Inspired by Legacy Maverick (2012) and its growth into Punishing Maverick, I wanted to find a way to play Knight of the Reliquary without having to play combo with Coralhelm along with getting to play some cool interactions with cards like Scryb Ranger. Additionally, some of this is personal yearning but I feel that the Swords of _ & _ have been overlooked. Of course, they are not as strong without Stoneforge Mystic and Jitte is the best equipment to be playing (although also Banned in Modern), but from my play testing, this deck may be one of if not THE best deck to be playing some Swords.
To quote a legacy player "Maverick is one of the most agile mid-range deck in the format. Its agility came from tutors and silver bullet cards which can handle most situations faced in competitive play. Opposite to most constructions it’s focused on creatures not spells. It is a proactive approach and gives decent clocks which force opponent to act and change line of play."
The Skeleton
4x
Noble Hierarch
4x Birds of Paradise
- 8 might seem like a lot but having 3 mana on turn 2 is incredibly important for the speed of this deck. This allows us to play our strong 3 drops as soon as possible such as Knight, Tireless Tracker, Ramunap, Trophy Mage, or Aven Mindcensor. Additionally, we have powerful 2 drops letting us keep mana up for Path, save some life off shocklands, or play another dork to get us closer to a big Chord.
In regards to Noble Hierarch and her price for the last few months. She is a must for this deck. You can do a budget list with Llanowar Elves or Avacyn's Pilgrim but truly, that Exalted trigger is game changing for a deck like this. That Exalted trigger is even more important if playing some 'fight' cards that I'll go over later.
4x Knight of the Reliquary
- The card that embodies the core concept of the deck. Proactive aggressive plays (commonly a 6/6 or stronger) with great versatility and flexibility. The fetchable lands aren't as nuts as they are in Legacy with things like Karakas, Maze of Ith, and Wasteland, but we have some that work wonders in Modern. Who even needs Karakas in Modern? Those lands will be listed below with both my suggestions and other options. Also, a reminder that this card is even nuttier with a Scryb Ranger out. Swing with her as a 6/6, bounce a Forest to your hand to untap her, sac a land to grab a Fetch, crack it to get a shock, or grab a Horizon Canopy to draw gas, or Sejirri Step to get past blockers, etc... Lets you be proactive with swinging while also making her bigger and finding whatever lands you may need to remain proactive, along with deck thinning.
4x Chord of Calling
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Originally this card was 4 Collected Company but I found I was usually getting redundant stuff and I preferred the idea of playing Silver Bullets like Hatebears but not being forced to play multiples considering they aren't always the best against everything. CoCo is also extremely telegraphed and while I'd prefer to have Green Sun's Zenith, I've been surprisingly happy with Chord of Calling once I realized that Green creatures can be tapped to provide Green mana for Convoke and being an Instant can really mess with your opponents. There is the option to do X for 0 and grab Dryad Arbor at the end of your opponents turn 2, providing 5 mana ready to be used on Turn 3. The Convoke even lets a fresh Dryad Arbor be tapped to help. X for 2 will get nearly any silver bullet you could want or even a Scryb Ranger. X for 3 will usually get a Trophy Mage on turn 3 to allow Sword play and equip on 4, but X for 3 to get a Knight of the Reliquary or a
Ramunap Excavator
when you've found a Ghost Quarter is a prime example of the angles this deck can take.
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These are meant to get Silver Bullets first and foremost.
3x Path to Exile
- To be honest, I wish we didn't have to play removal. I wish this could be more spicy cards, but we can't afford to play 0 removal. It does kind of undo our focus of ramping ahead of the opponent, but it's unconditional unlike Condemn and deals with pretty much everything. Just use it sparingly and for high threat targets. Hell, it does work well with Ramunap GQ and removing basics from the deck though.
1x Dromoka's Command (I play a 2nd DCommand in one of the Flex spots)
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So, I originally ran just a flat 4 Paths but I got increasingly annoyed when I was faced with the dilemma of using Path on a threat but also ramping the enemy into a powerful next turn. Trying out stuff for the sake of brewing, I turned a Path into a single Dromoka's Command and immediately fell in love when using it to prevent the damage done by an Anger of the Gods and having one of my guys fight their only blocker. This card might be the non-creature embodiment of this deck. It is so flexible, I've never been unhappy to see it. In matchups where you know your opponent has damage removal, just sit on this bad boy. In matchups where they don't, it's removal and makes one of your guys bigger. The 'sac an enchantment' is also somewhat relevant by forcing your UWX control player to sack that Search of Azcanta. "Who plays mainboard enchantment removal?!?" - We do, and it's never a dud. Hell, the night before writing this up, my opponent Snapcaster Mage Pathed my Voice of Resurgence. In response, I Dromoka's to have my Voice fight his Snapcaster, killing my Voice so I got the Token and removing his Snappy. You just tried to 2 for 1 me with the iconic Blue 2 drop? Nah, I'm going to make it a 3 for 1 for me instead.
