Modern Elementals

I mentioned it earlier in the week on Monday’s article how I believe that elementals could have a chance in modern as a new tribal deck that could be a force to be reckoned with. With lots of removal, strong card advantage, and reanimation all built into your creatures, it has potential. Today, we’re going more in-depth into the idea, mostly just to humor myself, but also to show all of you what it can truly do. Before we get started, remember to check us out on Twitter @MTGOracle and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube! My name is Blue, let’s begin.

There are multiple ways to play elementals, but I think the 5-color version seems the best, since we get access to some true powerhouses. The main reason for the addition of black is Cavalier of Night. The 5-mana creature has lifelink, works as removal when it enters the battlefield, and can reanimate small creatures when it dies. We also get to play Lighting Skelemental to combo nicely with a card we’ll discuss later. For the sideboard, it allows us to play Leyline of the Void in a way where we can realistically cast it if necessary. For white, it gives us Vesperlark and Voice of Resurgence. The power of Voice is that it’s an elemental in itself, creates elementals when it dies or your opponent cast spells on your turn, and it powers up Omnath, Locus of the Roil by churning out elementals like crazy for just ! It’s a very powerful card and I think it’s part of what makes the deck so strong. As for Vesperlark, it can get back small creatures like Flamekin Harbinger to tutor out more powerful creatures, Risen Reef to continue us plowing through the deck, and Thunderkin Awakener, a combo with Vesperlark as a way to continuously loop reanimating stuff like Risen Reef. for even more card advantage. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like it’ s pretty worth adding white!

As for the core colors, Temur, we get a ton of goodies. As previously mentioned, Flamekin Harbinger allows us to tutor for more goodies, Smokebraider[ let’s us ramp into even bigger cards, and Risen Reef for even more card draw. I’m excited for the amount of raw power the engine of Vesperlark, Thunderkin Awakener, and Risen Reef can produce. From playing around with the deck online, it can definitely draw a ton of cards, almost as many as in standard.

Moving on, I’m most excited for the Omnath’s in the deck. In my version, I’m playing four copies of Omnath, Locus of the Roil and one copy of Omnath, Locus of Rage. Little Omnath is important because it gives direct damage that can work as removal or can go face to help end the game. Big Omnath, on the other hand, is intended almost solely to end the game. He’s expensive, but worth it if you can get him on the table. Every time you play a land, you get a 5/5 elemental, and when any elemental dies, you can Lightning Bolt something with big Omnath. I’ve played turns where I play Omnath with a Risen Reef in play and it hits a land, so I make an elemental, hit another land, make another elemental, rinse and repeat for several lands. This engine allows you to make crazy amounts of elementals and most likely win the game. Exciting, isn’t it?

Outside of all the very powerful creatures in the deck, my version is playing Aether Vial. With so many 2-drops and 3-drops in the deck, it helps the deck play multiple creatures in a turn and at instant speed. The addition of Vial is worth it and it means we get to skimp on lands just slightly. Not by much, but we can get away with as few as 21 lands.

Speaking of lands, elementals gets a pretty decent land package. Being a tribal deck, we get to play Cavern of Souls, Unclaimed Territory, and Primal Beyond, the elemental-specific tribal land. In addition, I decided to play two City of Brass in my build just because there’s a lot of colors going on, some mana costs ranging from on turn 2 to on turn 3 to on turn 4 to on turn 5. Then we get a couple fetches, a couple shocks, and a couple basics.

Finally, in the sideboard, we get some elemental-specific hate with Fulminator Mage for Tron, Scapeshift, Amulet Titan, and other land-based deck. I’ve also chosen to add a weird one here, Healer of the Glave for aggro and burn. A 1/2 body that gains three life when it enters the battlefield is actually pretty decent, and it’s on tribe. Other than that, just a few other random hate spells like Damping Sphere and Leyline of the Void. In any case, the sideboard is rather normal for modern.

All in all, I think elementals has a real shot in modern with all of its potential parts. Do you agree that elementals could be the next big thing or is it just a pipe dream? Let me know in the comments below! Don’t forget that we are partnered with TCGPlayer! Click the link and any purchases made from that visit go to help support us! As always, check us out on Twitter @MTGOracle and me @TwoBlueUntapped to keep up with everything Magic. This is Blue, Signing out!