I was gonna bring up Good-Fortune Unicorn , but it looks like you picked up on it already lol. I figured you’d want it; it feels almost strictly better for comboing than Juniper Order Ranger .

I’ve been following this deck for a while, and I have to say I really love it. The Wish sideboard is a beautiful thing, and I wish more decks in modern used it.

Haha, yeah, heckproof, the moment the unicorn came out I was stoked. Reaching for a 5 drop from the side has been one of the more frustrating aspects of the deck, so I'm very excited. And wow, thanks, man! Really appreciate it :)

Also, the wish sideboard concept is just brilliant. Now, modern Tron can use s colorless wish sideboard with the printing of Karn, the Great Creator . I also put him in my legacy mono red Sneak Attack deck, because I can wish for Blightsteel Colossus , Painter's Servant and then Grindstone , etc. Show and tell uses Cunning Wish for their sideboard, and I've never understood how that card's not banned. I'm pretty sure a red deck used to run Burning Wish in legacy as well, I just haven't seen it around in forever.

Horizons bringing some fire for this deck.

I love Glittering Wish but that reprint

Eladamri's Call is looking nice.

Also, Carrion Feeder might be better than Viscera

Thanks for the commment, BrandonJamesCAC :). Let's address it all. First off, both Eladamri's Call and Congregation at Dawn are fire. However, I can already search my mainboard plenty with Chord of Calling and Collected Company . This protects the sideboard cards I want to wish for from things like Surgical Extraction , which is so popular these days it's being run in legacy. On top of that, Glittering Wish allows me to wish for spells on the sideboard, like Abrupt Decay , Despark , etc. Well worth it. Secondly, Carrion Feeder is old school as hell. I've always loved the card, but honestly, nothing beats scrying. Viscera Seer can scry for me at literally any point in the game, not just during combo time. The amount of times I get to scry off someone bolting my creatures is absolutely insane. It may be more fun to pump for the combo, but scrying is indescribably better for the deck overall.

Man, I KNEW I‘d remembered right about the dope Glittering Wish deck! I saw your deck a couple years ago and thought it was quite cool, however I have always been more of a control player. After a two-year hiatus from the game, I‘ve been wanting to venture out into other archetypes and have been messing around with an aristocrats-type deck, mostly to have an excuse for running Cabal Therapist . I might just put my own list on the backburner for now and start again from this! Amazing!

Nathanaiel Wow, thank you so much! Always appreciate a fan, that really means a lot :D. I'm glad the deck made such an impression in your head, especially after going through so many iterations over the years. Glittering wish has just always stuck with me ever since learning about the Show and Tell deck archetype. They use Cunning Wish to fetch all of their win cons from the sideboard, and with Omniscience in play, can cast it all. I was looking for a way to replicate that in modern, and once I noticed both Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap were multicolored, I knew I was onto something. Obviously, the moment Karn, the Great Creator came out, I immediately made one of those decks as well. The wish mechanic is fascinating, especially with things like Surgical Extraction being so prevalent, it just feels a little bit more special to play a deck this way. Thanks for all the support! Hope you enjoy Cabal Therapist as well, that thing is a beast :D

I was reading your most recent update, and it was a while ago since you made it so I don't know if you already know this, but Ranger-Captain of Eos can't fizzle a spell after it goes onto the stack. It can only keep your opponent from casting a spell and once a spell goes onto the stack it's no longer "cast" but is resolving.

Hey, always appreciate someone taking the time to leave a comment, thanks for being a fan. I hear what you're saying, hungry000, but that's actually not true. You gotta utilize the last in first out technique. So my opponent plays a spell. While it is still being cast, I get a chance to respond, like with a counterspell, or some other instant of my own. An activated ability can be activated any time you could use an instant, even during your upkeep. So the timing is the same. The principle is that the second thing to happen is the first thing that gets resolved. So while everything is still on the stack, I choose the Ranger Captain to resolve first, as the active player, and your spell fizzles. That card is all sorts of busted.

According to Ranger-Captain's rulings on the Gatherer:

6/14/2019 Your opponents may cast spells in response to the last ability of Ranger-Captain of Eos. The ability won’t affect those spells and it won’t affect spells that those players cast before you activated it. (In other words, the ability can’t be used to counter a spell.)

I think the flaw in your logic here lies in what it means to cast a spell:

(From MTG Wiki, however reliable that source may be) To cast a spell is to take a card from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

In other words, when you cast a spell it is put directly onto the stack, with no priority-passing step in between. So when you respond to the spell, you are responding to the spell already on the stack, not to the action of casting it.