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In regards to Noble Hierarchs, Dromoka's is one of those cards that shines brighter with those Exalted triggers. Other than Knight, most of our creatures are about on par in P/T as what our opponent will be playing. A Hierarch or two allows us to swing with someone, get the triggers, and then before blocks, Dromoka's Command to fight to ensure no blockers or fight something they don't want to block with.
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According to some number crunching by LSV back in 2014, you need '14 black sources to consistently play Thoughtseize on turn 1'. Or essentially, 14 of a color to play a 1 mana spell of that color. With the absolute importantance on getting our Green dorks out on turn 1, we can use this number as a rough guide.
4x Windswept Heath
3x Misty Rainforest
- 7 Fetches, covers our two/three colors with a focus on the Green and White. Misty can be Flooded Strand for budget reasons if needed, but Misty is ideal as it can tutor for basic Forest which is relevant for Scryb Ranger and not hurting yourself too much on shocks. As for 7 fetches... Honestly I don't know why that's the number but that's what I've always seen. This deck could get away with 8 by cutting a basic considering we play more basics than most decks and thus have more targets and it works with Knight, but for now I'm sticking to 7.
2x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
- 3 Shocks. This deck is about 70% Green, 25% White, and 5% Blue. We need as few sources as possible that could lead to no Green mana on Turn 1 so we don't play any Hallowed Fountain. There's only a single Breeding Pool to fetch in case Bird or Noble isn't out for Trophy Mage to be cast from hand. Will never need both unless something heavy blue comes in from the board. We don't even need White too often, 1 Temple Garden will suffice with the Dorks but getting a 2nd just in case is fine if unconcerned with life. If you choose to splash a little bit of Red through the board, do 1 Breeding Pool and 1 Stomping Ground or swap the Breeding Pool for the Stomping Grounds if opting to not play Trophy Mage or other Blue SB cards
4x Forest
1x Plains
- 5 Basics. This is more basics than most decks play, especially ones technically 3 color. And you may notice that we're now at 16ish Green sources when LSV said 14 would cut it. This is true but having basic Forest is important to our strategy not killing us with shocklands, gives us lower chances of bricking on a Knight land chain, and we're above the minimum without hitting a redundancy. As mentioned above, there is no need for Islands. A 5/0 or 4/1 split on Forest and Plains comes down to Flex and SB choices dipping in to White much. The Plains marginally hurts our opening hands but it's important to have as an option to grab off Field of Ruins or Paths. If our dorks are getting picked off and we can't produce White or Blue, you should be getting the appropriate Shocks in preparation based on whats in hand. Such as a Breeding Pool when Trophy Mage is in hand because you can't afford to have that be unplayable.
Example Core
Flex Spells
A wonderful part of this deck is that the core is so strong and already toolboxy in nature, that you have a ton of room to make adjustments based on your personal preference and your local meta. With that, there are a few Flex Spells that are so good that I think it's almost wrong to not play them, but even still, I wouldn't say they are absolutely integral to the deck. These Flex Spells boil down to Silver Bullets, Card Advantage, or additional Removal.
My general rule of thumb is 1-2 of a Silver Bullet, 2-3 of a Card Advantage, and however much Removal. I think 5 Removal spells is the most we should need but if your meta demands removal, trust your judgement.
First, Silver Bullets are cards that are geared for a specific deck/style/strategy. A crucial part of playing them in the mainboard is that they aren't a 'dud' in the matches they aren't relevant. An example of this would be
Scavenging Ooze compared to
Kataki, War's Wage. Kataki is an amazing card against artifact decks such as Affinity, but against a deck not playing Artifacts, he's an underwhelming 2/1 for 2. Scavenging Ooze on the other hand is a Silver Bullet against graveyard based decks such as Dredge, but is not a bad card against non-graveyard based decks. He's great against any matchup in which creatures are going to the graveyard. However, not every card is good everywhere. ScOoze does little to nothing in some matchups such as Titanshift. The point though, is that ScOoze is good much more often than not, even in matches where he's not a Silver Bullet. To give a quick input, I'll be putting a [M] next to a card's name if I think it is maindeck worthy
in the blind. Every one of these could be justified in the main if you are very confident that you'll be playing against the deck it's meant for. An example of this would be
Gaddock Teeg if you are certain of there being an abundance of Tron.
1x
Ramunap Excavator
(doesn't come up for some reason) [M]
- This guy is a 1 of because he only serves one function but he does it very well. That is to single-handedly create a whole new line of play option for the deck should you so please. Consistently replaying Ghost Quarter or Tectonic Edge against almost every deck will leave them low on mana and pretty quickly, those Ghost Quarters are going to function as Strip Mine considering most Modern decks aren't running very many basics. Generally just 2-3 as an answer to Paths. I put him as an 'S' Tier because he takes up 1 slot and adds such a wide new avenue in versatility. He can also let you replay and crack Horizon Canopies during matches where that card draw is crucial.
