Close Your Eyes (And Count to Ten)

Modern* birb.fm

SCORE: 28 | 28 COMMENTS | 5226 VIEWS | IN 11 FOLDERS


Darth_Savage says... #1

Nice infect deck, why not run Ranger's Guile in place of Apostle's Blessing as it essentially acts as more copies of Blossoming Defense. Another thought is that Evolution Charm offers a fair amount of utility since it can get a land, get a creature back or give you evasion.

I have a feeling without Inkmoth Nexus you might want a minimum of 2 more creatures, probably Necropede. Another land that would work well here is Pendelhaven, though again it isn't cheap. Generally running less than 20 lands isn't a good idea...

March 19, 2017 5:14 a.m.

clayperce says... #2

birb.fm,
Seems more evasion would be helpful somewhere in the 75, as Apostle's Blessing is really all you've got to get Creatures through. Rancor maybe? Or Inkmoth Nexus, as Darth_Savage mentioned.

Also, while I really like Wild Defiance, I suspect it's often a dead card in a deck with only 18 lands (even if you bring in the Birds of Paradise too). Of course, if it's working ok for you, never mind!

Finally, you might want to try Cathedral of War. It's kind of a super-budget Noble Hierarch and if you can fit it in, the Exalted trigger is awesome.

Draw well!

March 20, 2017 8:47 a.m.

clayperce says... #3

birb.fm,
Congrats on getting the Windswept Heaths. A few thoughts on Fetches ...

  • I notice Misty Rainforest in your maybeboard, but I'd recommend Wooded Foothills instead. They don't look as nice, but they're the second-least expensive of the Green Fetches.
  • It can be useful sometimes to leave an un-cracked Fetch on the battlefield. E.g., for a Landfall trigger on Groundswell or to Fetch Dryad Arbor in response to a -2 from Liliana of the Veil.
  • You might look at adding some Become Immense. The card is absurdly powerful if you can reliably get a bunch of cards into the Graveyard, and the Fetches help a lot.

One more thing: I personally like Vines of Vastwood more than Blossoming Defense, so would run a 3-3 split or 4-2 the other way. Partly because Vines can go up to +4/+4 (although the extra mana is a heavy price). But mostly because 'can't be the target or spells or abilities your opponents control this turn' is much better than 'gains hexproof'. The deal with Vines is you can also cast it on an opponent's Creature, and then they can't target their own dude that turn with pump spells, or Equip abilities, or really anything that targets.

As always, draw well!

March 29, 2017 10:56 p.m.

DRACULA150704 says... #4

Nice but not good enough.

Take out Vines of Vastwood for Invigorate, Take out Windswept Heath for Misty Rainforest, take out Become Immense & Apostle's Blessing for Berserk and just try running 6 different buffs (thats all you need) all with 4 of

October 9, 2017 7:04 p.m.

birb.fm says... #5

@DRACULA150704 This is a Modern deck. Not a legacy deck. If it were a legacy deck, i would certainly be playing Invigorate and Berserk. I also cannot afford Misty Rainforests right now, so i'm sticking to Windswept Heaths.

October 9, 2017 7:15 p.m.

DRACULA150704 says... #6

so why can't you play Invigorate & Berserk?, Invigorate is my favourite tool in my infect deck- it is like Mutagenic Growth, but better!

October 9, 2017 7:16 p.m.

DRACULA150704 because they literally aren't Modern legal?

October 9, 2017 7:18 p.m.

DRACULA150704 says... #8

Really? I didn't know that. Anyway my infect deck is a turn 2 pauper deck so i love invigorate

October 9, 2017 7:39 p.m.

yes, they were never printed in any Standard Legal sets past 8th Edition, which is what it takes to be Modern legal. It's not that they're banned, it's that they've never been printed in a Modern legal set.

October 9, 2017 7:41 p.m.

DRACULA150704 says... #10

oh i didn't know that

October 9, 2017 8:26 p.m.

DRACULA150704 says... #11

i mean i didn't know they weren't printed in a standard set

October 9, 2017 8:27 p.m.

Jafjaf5 says... #12

Best. Name. Ever.GG infect

October 10, 2017 2:10 p.m.

Infect is usually a deck with VERY fast kills. For me I think it is a little too slow. In Modern, by the time you have the chance to get the value out of Rancor or Opt your opponent has multiple blockers and/or is killing you.

You could cut out those cards mentioned above and use things like Berserk which just can crush your opponent out of nowhere.

October 19, 2017 6:54 p.m.

Berserk is not modern legal.

It amazes me how many non-Modern legal cards get suggested for Modern Infect.

October 19, 2017 6:57 p.m.

Sorry must have misread something. Thought it said casual or something idk

October 19, 2017 8:23 p.m.

Sorry if I came off... aggressive. I've just seen Berserk suggested for this deck at least twice, and all over other Modern Infect builds as well. Invigorate is another common suggestion that isn't Modern Legal. Vintage/Legacy and Casual are very different where Infect is concerned. Most other Modern builds don't encounter this because they're not generally viable in Vintage/Legacy, but Infect is at least semi-viable in both Modern and Legacy.

October 19, 2017 9:17 p.m.

Lord_Maple says... #17

I think you would be better of if you swapped windswept heath for yavima's coast

November 22, 2017 12:18 a.m.

BodhiQL says... #18

On the contrary, the more fetches you have the better, because it fuels delve, and clears lands out of your deck for the later game. Also Cathedral of War, Spider Umbra, and Ichorclaw Myr are questionable choices. I think you really need the full playset of Blossoming Defense and Inkmoth Nexus, Vines of Vastwood is also really good. With stuff Push lurking around infect has evolved from being a blitzy type deck to a slower, reactive deck. We need numerous protection spells to keep our low creature count alive.

November 27, 2017 11:14 a.m.

Lord_Maple says... #19

True but evolving wilds dies the same thing but cheaper and with more targets, the drawback is that it comes in tapped though.

November 28, 2017 11:10 p.m.

BodhiQL says... #20

Lands coming into play tapped is a enormous downside, especially in a deck like this where we need the mana available as soon as possible. Another upside of fetches is they can get Breeding Pool for only three life and you have access to both blue and green mana

November 29, 2017 9:11 p.m.

Stun_Sniped says... #21

What about Noble Hierarch?

March 22, 2018 11:36 p.m.

wallisface says... #22

I understand the Hierarch is out of price range, but wondering whether the bird is a good enough replacement?? My understanding of infect was that the Hierarchs main benefit was the Exaulted trigger, and not so much the ramp. In that case, there might be better uses for that slot than the bird

September 23, 2018 11:11 p.m.

clayperce says... #23

wallisface,
IMO, the value of Heirarchs is ~50% the Exalted trigger, ~40% the ramp, and ~10% simply being a Creature (for when we have to go with a normal damage beat-down plan). That's why I always recommend 2x Cathedral of War and 2x Birds for anyone who's still saving up for the 4x Heirarchs.

September 23, 2018 11:31 p.m.

heckproof says... #25

You gonna run any number of Scale Up ?It seems absolutely stupid in infect.

May 26, 2019 4:40 p.m.

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