Squadron Hawk in Modern?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 12, 2022, 11:25 p.m. by Delphen7
This may just be wistful fancy, but I really want to get Squadron Hawk to work in modern.
I can't find a shell though. I come up with Solitude and March of Otherworldly Light, plus maybe Sunscour, and then I get stuck.
I'm just going to run though my thoughts on the list I'm trying to craft and hope someone sees something I haven't.
Direction of the List
- I ultimately want something that utilizes the usefulness of the search effect of the hawks, while ideally being mono white.
- At one point I ended up with a list similar to Death and Taxes at one point, but I didn't like the dilution that Hawk caused in that list as Hawk's not a prison piece.
- Brought Back is a card I keep looking at, but it wants lots of etbs/fetch effects, and that doesn't seem to feed overall into the controlly plan I have thus far with Solitude/March
Pros of the Hawks:
One hawk leads to
- 3 white cards in hand
- 3 creatures in hand
- 3 flyers in hand
- 3 cards with the same name in hand
Same Name
- I couldn't find anything good in modern that cares about shared names or naming a specific card (Aside from Mirror Box, but that requires different setup), so I scrapped this one pretty quickly.
Flying
- This feels promising, as Sephara, Sky's Blade looks like an interesting payoff. However she requires a lot of flyers, and she likes the cheaper ones better. Although now I think about it an Aether Vial shell with her would be interesting...
White Cards Matter
- Solitude, March, and Sunscour are the only good cards I could find in modern that cared about white cards in hand. And honestly, Solitude and March will probably make the list regardless
Creature Cards
- I didn't find anything in mono white that really cared about having creatures in hand, but I haven't dived too deep into this one yet.
And that brings me here. Is there a potential home for Squadron Hawk, or is it just a meme at this point? All suggestions/thoughts welcome :)
(Disclaimer: I know Hawks are bad. I just want a functioning list)
wallisface says... #4
One thing that could work well with Squadron Hawk is Martyr of Sands. The extra hawks in hand will provide a bigger life boost, and Martyr decks typically do very well if they can stall out the game long enough, which a horde of 1/1 flyers should be able to help with.
December 12, 2022 11:54 p.m.
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December 13, 2022 9:57 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #6
Perhaps you could utilize some kind of low-to-the-ground devotion shell using Benalish Marshal, Sephara, and Segovian Angel/Bishop of Wings? Idk.
December 13, 2022 10:07 a.m.
I actually have a deck that uses Squadron Hawk in the way you are looking for. Squad Squad. Where it is capitalizing on the card advantage garnered by Squadron Hawk and other cards like it. only card you didn't mention that you might want to look into is Force of Virtue. i went with more of a soldiers theme but you could stick to more flyers utilizing the hawks as blockers and playing more things like Stalwart Valkyrie for aggressive beats.
December 13, 2022 1:32 p.m.
IXALAN_Crazy says... #8
I wish caw blade could work in modern... busted deck back then but probably wouldn't stand a chance in the meta even upgraded with new cards.
December 16, 2022 11:32 a.m.
Thanks for all the responses! I have found an updated caw blade list that seems interesting, but I'll also be looking into the lifegain plan.
December 16, 2022 5:40 p.m.
Martyr Proc would be the best home for squawks, but sadly MH2 has made the strategy pretty much unplayable. Here's a link to the Martyr Proc discord if you want to look more into the lifegain plan though:
https://discord.gg/A5Qx7xhA
wallisface says... #2
A loooong time ago I had a deck that utilised Squadron Hawk to ramp up counters on Quest for the Holy Relic. The wincon was then to use that Relic to slap Worldslayer on one of the birds, and with the help of something like Selfless Spirit, keep my own creatures alive while wiping everything else, and edge out a win through a few turns of combat damage before the opponent can find lands and rebuild a board.
That deck also had the old infinite mana combo with Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies, with Duskwatch Recruiter Flip then acting as a solid game piece to further both potential wincons. The deck would often go infinite and win on turn 3, or else worldslay everything turn 4.
Saying all this, the meta has shifted considerably since I was running this deck, and i’m not sure such a combo brew would be viable in such a high-interaction meta these days. But I can say that, at the time, Squadron Hawk was great for all of fueling the combo, buying me time with expendable blockers, and thinning the deck in a way that felt meaningful.
December 12, 2022 11:47 p.m.