1x Qasali Pridemage [M]
- As mentioned earlier, no one is really playing mainboard Artifact or Enchantment removal and I think Qasali is one of if not the best creature to fill that void, especially in the main. I love this card. At the very least, it gives Exalted. He fluctuates between S and A Tier with the meta, but even right now as of Sumer 2018, he hits all of Affinity, multiple decks with Aether Vial, Search for Azcanta decks, Tron, Chalice, Prismatic Omen, etc. Plus that Exalted trigger is nothing to scoff at.
1x Selfless Spirit
- This 'lil guy is meant to mitigate boardwipes such as Sweltering Suns and Supreme Verdict. However, keep in mind that the opponent is usually going to be tapping out to play the wipe so consider if its better to Chord him in to void the wipe or if it's better to let the wipe happen and Chord for something better with the window of opportunity should you have enough mana without Convoking. He's also a flyer but usually shouldn't be the Sword carrier if you're playing them. I personally leave him in the board, but is a fine mainboard card IF your meta is a lot of control.
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben [M]
- Thalia is great against most decks but she also hurts us as Chords are meant to be exact on their cost, Swords costing 4 is a lot, that kind of thing. BUT, there are a lot of decks that she's helps us way more than she hurts us. She's a meta call and can be in the 60 or 75.
1-2x Scavenging Ooze [M]
- It's not as important to have in a format without Deathrite Shaman, but Scooze is still an extremely powerful card against like 90% of the meta. It just has the same issue as most of the others where it's a 2/2 for 2 that sometimes gains you life in those bad matchups. I run 1 in the main and 1 in the board. Take out the 1 in bad matchups, bring in the 2nd in good matchups.
1-2x Aven Mindcensor [M]
- A great "gotcha" card, especially having the option to flash it in on our opponents turn 2 or Chord for it on their turn 3. It's best early on and thus is a 1 of, but it's not a bad top deck with its flash and flying. In some cases on the play, we'll get to go Land Dork pass, they play a fetch pass, we play a land and pass, then flash it in when they crack fetch and hopefully brick. From personal experience, I found that I was too often sitting on it in hand, not utilizing my mana so that I could "gotcha" them, and instead found that it still creates such an awkward spot for their fetches that it's worth just flashing it in anyways the turn you planned to bamboozle them. I really like it in the main, but could be a SB card based on local meta or even not at all if not your thing.
1x Scryb Ranger [M]
- This card is actually insane. I'm legitimately surprised that it isn't played in Modern at all considering it has shown success in Legacy. The requirement to bounce a Forest may seem like a setback but honestly, I think it's a benefit for the deck. This allows plays such as having a Dork out on 1, flashing it in on the opponents turn 2, and then on your turn 3, tap the dork and two lands, bounce a forest and untap the dork, replay forest, tap it and the dork again, for a total of 5 mana and tapping the Scryb Ranger to convoke a Chord for 3 on turn 3 with what could have been a 2 land hand. Granted, Green Sun Zenith would be nicer but when the card is banned, we work with what we have. Another common turn 3 I had in a similar situation was playing a third land, tapping Dork and two lands, play a Sword, untap the Dork and bounce a tapped land, pay the 2 mana to equip the sword to Scryb and swing. And that's only talking about Scryb with mana Dorks. There are awesome interactions with Knight of the Reliquary, it creates pseudo-vigilance on every creature, it can block Collonades/Snapcaster/Vendillion Clique/etc., it can return a Dryad Arbor to hand after blocking with it to create infinite blocking (relevant against decks playing Wurmcoil Engine). Hell, it can bounce a 'forest' being Ghost Quartered or Tec Edged or Field or Ruined or Spreading Seas-ed. Flash it in in response and your opponent just Sinkholed themselves. Playing Tireless Tracker? Clues galore. Etc. etc. Additionally, based on the phrasing, you can target an already Untapped creature, so don't worry about having to have someone tapped or having to untap an enemy creature. I have won countless games against UW control by 'going to attacks', the opponent casting Cryptic Command to 'tap all creatures, draw a card', in response tap those creatures to Convoke Chord for 2 getting Scryb, and then after CCommand resolves, untapping my biggest dude. Bouncing a Forest also counts towards Revolt. This card also functions as both a Silver Bullet and Card Advantage
1x Gaddock Teeg
- He may not be amazing against everything but what he's good against, he's great against, such as Tron. Not always worth a SB slot. If he lands, Tron's only out is Wurmcoil, OStone, and maybe a 3 cost sweeper if they brought it in (red Tron). Good against Tron, Storm, Ad Nas. Playing him against Control is kind of a trap, he stalls a boardwipe but just will get Bolted or Pathed first.
1x Kataki, War's Wage
- One that answers Affinity pretty damn well. He maaay be too slow as I haven't played against any Affinity to see. Only worth a slot if you know there is Affinity.
