Bloodbraid's Last Hurrah

By Sam Black

Sam Black is a Platinum Pro Player and longtime writer for StarCityGames.com. He is a respected deck builder and took over Daily Decks for the first half of 2013.

Modern is a remarkably diverse format but one that sees extremely gradual change. This is the nature of non-rotating formats. For the most part, when a player plays in a Modern tournament, he or she will recognize every deck his or her opponents play.

xMiMx recently played Bloodbraid Elf in a tournament in a deck that approaches the card differently than Jund or dedicated cascade decks. Historically, people have tried to avoid playing Bloodbraid Elf with mana creatures for fear of cascading into a low-impact card. Lately, people have learned that Deathrite Shaman is powerful enough that it's not that bad to cast it in the midgame. xMiMx has decided that exalted is powerful enough that Noble Hierarch is also acceptable, especially if it means a higher chance of casting an extremely powerful spell like Blood Moon or Knight of the Reliquary on turn two.

Like Jund, this deck splashes a color to support Lingering Souls, but for this deck, black is the splashed color, rather than white.

It may seem odd to feature a deck that's no longer legal, but as Bloodbraid Elf makes the transition to Legacy, it can be useful to look at ways it's used in Modern for information. Also, I think it serves a useful archival purpose to document ways the card was used when it was banned.

That this continues yesterday's theme of "decks you shouldn't play" is entirely coincidental.

xMiMx's Blood Moon Naya

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (24)

4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Knight of the Reliquary 4 Noble Hierarch 2 Qasali Pridemage 4 Tarmogoyf 2 Thundermaw Hellkite

Sorcery (2)

2 Lingering Souls

Instant (7)

3 Burst Lightning 4 Lightning Bolt

Artifact (2)

2 Sword of Light and Shadow

Enchantment (2)

2 Blood Moon

Land (23)

4 Arid Mesa 1 Blood Crypt 2 Forest 1 Gavony Township 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Marsh Flats 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Plains 1 Raging Ravine 1 Sacred Foundry 2 Stomping Ground 2 Temple Garden 4 Verdant Catacombs

60 Cards