Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. With the release of Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes, we're stepping into an exciting season of Modern, and the Pro Tour promises to be quite the spectacle. Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes will kick off at MagicCon: Amsterdam, featuring a $500,000 prize pool and the world's top competitors. Check out the viewer's guide for all the details on the event.

To give an early indication of what to expect at the Pro Tour, today's article will examine the current Modern metagame, walk through the top thirteen archetypes in the format, and spotlight new cards from Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes that could make a mark on Modern.

The Modern Metagame with Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes

Modern is a nonrotating 60-card format based on expansion sets, core sets, and straight-to-Modern sets from Eighth Edition forward, save for cards on the banned list. With its deep card pool spanning over 22 years of card history, Modern boasts intricate card interactions and a vast array of viable strategies.

To capture a metagame snapshot, I analyzed over 900 successful tournament decks over the past two weeks, all from events held after the online release of Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes. My dataset drew from every published Magic Online list from scheduled events between June 24 and July 5, alongside published Top 8 decklists from several dozen tabletop Regional Championship Qualifiers.

To show which decks are dominating the top tables, I assigned points to each deck based on its rectified number of net wins, calculated as the number of match wins minus losses, with negative values adjusted to zero. By combining these points across all events, each archetype's share of the total rectified net wins blends popularity and performance into a single, comprehensive metric: the winner's metagame share.

In this table, each archetype name hyperlinks to a top-performing decklist that closely reflects its aggregate build. The "Other" category collects decks with less than one percent winner's metagame share, including Izzet Metalcraft, Mono-Black Eldrazi, Golgari Necro, Simic Ritual, Jeskai Energy, Boros Burn, Five-Color Creativity, Dimir Mill, Hollow One, Grixis Wizards, Simic Neoform, Jund Cosmogoyf, Jeskai Blink, Esper Control, Grixis Shadow, Hammer Time, and more.

Compared to my previous Modern metagame snapshot from a month ago, Eldrazi Tron has notably climbed the ranks, but overall the metagame has stayed relatively static. Boros Energy remains the most prominent deck, though at only 11.1% of the winner's metagame, it's not reaching the dominant numbers it once had. Meanwhile, Violent Outburst and Umezawa's Jitte, after being unbanned on May 18, have failed to gain a major foothold in the format.

Consign to Memory
Flooded Strand
Arid Mesa

Wrath of the Skies
Mystical Dispute

Solitude

Urza's Saga

Thoughtseize

Galvanic Discharge

When reviewing main decks only, the most played cards in Modern are fetch lands like Flooded Strand and Arid Mesa. These lands enable amazing mana consistency as they can find basic lands, shock lands, and surveil lands. Other prominent main deck inclusions are Solitude, Urza's Saga, and Galvanic Discharge.

When sideboard cards are included, a diverse suite of efficient answers rises to the top. Consign to Memory, Wrath of the Skies, Mystical Dispute, and Thoughtseize are among the most common ways to disrupt an opponent's game plan. By the total raw number of copies across all the main decks and sideboards I analyzed, Consign to Memory still claims the title of the most-played card in Modern, answering Eldrazi spells, Goblin Charbelcher, and a plethora of triggered abilities. My recent article on weird interactions in Modern reveals some of the clever tricks possible with that card.

Hex Magic
Avengers Disassembled
Loki, God of Mischief
The Ten Rings
Namor the Sub-Mariner
Castle Doom
Super-Soldier Serum

The impact of Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes on Modern appears to be modest. So far, the two main additions have been Hex Magic, which has been adopted in Ruby Storm, and Avengers Disassembled, which has appeared in Boros Land Destruction. It appears the set has mostly strengthened existing archetypes rather than creating new ones.

The other new cards seem to be a bit more speculative, but I love to see the experimentation. Loki, God of Mischief has found some early success alongside Mishra's Bauble in Izzet Affinity and Relic of Progenitus in Esper Blink. The Ten Rings has appeared in various Eldrazi Tron sideboards as a potential win condition to grab with Karn, the Great Creator. Namor the Sub-Mariner has been included in the sideboards of a few Tameshi Belcher decks and in the main deck of a spicy Mono-Blue Namor deck. Castle Doom has appeared in a few Izzet Affinity decks. Finally, Super-Soldier Serum has shown up in a handful of Hammer Time builds. It'll be exciting to see if these new additions (or any other surprises) will show up at the Pro Tour.