1x Ethersworn Canonist and 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
- Hatebears is a deck for a reason. This one puts a decent bandaid over Storm. I prefer Eidolon over Canonist mostly because the condition of Canonist doesn't change for us, costing 3 is usually irrelevant from my experience, and having 4 toughness is important against Bolt. But costing 2 can be crucial for the sake of Chord. I like running 1 of each. Grab Eidolon if you can afford the turn wait, and Canonist if not. Remember though that they do play Remands and bounce effects, so it's not a guaranteed win.
3x Leyline of Sanctity
- Still a great answer to decks like Burn and Thoughseize decks but it takes up 3 slots to ensure being in the opening hand and we need to do the traditional 3 since we don't have tutor options. This effect on a stick will just get Bolted. Burn will also have brought in Destructive Revelry to try and answer Swords if they saw them. Needs to be worth the 3 slots in your meta.
1x Meddling Mage [M]
- An option for decks that are all about playing a single card to win. Just remember that she has to be in play before the spell is cast. You can not Chord her in and name Scapeshift when Scapeshift has already been cast. Maindeckable if you know the field exceptionally well. Puts you deeper into Blue though.
1x Rhox War Monk
- I haven't personally played this Rhino much but I can see him being very strong against decks like Zoo and probably Burn. Also not uncastable if drawn, just have to Fetch certain ways. He was great against Goblins and with fight effects.
1-2x Kor Firewalker
- A better answer to Burn than Rhox War Monk, but really only an answer to Burn and maybe Zoo.
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
- Infect isn't too popular anymore but she's still a great answer to that. Only worth a slot if you know there is Infect.
1x Izzet Staticaster
- I'm less a fan of playing Staticaster as she's UR, a color we are lightly splashing and a color we're not playing at all. You can get her out via Birds of Paradise but that's it if she ends up in your hand. Otherwise, you have to Chord for her. However, there are some match ups where she is game winning so I won't say she's not an option. If you're playing her, consider playing a Stomping Ground.
1x Orzhov Pontiff
- An alternative to Izzet Staticaster to deal with 1 toughness creature decks. Unlike Staticaster, he will hit everything but Staticaster can also keep doing it. There's some combat tricks you can do once blocks are declared via Chord since it lowers their power too. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. Probably need an Overgrown Tomb in the lands to be safe
1x Vexing Shusher
- I haven't had a chance to play this lil shaman but in theory, should be great against control.
1x card:Tocalti Honor Guard [M]
- Great against any format with a lot of ETB based triggers. At the time of writing, that's pretty much just Humans but it's great against them. Most Humans lists will have no answer for it in the 75 as they rely on ETB triggers like Reflector Mage to answer threats. Also decent against 'Twin' strategies. Doesn't hurt as at all. As of Summer 2018, I think it's a must have in the 75 if going to a GP. Definitely worth considering if just for your local meta.
1x Stoic Angel
- A pretty strong card against creature decks, especially if you Chord it in after you opponent has declared attackers. However, she does affect our creatures too. We may have a Scryb Ranger to somewhat counteract this but must be wary. She's probably my least favorite of the 4 cost options.
1x Archangel of Tithes
- Out of all of the cards that are meant to deal with decks that go wide or with a lot of low toughness, I think this Archangel is the safest one to be in the mainboard. 3 White can be kind of difficult to cast but is easier than any of the cards splashing an odd color like Red for Staticaster or Black for Pontiff.
1x Magus of the Moat
- Most creature decks are low to the ground without any or many fliers, but 3 toughness makes him susceptible to pretty much every removal spell. However, if the opponent doesn't know you're playing this and has been killing off things like Ulvenwald Tracker, Knight of the Reliquary, or any other apparent threat, he may do it. I think out of all the creature combat decks, he's best against Eldrazi Tron until they get a Walking Ballista
1x Magus of the Moon
- Another really cheeky one. Similar to playing Blood Moon, some decks just get bent over by it and most decks aren't going to play around it from a GW deck. If you're playing it, make sure you don't screw yourself over in regards to lands too.
1x Worship
- As mentioned in earlier cards, most decks are playing no mainboard Enchantment removal. Worship essentially gives a big middle finger to all the decks not playing boardwipes. If you're running Worship, you absolutely need to be running Gavony Township and/or Shalai, Voice of Plenty to build up power/toughness during the stall.
2x Choke
- We don't get to play Blood Moon but we get to play something still nuts against any Blue deck. I'd almost say these just swap with Qasali Pridemage against Control lists we know aren't playing Artifacts/Enchantments. Just be careful about your Breeding Pools. Keep in mind too that it doesn't stop Collonade's and they may get the proper lands to cast Cryptic Command to bounce it. I wasn't happy enough during early testing but it might actually be good.
Card Advantage cards should generally be 2-3 copies. They often shouldn't be grabbed off of Chord unless you have no maindeck Silver Bullet. Expect to need to draw these cards. If you're playing a bunch of 1 ofs, you're playing an inconsistent singleton deck.