Ah, I see what you / they are saying. It can't fizzle out a spell that's already been cast, I would have to sac it during their upkeep so they couldn't play any non-instant spells that turn, which is still okay, but not quite as busted. It's still pretty fantastic that I can tutor up, Hexdrinker , Viscera Seer , Carrion Feeder , Birds of Paradise , or Walking Ballista all in one card, though. However, I can definitely see replacing that one soon. I knew it was too good to be true! Thanks for the hot tip, hungry000 :D

Hello ! I was wondering, are you still playing this deck ? Toolbox style with wish is an awesome concept (been playing it myself in a weird abzan midrange deck). Does the deck hold up with all the crazy Veil of Summer and Oko, Thief of Crowns ? Why have you added Heliod, Sun-Crowned ?

Hey, Ursaromg, thanks for checking in :D. Hell yes I'm still playing this deck! I've experimented with a few different modern archetypes to see if there's anything else I like out there. I've come up with a few I actually like to play as decks for fun, but this deck is just way too good to ever not be my main. It's basically always in a good position. There is a lot more creature decks in the meta, so having good creature defense and offense is always important. I'm always putting lots of creatures out there that can act as blockers in a pinch, but can also attack if my opponent doesn't have creatures like they should. I basically get to play a bunch of the best creatures in their colors and mana slots until I suddenly win the game. Glittering Wish has all of a sudden gotten better because now it can protect against Surgical Extraction , which has become all too popular. Most of all, I love playing decks that go infinite. This one can do it in so many ways. I keep a Melira, Sylvok Outcast in the main for infect game one, but it can all of a sudden win me the game if I get either Viscera Seer or Carrion Feeder out with either Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap . Obviously Vizier of Remedies is better because it can not only enable the persist combo, but give me infinite green mana with Devoted Druid . With infinite green mana, I can win with Rhonas the Indomitable or Shalai, Voice of Plenty when that happens, and both of those creatures work remarkably well on their own without the mana as well. Of course, I can also win with wishing for Impromptu Raid or with Walking Ballista as well. Which brings me to Heliod, Sun-Crowned . Not only does it combo well with the life I gain through my creatures and combos by itself, but with Walking Ballista , it is a two card win combo. Giving Walking Ballista lifelink with Heliod, Sun-Crowned 's passive means that the second Walking Ballista is big enough to survive losing a counter, I win with infinite damage again. The deck is way too addicting, nothing but win cons. Oh, and Hexdrinker is a win con by itself :D

Ah, I see ! I've been running naya kiki chord for a long long time, but abzan has always been my favorite color combination. I might actually try your deck at some point at an FMN (I have nearly all the cards for it.) Thanks for the heads up in terms of strategy :) !

Any reasons why you're not playing Cabal Therapist anymore ?

Yeah I've loved the idea of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker ever since Splinter Twin , and obviously since it came out in champions itself. I've just been too obsessed with this deck since Collected Company came out. I've been so loyal I still have both Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Anafenza, the Foremost ! Lol. In regards to Cabal Therapist , it was a tough choice. Cabal Therapy is one of my favorite cards / combo catalysts in legacy. So to see it printed on a stick in modern was a dream come true. But now the deck is so tight knit and everything in it is basically a game winning piece, the only ones that have stuck around that arent winners are the Ranger-Captain of Eos and the Murderous Rider . The captain can search for Walking Ballista for Heliod, Sun-Crowned or Devoted Druid , and can save a few creatures on my side by sacking it during my opponents upkeep. Murderous Rider sticks around as my only form of true interaction besides Walking Ballista and Murderous Redcap . It was a tough choice, but the weakest link.

Interesting, it must have been a tough choice, I agree with you that Cabal Therapy is an awesome card.

Did you say that Ranger-Captain of Eos can fetch for Devoted Druid or you meant that it can fetch a piece of the devoted druid combo ? I'm guessing the latter.

What kind of starting hand are you looking for with this deck ? I have been trying some hands out but I'm often unsure as to what is best to keep/mulligan.

Yeah, Ursaromg, it was. Ranger-Captain of Eos can fetch Walking Ballista for either Vizier of Remedies and Devoted Druid or Heliod, Sun-Crowned . This is crucial because both Collected Company and Chord of Calling put the creatures directly into play, and Walking Ballista would just immediately die if summoned this way. Ranger-Captain of Eos puts anything into my hand, which I can then play afterwards.

The hands almost all work. A few pieces and a searching spell always works, same with wishes. You want to definitely have more creatures than spells, and only 2 or 3 lands. Almost all hands work because even multiple copies of a creature or not the right creatures can still attack and defend, or draw out your opponents hate spells to make sure your real winning pieces are safe. Keep practicing, the obvious ones will become more obvious.

I think I'm starting to understand more. This is a very fun deck tbh. I still have more questions though.

Any reason to fetch for Anafenza, the Foremost ? Is it only for the dredge matchup ? What do you think or Kaya's Guile or Ashiok, Dream Render in that spot ? I guess the Kitchen Finks combo might be your answer though (and I agree it is strong).