Overall, the Modern metagame has been consistent over the past month. To highlight the most relevant decks to expect at the upcoming Pro Tour, I've compiled aggregate decklists for the top archetypes. These lists were assembled using an algorithm that weighs card popularity, deck performance, and internal synergies. Let's take a closer look at the thirteen most prominent contenders, each representing at least 2.4% of the winner's metagame over the past two weeks. This overview can serve as an update to last month's similar format primer.

1. Boros Energy (11.1% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Arid Mesa 4 Ajani, Nacatl Pariah 4 Guide of Souls 4 Ocelot Pride 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer 4 Galvanic Discharge 4 Flooded Strand 3 Plains 3 Sacred Foundry 3 Goblin Bombardment 3 Voice of Victory 3 Marsh Flats 3 Seasoned Pyromancer 2 Elegant Parlor 2 Thraben Charm 2 Ranger-Captain of Eos 1 Mountain 1 Dalkovan Encampment 1 Arena of Glory 1 Blood Moon 1 The Legend of Roku 1 Static Prison 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Haliya, Guided by Light 2 Wrath of the Skies 2 High Noon 2 Obsidian Charmaw 2 Wear Tear 1 Blood Moon 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Celestial Purge 1 The Legend of Roku 1 Rest in Peace 1 Boromir, Warden of the Tower

Powered by Guide of Souls and Galvanic Discharge, Boros Energy leverages the energy mechanic to dominate the battlefield. The deck applies relentless pressure through the feline firepower of Ocelot Pride and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah. Meanwhile, Goblin Bombardment lets you sacrifice Cat tokens to transform Ajani into a formidable planeswalker.

Despite Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury being banned, Boros Energy remains the deck to beat in Modern. The aggressive shell of the deck remains intact, and cards like The Legend of Roku or Haliya, Guided by Light have stepped in as alternative mid-game value engines. With a main deck full of powerhouses and a sideboard that can answer other prominent strategies, Boros Energy is going into the Pro Tour as the main deck to defeat.

2. Izzet Affinity (8.5% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Urza's Saga 4 Kappa Cannoneer 4 Pinnacle Emissary 4 Mishra's Bauble 4 Mox Opal 4 Tormod's Crypt 4 Fiery Islet 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Engineered Explosives 4 Weapons Manufacturing 3 Claws of Gix 3 Metallic Rebuke 2 Island 2 Sink into Stupor 2 Emry, Lurker of the Loch 1 Skateboard 1 Steam Vents 1 Shadowspear 1 Welding Jar 1 Pithing Needle 1 Shivan Reef 1 Arcbound Ravager 1 Preordain 3 Consign to Memory 2 Galvanic Blast 2 Whipflare 2 Damping Sphere 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Blood Moon 1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch 1 Hurkyl's Recall

Izzet Affinity thrives on artifact synergies, and it aims to quickly enable metalcraft for explosive starts. Mox Opal provides early mana acceleration, Kappa Cannoneer grows into an unstoppable juggernaut, and Pinnacle Emissary lets you flood the board with tokens.

Weapons Manufacturing has become a staple of the archetype. Its Munitions tokens supercharge Kappa Cannoneer, grow the Constructs from Urza's Saga, and can be translated into lethal damage with an Engineered Explosives for X=0. Arcbound Ravager and Claws of Gix provide alternative ways to sacrifice those tokens and dish out their damage. An arsenal of Munitions tokens can also punish an opposing Wrath of the Skies or Meltdown, which are some of the best sideboard cards against Izzet Affinity.

3. Eldrazi Tron (8% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Eldrazi Temple 4 Ugin's Labyrinth 4 Urza's Mine 4 Urza's Power Plant 4 Urza's Tower 4 Devourer of Destiny 4 Thought-Knot Seer 4 Kozilek's Command 4 Expedition Map 4 Karn, the Great Creator 4 Ugin, Eye of the Storms 4 Mind Stone 3 Glaring Fleshraker 2 Dismember 2 Chalice of the Void 1 Swamp 1 All Is Dust 1 Emrakul, the Promised End 1 Trinisphere 1 Wastes 2 Torpor Orb 2 Disruptor Flute 1 Trinisphere 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Cityscape Leveler 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Walking Ballista 1 Extinguisher Battleship 1 The Filigree Sylex 1 The Stone Brain 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Eldrazi Tron harnesses the iconic trio of Urza's Mine, Urza's Tower, and Urza's Power Plant to enable explosive openings. These lands can power out seven-mana spells like Devourer of Destiny or Ugin, Eye of the Storms as early as turn three. Ugin excels in a deck consisting of almost all colorless spells. Karn, the Great Creator is another excellent way to spend your mana, letting you fetch disruptive artifacts from your sideboard.