All of these are maindeck worthy.
As for Removal, I personally think 5 is the sweet spot, especially with Dromoka's Command's versatility. But if your meta is a ton of creature decks and you just want to go hard on spot removal, I have options and thoughts included here.
2-3x Courser of Kruphix
- The 2/4 body is decent in most matchups, the healing on land is nice incremental value, and playing with the top card revealed to see if it's worth shuffling it away with fetches and such is def Card Advantage. The reason I put him in here instead of Silver Bullets is that while he is good against Burn, I wouldn't put him at 'so good he can win that matchup alone'.
1-2x Trophy Mage
- First, I prefer 1 of these but I wouldn't be upset at anyone choosing to play 2. I found 1 to be best because unlike Stoneforge, Trophy Mage cost 1 more and makes the Swords cost 1 more (instead of Stoneforge ability). So she's there to be a Chord target. Now, why this card? I actually didn't know this card existed until someone mentioned and it became a snap replacement for the much worse Steelshaper's Gift. It grabs Swords but only Swords, but it's a body in late game for said Swords and it's Chordable. It's literally the only Blue card in the Main but we play 8 dorks that give blue mana and a Breeding Pool as a back up source. Boy do I wish this was a Stoneforge Mystic but until that day comes, I adamantly think Trophy Mage is the next best thing -- at least in this shell. Playing 3 cards is also pretty easy to sideboard out against decks you know/think will bring in artifact removal
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
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Look at those cards and tell me you don't want to swing in with those bad bois. First, the common thing I've heard and found in searching online is that the Swords are "too slow and the creatures just die to removal". Well yeah, those aren't not true but I think people are being hyperbolic. You know what else dies to removal? Like every single creature. But you know what doesn't go away when the creature does? That Sword, ready to get slapped on to a new guy. This deck almost always has the follow up creature. My most common line of play was attempt to attach a Sword to Bird of Paradise and if they have the removal, I tap the Bird for 1 mana and one of my other lands to put it on something else. Hell, if there's a Scryb Ranger, it could be bouncing a forest to untap the Bird and I'll just replay the Forest. They had to just Bolt or Path a 0/1 Flyer and they're still going to take a Sword to the face. And as for being too slow, they are on the slower side but I'm only unhappy to have drawn a piece against hyper aggro decks.
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Lastly, as for the choice in these two Swords. Only two swords for the sake of available slots and three feeling like overkill. I could see justification for 2 Trophy Mages and a 3rd Sword. Sword of Fire and Ice is hands down the most valuable in a vacuum. The red proc for Bolts is huge considering most equipped creatures will be 1 toughness and thus 3 toughness with sword, the 2 damage to any of their little guys is powerful, the option to hit face and then shock a planeswalker is versatile, and the card draw is the absolute best. In playtesting against Jeskai Control, I'd have a hefty board and only be down a card thanks to the draw. As for the second Sword, I opted for Light and Shadow because I like having the lifegain option along with another angle of card advantage against longer, grindier matches. Sword of War and Peace doesn't do enough, the color procs are good but our hand is usually small and against full hand decks like Control, Sword of Fire and Ice is better. Sword of Feast and Famine is probably the 2nd best in terms of raw value in a vacuum as getting to invest a turn to play and equip sword, and then hit with it, and untap our lands for Chord is a huge line of play. However, I don't personally feel like it does much towards winning but rather is win more. Maybe I'm underestimating the raw value of that one turn. Sword of Body and Mind is overall mediocre.
1x Behemoth Sledge
- Additionally, this can replace one of the Swords as a means to give some Lifelink or Trample over consistent blockers, but costing 3 to equip is actually a pretty big difference. I'd rather be playing Light and Shadow though.
1x Shalai, Voice of Plenty
- Her active ability is like a second Gavony Township. If Gavony got destroyed or we didn't have a Knight to find it, Shalai is the backup for it. She's also a flyer and her whole hexproof thing is useful against some matchups. For example, she's good to have out against Burn but you need to be able to drop her super fast.
1x Baneslayer Angel
- If you need a top end finisher, Baneslayer is a pretty damn solid one, but putting in a 5 drop is pretty heavy.
1-2x Tireless Tracker
- The card does wonders against slower grindy match-ups but is an expensive chump blocker against other decks. It's borderline guaranteed value. Great against midrange, 'has' to eat removal against control, bad against aggro and combo.
2-3x Voice of Resurgence
- Similar to Thalia, it's great against most decks but not everything. Sometimes it's just a 2/2 that doesn't do much. I personally run 2 in the main and 1 more in the board. Take out the 2 in bad matchups, bring in the 3rd in good matchups.
2x Kitchen Finks
- Same thing as Voice. There are some matchups where it does nothing and even in other matchups, it feels like it just staves off a loss. Totally fine in the 75.
