Sideboard


Maybeboard


Welcome to the ultimate Snakeshift primer!

Snakeshift is a land based combo deck powered by the massive mana capabilities of the card Lotus Cobra. It isn't the most consistent combo deck but it can win on turn 3 and has lots of intricate lines of play. Snakeshift can often outrace some linear combo decks and can out play control decks by winning out of nowhere with just two or three lands in play. The main problem is Lotus Cobra dies to all of the removal in the modern format from bolt to path. It's also the only deck in modern to play a one of Zacama, Primal Calamity as its primary wincon, making it extra fun to win (and equally janky).
When going off the main component is a lotus cobra. Once you have your snake in play, you can begin by playing a land, hopefully a fetchland, which gives you the mana to play usually a Harrow or Explore or sometimes a Khalni Heart Expedition all of which will give you at least the same amount of mana you paid and more lands. Using the mana you generate from cards like these you can play cards like Mission Briefing and Ideas Unbound to continue going off. Once you run out of draw spells and rampers you can play Scapeshift/Bring to Light fetching Scapeshift, and get lands in this order:

  1. Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Tolaria West
  3. Slayers' Stronghold
  4. Kessig Wolf Run
  5. Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
  6. Mutavault
  7. Field of the Dead

When Simic Growth Chamber etbs bounce the Tolaria West which you then transmute into Summoner's Pact which gets Zacama, Primal Calamity. This is the point where you usually also cast a Faith's Reward to get back all those lands. With all the lotus cobra triggers play zacama, Slayers' Stronghold, Kessig Wolf Run and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion it to swing and win with your 50+ power, trample, vigilance, double strike, haste Dino Mama.

Because of the amount of Summoner's Pacts and fetchable shocks that could be played in this deck, there are many possible sideboards that can be created for this deck:

Splash: This variant splashes blue, possibly for more mainboard consistency in the form of cantrips but also to improve the sideboard, possible cards include:

Oko, Thief of Crowns, Pact of Negation, Engineered Explosives, Echoing Truth, Mystical Dispute, Disdainful Stroke, Tireless Tracker, Retreat to Coralhelm/Knight of the Reliquary combo (requires white splash),

Splash: This is the variant I currently run, with the addition of white. The main purpose of splashing red is for the combo of Madcap Experiment and Platinum Emperion, which takes up a full 5 sideboard slots but in my experience really catches people off guard and can completely shut certain decks out of the game. It really depends on the meta though. Other possible red cards that could be included are:

Lightning Bolt, and Huntmaster of the Fells  ,

Mono : This variant is more consistent and much more heavily reliant on the 4x Summoner's Pacts that are in the deck and just runs as many green, creatures that are either disruptive, really good in certain matchups or just really powerful cards like:

Obstinate Baloth, Thragtusk, Scavenging Ooze, Collector Ouphe, Elvish Reclaimer, Tireless Tracker, Ramunap Excavator, Chameleon Colossus, Reclamation Sage

Clutch of the Undercity/Dimir House Guard-Can transmute for a vital Scapeshift or Faith's Reward but won't help us draw into more gas because those are the only 4 cmc cards.

Bring to Light-Great for finding a Scapeshift or Faith's Reward and a Harrow in a pinch, but sometimes the deck can't make 4+ colors of mana.

Explore-Raises land count but only adds more mana than CMC if you have a fetch or Ghost Quarter in your hand.

Flooded Strand-Should be replaced with a green fetch, but I already own a playset of these and it doesn't really change the mana base too much.

Ghost Quarter-Makes the Tron matchup better as well as adding mana in certain situations if you blow up your own land.

Sacred Foundry-Fetchable / source for casting sideboard cards

Harrow-Raises land count as well as adding mana with Lotus Cobra every single time (unless you don't have two basics)

Ideas Unbound-One of the most efficient draw spells in the format, the deck can cast it with relative ease off of a fetch, and you don't have to discard if you win on the same turn.

Kessig Wolf Run-A primary Scapeshift target for dumping excess mana into to go for the kill.

Khalni Heart Expedition-If you play it on turn two and then play a Lotus Cobra on turn three it both adds mana and raises land count for a bigger Scapeshift

Lotus Cobra-The main Summoner's Pact target and the primary mana engine of this deck.

Mutavault-A Scapeshift target for when your opponent has removal or can some how stop your zacama, it usually isn't helpful but the deck building cost is small enough that it can be played for those corner cases. Treetop Village can be run in its place but doesn't enter untapped if it is stuck in your hand

Mission Briefing-Digs multiple cards deep as well as getting back a card you need to keep going off.

Scapeshift-Generates massive amounts of mana with Lotus Cobraas well as winning the game, usually with the above pile.

Gruul Turf-Only used for bouncing Tolaria West off of a scapeshift

Slayers' Stronghold-Scapeshift target that gives zacama haste

Summoner's Pact-Lotus cobra 5-8, also can find a zacama and relevant sideboard cards

Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion-Scapeshift target that almost doubles the amount of damage this deck can do

Temple Garden-Only way to make green off of a Flooded Strand, the white is also relevant after sideboarding

Tolaria West-Scapeshift target that finds Summoner's Pact to find zacama

Windswept Heath-Cheapest green fetch, also finds white mana which is relevant for sideboard cards.

Zacama, Primal Calamity-Main win condition post Scapeshift. All three of her activated abilities are relevant, and untapping lands means that all the lands you Scapeshifted into play untap. Her white ability gains a life per mana if your opponent plays a Fog or Angel's Grace preventing you from winning, her red ability kills off creatures that may save your opponent, and her green ability blows stuff like Ensnaring Bridge up to swing for the win

Blast Zone-A tutor able engineered explosives stapled onto a land that really helps in certain matchups but it can't destroy tokens

Azusa, Lost but Seeking-A Summoner's Pactable one of that works great if you're mana flooded but not many other times

Eternal Witness-Also pactable and gets wincons and rampers back from the graveyard

Wildest Dreams-A more versatile Eternal Witness but is noncreature

Growth Spiral/Atarka's Command/Enter the Unknown-Currently don't need more than four explores but if the deck began running more fetches (the only way to make a positive amount of mana with explores and Lotus Cobra) then the fifth explore will probably be necessary

Glittering Wish-The only cards this deck really wants to wish for is Bring to Light which we can consistently hit off of our draw spells so it isn't necessary at the moment

Thespian's Stage/Vesuva-If our opponent tries to Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin our zacama pumping lands, then these lands come in handy but aren't necessary right now

Mirrorpool-Great for copying certain effects but it is pretty hard to make with this deck's already iffy mana base

Gifts Ungiven-Would require some wacky one ofs and the piles would be pretty expensive mana-wise, but would give the deck more flexibility, consistency, and give us access to an Unburial Rites sideboard plan

Chalice of the Void-the deck in its current state plays zero one drops so chalice, just to be played on one, is a possibility to improve matches like amulet titan, GDS, infect, bogles, and burn. It is really expensive though and I'm not sure is worth playing

Ensnaring Bridge-This deck can get out of cards in hand with relative ease but not quite fast enough for it to matter in matchups were the bridge is good. We mostly want to outrace anyways

Samut, Voice of Dissent-Enables one turn field of the dead kills but is currently not worth a slot

Kabira Crossroads/Radiant Fountain-Tutorable answers to really aggressive decks

Khalni Garden-A tutorable chump blocker can be pretty good against certain decks

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Casual

92% Competitive

Date added 5 years
Last updated 2 years
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.

Rarity (main - side)

5 - 1 Mythic Rares

30 - 12 Rares

3 - 2 Uncommons

15 - 0 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.97
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Clue
Folders Modern Decks
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