The deck remains formidable even if you fail to draw the full suite of Urza's lands. Eldrazi Temple and Ugin's Labyrinth offer enough two-mana lands to consistently enable a turn-two Thought-Knot Seer or Glaring Fleshraker. The former provides valuable disruption. The latter sets you up for a devastating Kozilek's Command. Few decks in Modern can match Eldrazi Tron's ability to generate mana, though many opponents will sideboard in Obsidian Charmaw and Blood Moon to fight back. With Eldrazi Tron on the rise, those sideboard cards will likely appear in more decks.

4. Izzet Prowess (6.6% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Dragon's Rage Channeler 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Lava Dart 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Preordain 4 Cori-Steel Cutter 4 Mishra's Bauble 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Slickshot Show-Off 3 Mountain 3 Steam Vents 3 Arid Mesa 3 Mutagenic Growth 3 Scalding Tarn 2 Fiery Islet 2 Bloodstained Mire 2 Violent Urge 1 Thundering Falls 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Unholy Heat 4 Consign to Memory 3 Unholy Heat 2 Meltdown 2 Tormod's Crypt 2 Spell Pierce 1 Murktide Regent 1 Spell Snare

At its core, Izzet Prowess is built for speed. With Dragon's Rage Channeler and Monastery Swiftspear leading the charge on turn one, the deck uses Expressive Iteration, Preordain, and other cheap cantrips to churn through spells, sculpt your hand, and buff your creatures.

The two-drops are equally formidable. Dropping a Cori-Steel Cutter on turn two and following it up with a Mishra's Bauble can kickstart a flood of Monk tokens. Meanwhile, Slickshot Show-Off allows for sudden, explosive kills, as it can swing for double-digit damage out of nowhere when combined with Mutagenic Growth and Violent Urge.

5. Broodscale Combo (6% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Eldrazi Temple 4 Grove of the Burnwillows 4 Urza's Saga 4 Basking Broodscale 4 Glaring Fleshraker 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Kozilek's Command 4 Malevolent Rumble 3 Forest 3 Blade of the Bloodchief 3 Writhing Chrysalis 2 Boseiju, Who Endures 2 Emrakul, the Promised End 2 Unholy Heat 2 Vexing Bauble 2 Sowing Mycospawn 1 Cavern of Souls 1 Haywire Mite 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Stomping Ground 1 Springleaf Drum 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Windswept Heath 1 Commercial District 1 Walking Ballista 2 Unholy Heat 2 Nature's Claim 2 Thief of Existence 1 Pithing Needle 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Emrakul, the Promised End 1 Warping Wail 1 Gemstone Caverns 1 Damping Sphere 1 Soulless Jailer 1 Sire of Seven Deaths

Gruul Broodscale is built around a compact two-card combo: Blade of the Bloodchief and Basking Broodscale. Sacrificing an Eldrazi Spawn for mana triggers the Blade, which puts a +1/+1 counter on the Broodscale, creating another Eldrazi Spawn. This loop sustains itself, producing an infinitely large Broodscale and infinite mana. You can sink that mana into Kozilek's Command, which can find Walking Ballista to end the game on the spot.

While the deck can dig for the combo with Urza's Saga and Ancient Stirrings, it can also win the game in other ways. Eldrazi Temple enables explosive starts by powering out a turn-two Glaring Fleshraker. Alongside Malevolent Rumble to fill your graveyard, this lets you ramp into Emrakul, the Promised End. Meanwhile, a turn-one Vexing Bauble can wreck an Affinity player or shut off an evoked Solitude that could answer your combo.