2x Renegade Rallier
- Could instead be an Eternal Witness but the Revolt is pretty easy to activate and getting the permanent back to the battlefield is pretty nice. Unfortunately it can't bring back a destroyed Sword but it brings back most hatebears, fetchlands, Ghost Quarters, etc. He's essentially guaranteed value but it can be minor like a land ramp or huge like a Voice of Resurgance.
1x Predator Ooze
- This sentimental treasure may belong in Card Advantage, but he's great in grindy midrange games where you opponent doesn't have White for Path or Blue for CCommand bounce. Also works wonders with Dromoka's Command. Essentially a Silver Bullet for any creature decks not running Path.
1x Ulvenwald Tracker
- Alright, hear me out. Originally I thought a card like this was terrible. I loved it in Innistrad Standard but I consistently told myself that this would never work in Modern. However, during some developing with this deck, I was yearning to play something like Mother of Runes, but there's obviously nothing like it in Modern. You could go for some protection spells like Apostle's Blessing but you're not getting the value you need. That's when I reevaluated what Mother of Runes achieves at her core. She boils down to a 1 drop that if she gets to untap, she makes things very complicated and awkward for you opponent. Tracker is not as good as Mom, but he's surprisingly good against all creature decks. Those Exalted triggers are also huge for this.
1x Fauna Shaman
- In the same vein as Tracker, she represents a card that if she gets to untap (whether played or Chorded at the end of their turn), she's going to be incredibly impactful. While Tracker functions as the creature killer, Fauna Shaman functions as the Silver Bullet finder. I personally haven't tried her yet but plan to give her a try.
2x Geist of Saint Traft
- Geist seems like a really good card at face value, but I found that playing it in practice is underwhelming. Creature decks will have 2 power blockers to trade. Control decks might not be able to target it but there is a high chance they'll have a Snapcaster to flash in and trade with him. You could have a DCommand to make it work out okay but a card shouldn't be reliant on another being in your hand.
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
- Another card that is crazy strong but isn't being played, although people do know about this one. She comes in against decks like Jund where Tireless Tracker will do great. She protects herself and represents a clock. She is one of the cards here that could very much take a slot in the main too. Unless they personally know you're playing this, they won't have an answer for it outside of Bolts. Everything else they'll bring in is creature only removal like Path, Fatal Push, and Supreme Verdict. Safe from Abrupt Decay.
1x Garruk Relentless
- A spicier planeswalker than Elspeth that's easier to cast. He is a bit better on a cleared board and functions as removal for small dudes. However, he creates a "must answer" situation in which you get to turn Mana Dork draws into whatever you need or want for the situation. His ult is also pretty great in stalled board states. (I've been running Elspeth during most of my development, but am trying Garruk next)
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- Another option for a Planeswalker. Also sees some play in Legacy Maverick as similar to Elspeth, he alone represents a threat that often isn't expected or prepared for. However, I personally prefer Elspeth. They both create threats but Gideon puts himself in danger to Path and will take 2 mana every turn to equip a sword if that's the plan. Elspeth can also 'hop' any high power non-flying creatures (sometimes with a Sword) if a stalemate would be happening on the ground. Only play 1 Planeswalker in the 60.
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- She cost 3 and this deck can do a pretty good job of getting a 3 drop out on 2 between the dorks and the possible Eldritch Evolutions, but she doesn't really "tax" them. It's more so she taxes one spell a turn. OG Thalia does it to one or more. This one does work well against Fetchlands though and is better against Creature decks, but I'm not sure if it's enough or not. Your opponents fetches coming in tapped and then having the shock they grab come in tapped too is nasty in theory. I think she's better against midrange decks than control.
1x Archangel Avacyn
- I'm fairly on the fence with playtesting this card. On one side, her indestructible for the whole team on a turn is strong and having Flash, this can mean making big combat tricks or saving from a boardwipe on the opponents turn. I've never had her actually flip and I'm not sure how good it will be when she does as she'll hurt both sides of the board. If someone has a Sword of Fire and Ice on, they won't take the damage and Knights will usually be out of range, but we're going to lose pretty much every other creature we have out. On the other side, she costs 5 which makes her difficult to Chord for, she too often forces me to pass to their turn with 5 mana up and unlike Aven Mindcensor, I never felt it appropriate to flash her in without getting value on that Indestructible trigger. We also lack a way to force a flip on her. She has to be out on the turn a dude dies so it just creates a weird situation. She's good, I'm just on the fence on a lot of aspects.
1-2x Unified Will
- A different approach for Control match ups or really against any non-creature deck that has a "play this card and win" strat like Scapeshift or Ad Naus. Besides against decks like Zoo, we'll almost always have more creatures than the opponent. Don't forget that Dryad Arbor counts as a creature.
1-2x Delay
- Similar to Unified Will, it's an angle to give your deck some more control aspects. It doesn't run under the condition that you have more creatures even though you'll usually be in that situation. It's more of an answer to something your opponent is doing to keep you from winning. It is neat to Delay one of their counterspells because it won't function when they cast it delayed ( :^) ) on their upkeep.
