Swan Control

By Melissa DeTora

Melissa is a former Magic pro player and strategy writer who is now working in R&D on the Play Design team.

Today's deck is a Modern deck that features a card that I haven't thought of or heard about in a while, Swans of Bryn Argoll. This guy was once a powerhouse in the now-retired Extended format and was the backbone of a successful combo deck, which was simply known as "Swans." The deck played the infinite combo of Chain of Plasma and Swans of Bryn Argoll, which allowed you to draw your entire deck. While RaptureReady's Swans deck can't go infinite, it is capable of drawing lots of cards with his suite of burn spells.

Swans of Bryn Argoll is what I would call a high-risk, high-reward Magic card. If it sits in play and your opponent allows you to throw burn spells at it, you will get very far ahead very quickly. However, if your opponent has burn of his own or creatures to block with, they will be the ones reaping the rewards of the Swans. I gave this deck a spin on Magic Online the other day and my Affinity opponent targeted my Swans with two Galvanic Blasts, drawing a total of eight cards. To no one's surprise I did not win that game.

If you are the type of player who enjoys risky cards like this, the Swans deck is a blast to play. Swans plus Lightning Bolt is an amazing draw engine. You also have access to the most powerful blue spells in Modern, like Cryptic Command and Snapcaster Mage. This color combination also gives you some of Modern's best sideboard cards: Stony Silence, Blood Moon, Leyline of Sanctity, and plenty of others.

Swan Control is also utilizing the snow mechanic, a mechanic I really enjoyed when it was in Standard. Skred and Scrying Sheets are great reasons to play a mana base of all Snow-Covered lands. What this deck is missing, however, is Swan Song. Even if it's not the strongest card, it makes perfect sense in a Swans deck!

RaptureReady’s Swan Control

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (9)

3 Snapcaster Mage 2 Soulfire Grand Master 4 Swans of Bryn Argoll

Sorcery (6)

2 Anger of the Gods 4 Serum Visions

Instant (23)

2 Cryptic Command 1 Harvest Pyre 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Mana Leak 4 Remand 4 Skred 2 Spell Snare 4 Stubborn Denial

Land (22)

3 Arid Mesa 3 Flooded Strand 1 Mouth of Ronom 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Scrying Sheets 4 Snow-Covered Island 3 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Steam Vents

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Batterskull 2 Blood Moon 2 Celestial Purge 2 Counterflux 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Keranos, God of Storms 2 Lightning Helix 1 Rending Volley 1 Shatterstorm 1 Stony Silence 1 Wear // Tear