Hide / Seek against decks like Nahiri, the Harbinger ?

Is Castle Garenbrig only there to help casting Chord of Calling ?

And finally, I'm guessing you thought about Gaddock Teeg , is he absent from the wish board because he nullifies too much of your search spells ?

Well, thank you very much, Ursaromg :D. I love questions, it often helps me think of something I never thought before, or solve a problem I didn't even know I had. If not for community questions, I wouldn't have Impromptu Raid or know how to use Ranger-Captain of Eos properly. So without further delay, let's get into it:

1. Anafenza, the Foremost is there for manifold reasons. First, she is a creature, so game two, when I usually need her even more, she can be brought out by both Chord of Calling and Collected Company . This is the strategy for most of the cards that go into the deck, otherwise I would have a bunch more spells. Second, she has a permanent effect that lasts, something like Grafdigger's Cage , which is way better than something that just triggers once, like a spell. Third, yes is it basically just for dredge or anyone else thinking they're being clever with their graveyard, like when Phoenix in the Ice was a thing. Lastly, she is 3 for a 4/4 that can grow bigger, and automatically triggers Rhonas the Indomitable , which is always good.

2. Hide//Seek is yes, against any deck that just has their one card to finish things off. Allusorous combo, or Ad Nauseam , anything that tries to be cheeky like that. There are more decks with just one copy of something crucial than you think. Plus, it's always good to run a Surgical Extraction -type effect if you can, the only reason it's not mainboard is because Surgical it's not a creature that costs 3 mana or less.

3. I have no idea about either of the two Castles yet, I'm just testing them out so far. I will let you know as I slowly but surely find out :)

4. And of course I've thought about old Mr. Teeg. Yeah he literally shuts down my entire deck haha. His two abilities are: no 4 mana cost or higher spells ( Collected Company ) and no spells with X costs ( Chord of Calling ). Would literally be the worst card I could play on the side, aside from the new Kunoros, Hound of Athreos .

Thanks for asking!

Any thoughts on the Spike Feeder and Heliod, Sun-Crowned combo ?

Oh shit, I totally forgot about Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder! I used to have the combo in the deck before Collected Company came out. Good looking out! More combos!!

I am so glad to see Project Melira alive and well. :)

For me personally, I would take out Hexdrinker and Carrion Feeder in favor of Wall of Blossoms or Wall of Omens.

Murderous Rider is a bit mana-hungry. I personally prefer Mindslicer in order to hose control decks.

Walking Ballista and Shalai don't make a lot of sense, unfortunately.

Try Reveillark, Sun Titan, Eternal Witness, Reclamation Sage, or Gaddock Teeg.

Kor Firewalker is an easy way to hose red decks, which usually gave Melira builds the most trouble (and are more popular online than in person).

I personally prefer Gavony Township over Castle Lochtwain. You don't really want to cause yourself to lose life. Your opponents will do that for you regularly enough.

Assassin's Trophy or Abrupt Decay work better than Despark.

You probably won't play much of Wheel of Sun and Moon....for a better multi-colored option to wish for, try Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Hi, KaraZorEl, thank you for the comment, feedback is always appreciated. However, it seems you have completely misunderstood the intention of this deck. This isn't an abzan midrange deck, this deck is about suddenly winning the game out of nowhere.

For instance:

Hexdrinker just straight up wins the game if left unchecked.

Carrion Feeder + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Kitchen Finks wins the game.

Carrion Feeder + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Murderous Redcap wins the game.

Carrion Feeder + Vizier of Remedies + Kitchen Finks wins the game.

Carrion Feeder + Vizier of Remedies + Murderous Redcap wins the game.

I will give you that Murderous Rider is the weakest link mainboard right now, but there's no other creature with converted mana cost 3 or less than can just straight up kill a creature or plainswalker like that.

Walking Ballista + Heliod, Sun-Crowned wins the game.

Walking Ballista + Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies wins the game.

Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies + Shalai, Voice of Plenty wins the game.

Castle Locthwain is actually turning out amazing. I need all the card advantage I can get, and the Horizon lands are great, but they die when used. I don't care about the loss of life or I wouldn't be playing Modern with shock and fetch lands.

I already have Abrupt Decay , and that can kill everything with converted mana cost 3 or less. Despark gets rid of anything that costs 4 or more, thus covering every mana cost that exists in magic. No need for anything else.

Wheel of Sun and Moon gets played a ton! It is perfect grave hate tech against the usual suspects like Dredge, Phoenix, Jund, and Yawgmoth, but also works wonders against Urza because it doesn't hate just on creatures. It stops the Thopter Sword combo in its tracks.

And lastly, never, ever Gaddock Teeg . The two biggest parts of the deck are Collected Company (a spell with converted mana cost 4 or more) and Chord of Calling (a spell with converted mana cost X in the casting cost). Why would I want to handicap myself like that?