1-3x Spell Queller
- I'm personally not a fan of this card. I prefer my answers to be permanent instead of delayed. I've seen too many games where a Queller 'counters' a boardwipe, and then they just Bolt or Path or Push it -- usually on the Queller players turn so they get blown out even more.
2x Mirran Crusader
- This guy use to be a Standard powerhouse but has fallen out of the limelight. I think he's worth running when expecting a lot of Death's Shadow and he can very much go to town when keeping the Swords in. He's probably a 2 of or none at all. If he's worth the slots, you want him bad enough to play 2 of.
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
- He can single handedly win against Control decks, just make sure to keep 2 mana up for Supreme Verdict. He's also not the easiest to Chord for and his whole 'uncounterable' benefit is lost when Chording. This is pretty much if you feel you need more finishers.
1x Timbermare
- This guy functions as a Planeswalker killer but the walkers generally played in Modern will have already been too impactful such as Karn Liberated and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. The fact that he taps all creatures though is strong, plus there is the possibility of using Scryb Ranger to untap one of your own dudes (like a 6/6+ Knight) for a likely lethal swing. Does it have a place in Modern? Probably not. But is it spicy? Quite.
1-4x Collected Company
- Chord of Calling is the backbone of this deck, but Collected Company is by no means a poor fit here. If you want to play both, I think that's totally fine as long as you are still playing enough creatures to statistically and consistently hit 2 creatures off of CoCo.
1-3x Eldritch Evolution
- This card is arguably better than Chord or CoCo because it's always going to cost 3 and get pretty much exactly what you want. However, if it gets countered, that creature being sacrificed was part of the cost. For that reason, I lean towards not playing it in the main. Even non-control decks like Bant CoCo or Storm play counterspells (Queller and Remand). However, I'm a fan of bringing it in from the board in matchups that either you know they have no counters or where finding the Silver Bullet for the match is even more important.
1x Gideon's Intervention
- You may have picked up on that I prefer cards that don't dud. Gideon's Intervention is my prefered 'Nevermore' card as it can also deal with the cards that have already been played.
2-3x Surgical Extraction
- If you're a fan of taxing affects, this card is pretty damn amazing. Ghost Quartered a Tron land? Let's just Extract that and say no crazy mana for you. Snapcaster targeting that Cryptic Command? Let's say no more Cryptics for the rest of the game. Storm put a Grapeshot in their yard? Too bad it's a sorcery! No Grapeshot for you. The only 'issue' is this card has gotten more and more expensive.
1-2x Dromoka's Command
- I personally love this card and its versatility. I run it as my 5th removal spell. My comments on it are available in The Skeleton
1-2x Declaration in Stone
- Not a bad option at all as it's unconditional and has a chance of hitting multiple dudes. Only downside is the 2 cost and sorcery. Personally, I'd rather running DCommand but this card is by no means a bad choice.
1-2x Abrupt Decay
- If you've splashed in to black, Abrupt Decay is a pretty good catch all
1-2x Fatal Push
- Arguably better than Decay by costing 1, but I'm a big fan of cards having a wider net like Decay not being exclusive to creatures. I don't think it's worth splashing in to black for either of these but I wanted to include them.
1-2x Dismember
- Gets around some niche situations like indestructible if you want to hedge your bets but 4 HP is a lot. I think you need to be running Courser's if you're running this one.
1-2x Condemn
- Too narrow in my opinion. I feel like the creatures we most want to deal with won't be attacking.
1-2x Zealous Persecution
- The non-creature spell version of Orzhov Pontiff. I think it's better to play Pontiff as even though this cost 1 less, this forces you to have a Black mana source and it isn't Chordable.
1-2x Hornet Sting
1-2x Pit Fight
- Wait, stop, too dank. Just play DCommand.
Flex Lands
Keep in mind how your Flex spells work with lands. For example, my GQ and Tec Edge package is with playing Ramunap. If you decide against playing him, you might not want so many Ghost Quarters. I highly suggest at least 2 of these Flex lands providing Green mana for proper consistency of the turn 1 mana dork play.
1-2x Horizon Canopy
- Now getting in to the Utility lands, Horizon Canopy is a must play. It's expensive but it's too important in decks like this. It gives GW decks some gas and what better place than in a deck with Knight. A great grab with Knight in response to a boardwipe to help you recover if you can afford going down a land. Should very much be a 2 of but 1 is okay if budgeting.
