Back to the Start
The deck revolves around the cards Autochthon Wurm + Blast of Genius
. The primary goal is to get to 6 mana and cast
Blast of Genius
doming them in the face for 15 by discarding
Autochthon Wurm
. The rest of the deck is filled with cards that shut down any major threats, give us a tempo advantage, or help get Blast targets on top of the deck or into our hands.
The Combo
Blast of Genius
: The entire point of this deck. The draw three is nice, but your opponent shouldn't be alive long enough for you to reap the benefit.
Autochthon Wurm
: The highest CMC modern-legal card printed. Besides
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
, but most people don't have a playset of those laying around. Besides, Wurm is under $1.00 for what is, for our purposes, functionally the same card as Emrakul.
Supporting Cards
1 Mana
Serum Visions
: Seeing as we're a blue tempo, controlly type deck, we have no reason to not be playing this card. It helps us find our combo, and put useless cards on the bottom of the deck.
Spell Snare
: It came down to this card and
Spell Pierce
for which 1 mana counterspell to play, and I just prefer the ability to counter
Tarmogoyf
over just noncreature spells. Sub in Pierce if you prefer its utility.
Vapor Snag
: While at first glance, Vapor Snag doesn't look like much, in a tempo style deck like this, a well timed bounce can be backbreaking for the opponent. In addition to the bounce effect, it also pings the opponent, putting them in Blast range.
Lightning Bolt
: Obligatory Lightning Bolt. Its good. You should play it. So I did.
2 Mana
Goblin Electromancer
:
Blast of Genius
is not a cheap card. 6 mana is a steep price to pay in Modern. In order to get around this, we play Electromancer so we can cast Blast earlier.
Baral, Chief of Compliance
: Copies 5 and 6 of Electromancer, but since Baral is legendary, we only play 2 of him, as an extra is a dead card in our hand.
Remand
: Since we pretty much win when we play Blast, the fact that the opponent gets their spell back isn't a big deal here. It also gives us the advantage of drawing a card, which helps us hit land or Blast.
Snapcaster Mage
: This is in here mostly for value. We aren't trying to flashback Blast with this, instead we're flashing back Bolts and Remands to either kill our opponents or keep them at bay.
3 Mana
Electrolyze
: Overall very useful in this deck. Lets us kill small answers our opponents may cast, or finish them off after a Blast and Bolt, while also drawing us a card for free.
4 Mana
Cryptic Command
: It's a blue control staple, and we have no reason to not be playing it. It can shut down a spell, draw us a card, or give us a tempo advantage.
Sideboard
I wanted to experiment a bit with the idea of having a sideboard that transforms into a more aggro tempo list. So I've made a few cuts and additions to the side board to accommodate for this.
Monastery Swiftspear
: If mono-red can play this, so can we. A great aggro creature that gets bigger as we filter through our library.
Stormchaser Mage
: A card that really doesn't see enough play. It's essentially an extra mana for Swiftspear, but it has flying and doesn't die to Shock.
Curious Homunculus
: After playing with 2 in the side for a while, I decided that I actually want 3. It fits well in the aggro plan, and against more reactive decks, dropping this guy early can be backbreaking. Against control decks, I will often side out Baral and play more of these.
Now on to the rest of the sideboard.
Counterflux
: Sideboard staple for the control mirror. A catch all for any opposing threats.
Keranos, God of Storms
: I like giving weird sideboard choices a shot, and this is one of my favorites. Because he isn't a creature, he is very hard for most decks to remove. He can draw us extra cards or Bolt anything, and because we play so few permanents, he will almost never be a creature. In addition, because he's indestructible, basically the only way to remove him is with exile enchantment effects. If he resolves, your opponent is in for a world of hurt.
Pithing Needle
: A great catch-all for any planeswalkers or certain creatures our opponent may be running.
Nimble Obstructionist
: I found that I never really sided in
Trickbind
, so I decided to swap it out for something with a bit more value. Obstructionist is either a decent flying body, or a
Stifle
+ draw.
