck]BBBSG v. 1.0[/deck]