1x Dryad Arbor
- This 'guy' comes down to personal preference. I like having it as an option in the deck, but drawing it can be a little weird since it's a land that is affected by summoning sickness. The reason for playing it though is that you can Chord of Calling for 0 to grab it as Instant speed mana ramp at the end of your opponents turn (and with a dork, that's on your turn 2), that you can grab it with a fetch land for game changing combat or in response to a Liliana of the Veil -2 to save a lone Knight of the Reliquary. Lastly but least common is that it can do combat tricks with Scryb Ranger to block and bounce back to your hand to be replayed next turn to do the same thing. It is also worth grabbing when you have a Gavony Township and the mana to grow it. A personal example was against Grixis Deathshadow, getting boardwiped by an Anger of the Gods with only a Scryb Ranger in hand but a whopping 5 lands with 1 being Gavony and 1 being a fetch. After his Anger and pass, I flashed in Scryb and grabbed Dryad with the fetch. On my turn, draw and play a land. He was low from doing Death Shadow things, so swing in with two 1/1s, using Gavony to make them 2/2s. He's left at 2 HP with no answer to the Scryb flying over. Had he had any attacker out there, I could be using Dryad to block and bounce back for infinite blockers. There's just a lot of good and a lot of meh with Dryad.
3-4x Ghost Quarter
- 4 might be too many but considering these are meant to mess up opponents mana and to function with Ramunap Excavator, 4 seems okay. When going for the Ramunap strat, it'll almost always need to be grabbed by Chord so there won't be a Knight always there to grab the first Ghost Quarter.
1x Tectonic Edge
- Against some decks that play a lot more basics than we'd expect, this is there for versatility. It also helps play around Surgical Extraction on Ghost Quarter. Probably only 3 Ghost Quarters if playing this.
1x Gavony Township
- Township is an amazing GW card. It can be a little awkward in the opening hand but this is the card that means stalled boards. Just prepare to have a lot of d6's.
1x Blinkmoth Nexus or Inkmoth Nexus
- Manlands work pretty well with Swords as a consistent threat mid-late game but it's more colorless land which we don't want to see in our opening hand. If you like the idea of a man-land, play this over other manland options.
1x Bojuka Bog
- Another one of those weird utility lands but sometimes removing a graveyard is too important to a match up. If there is a lot of Dredge, maybe Delve, that kind of thing. In actual boarding, swap it with a non-green Flex Land and be prepared to see it in your opening hand sometimes. Having Scavenging Ooze in your 75 seems better.
1x Sejiri Steppe
- Honestly, I'm not completely sold on this one as I wasn't a fan of having it in my opening hand when I first started brewing, but I was also playing 3 at that time which was probably the issue. This is essentially backup Spellskite. Playing it from hand creates an awkward attack to get past a blocker, but grabbing it with Knight to protect from removal or get the final swing in makes it worth a 1 of. Coming in to play tapped is rough though, along with not being a green source. Could be F Tier.
1x Cavern of Souls
- The deck unfortunately has a randomness to the Creature types, but Humans is arguably the best call here unless you need a specific creature to resolve such as Naga for Excavator. I personally don't play it or at least play it in the main because it doesn't produce Green for Chord and I prefer Ghost Quarters as the 'hinderance' there. It also isn't the best grab for Knight since you already have the Knight out.
1x Eiganjo Castle
- Doesn't tap for Green so I'm less a fan. Keep this in mind when picking your Flex lands. Keeps Thalia alive for the most part and works with Kataki if playing him. Just not sure if it's worth a spot in the 75
1x Nephalia Academy
- If you're playing against a lot of hand hate decks, this is worth considering but honestly, I don't know how often it'll be worth having out and then choosing to give up a draw to save a card. It's a weird one but I don't want to say it's 100% 'don't play'.
1x Stirring Wildwood
- Honestly I like this card, it plays around boardwipes and such but the fact that it comes in to play tapped bothers me. However, as long as I'm in favor of Sejiri Steppe, this one gets a chance. I think (Bl)Inkmoth Nexus is better.
1x Mutavault
- Same thing as Wildwood. Doesn't come in to play tapped but it doesn't tap for Green and I don't know which is worse for this deck. If you want a manland, I think it's best to go with one of the Nexus.
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
- Come in to play tapped aaaand only giving colorless aaaand costing life is fairly rough. However, if your meta is overflowing with counterspells, it's worth considering. Just keep in mind that you'll likely have needed a Knight to stick and grab it with her.
Sideboard
The Sideboard for this deck is actually incredibly straight forward. It boils down to picking 15 more of the Flex spells, between Silver Bullets and Card Advantage cards. This is where the narrow but powerful cards like Kataki, War's Wage should start out. It's best to have answers to all of the main strategies (aggro/midrange/control/combo) but prioritize slots for the meta you know or anticipate playing in.
Sample Decklists WIP
These are some kind of rough lists to give a general springboard point depending on the meta you're building around. All of these are built with the maindeck prepared for the anticipated meta with the sideboard primarily sculpted for the other options.
The 'Going In Blind'
Against Aggro Meta
Humans, Hollow One, Burn, Affinity
Against Midrange Meta
Mardu Pyromancer, Jund, Eldrazi Tron, GW Valuetown
Against Control Meta
Jeskai Control, UW Control, Lantern Control
Against Combo Meta
KCIronworks, Dredge, Scapeshift, Storm, Boggles, Titanshift
