Lets start with the basics. Discard. Nice and easy, very good at what it does, and it obviously sets up our deck-scrubbers with something to eat.
Thoughtseize is just the best at what it does. The premier discard spell, if you will. And the life loss is not irrelevant it helps us grow the
Death's Shadows.
Inquisition of Kozilek is a great catch-most in Modern, snagging the most annoying of early-game interaction and permanents. In the main, I have a single
Duress, but more could be correct, or possibly none at all. I suppose it depends on the meta.
Remand is everyones favorite pseudo-Time Walk, buying time and drawing a card. Now, a lot of decks will tend to run Mana Leak, and so did I, for a while, but I have recently become kind of enamored with Rune Snag. In this deck, we want to use them early to stock the opponents graveyard and keep them off of resolving spells, obviously, but it also holds its value through the game, where Leak will tend to fall off sooner, rather than later. Matchup depending, of course. But against the decks for which Mana Leak is backbreaking, Rune Snag will persist in being backbreaking through the course of the game.
Fatal Push offers us a little removal, for what will stick and yes, I know, its not the most nostalgic card in the format. I used to have Smother, but this is just better. Lets be honest. Snapcaster Mage is as powerful as ever, and I dont think thats going to change any time soon. And lastly, but not leastly, our scrubbers. Extirpate is the original deck-scrubber, and is the best at it. It does, unfortunately, require mana to cast, but the Split Second is not to be underestimated. Especially in those tricky matchups, where your opponent will have a lot of interaction. Surgical Extraction is the more favored one, just because it can easily find a slot in the sideboard of literally any deck or the maindeck, if youre a real dick. And just for the added value, Sadistic Sacrament is honestly so powerful, yet so underplayed. Its super good against Storm if it resolves. Ill say that much. Plus, if we kick it