While this aggregate build is a red-green deck that splashes for Writhing Chrysalis and Unholy Heat with a fetchable Stomping Ground, there are also an almost equal number of mono-green builds. Those versions generally include Devourer of Destiny and Ugin's Labyrinth instead of Stomping Ground. I previously separated these versions into different archetypes, but due to their vast similarities, I have now grouped them together under a single Broodscale Combo archetype.

6. Ruby Storm (5.7% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Mountain 4 Ral, Monsoon Mage 4 Desperate Ritual 4 Manamorphose 4 Pyretic Ritual 4 Reckless Impulse 4 Wrenn's Resolve 4 Ruby Medallion 4 Hex Magic 3 Past in Flames 3 Arid Mesa 2 Valakut Awakening 2 Wish 2 Bloodstained Mire 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Artist's Talent 2 Wooded Foothills 1 Gemstone Caverns 1 Elegant Parlor 1 Sacred Foundry 1 Grapeshot 1 Sunbaked Canyon 1 Commercial District 4 Orim's Chant 3 Prismatic Ending 2 Wear Tear 2 Brotherhood's End 1 Grapeshot 1 Past in Flames 1 Empty the Warrens 1 Fire Magic

Ruby Storm is a blisteringly fast combo deck centered on Ruby Medallion and Ral, Monsoon Mage. With either card on the battlefield, spells like Pyretic Ritual and Desperate Ritual cost just a single red mana, unlocking a massive mana boost. The cost reduction also applies to card-draw spells like Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve, allowing you to churn through your library with startling speed.

The core game plan is to cast a storm of spells in a single turn, flash them back with Past in Flames, and finish the game with a lethal Grapeshot. It's a combo deck in its purest, most tempestuous form. If opponents lack removal for Ruby Medallion or Ral, or they aren't prepared with hate pieces like Orim's Chant, High Noon, or Damping Sphere, Ruby Storm can unleash a blazing firestorm of damage.

The deck exploits the most-played new card from Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes: Hex Magic. It's an exceptional card-draw spell at the start of your combo turn or as a setup piece the turn before. Drawing five or six cards for three mana is very realistic. What's more, it's one of the first new Arcane cards in years, meaning you can splice Desperate Ritual onto Hex Magic for a free mana. Most Ruby Storm decks have adopted four copies of Hex Magic, typically replacing Glimpse the Impossible and Flashback.

7. Esper Goryo's (5.7% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Flooded Strand 4 Polluted Delta 4 Atraxa, Grand Unifier 4 Psychic Frog 4 Solitude 4 Ephemerate 4 Faithful Mending 4 Goryo's Vengeance 4 Quantum Riddler 3 Marsh Flats 3 Thoughtseize 2 Force of Negation 2 Prismatic Ending 1 Godless Shrine 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Island 1 Plains 1 Shadowy Backstreet 1 Swamp 1 Undercity Sewers 1 Watery Grave 1 Griselbrand 1 Meticulous Archive 1 Breeding Pool 1 March of Otherworldly Light 1 Superior Spider-Man 1 Consign to Memory 3 Consign to Memory 3 Mystical Dispute 3 Wrath of the Skies 1 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Spell Snare 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Thoughtseize 1 Celestial Purge

Esper Goryo's aims to discard Atraxa, Grand Unifier to Psychic Frog or Faithful Mending and return her to the battlefield with Goryo's Vengeance. This provides a massive lifelink swing and a fresh grip of cards. Before Atraxa is exiled by Goryo's Vengeance, Ephemerate can blink her to create a new game object, which means that you won't have to exile Atraxa at the end of the turn. That play usually ends the game.

But Esper Goryo's is not just a graveyard combo deck. Between Solitude, Force of Negation, Thoughtseize, and Prismatic Ending, it can also take a controlling role and play a fair game where Psychic Frog and Quantum Riddler provide steady card advantage. Ephemerate can also blink a warped Quantum Riddler, letting you keep a resilient 4/6 flier on the battlefield. Esper Goryo's effortlessly blends a game-ending combo with a fair control plan.

8. Grixis Reanimator (4.5% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Polluted Delta 4 Abhorrent Oculus 4 Archon of Cruelty 4 Psychic Frog 4 Faithless Looting 4 Fatal Push 4 Persist 4 Thoughtseize 4 Unearth 3 Emperor of Bones 3 Thought Scour 2 Swamp 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Blood Crypt 1 Steam Vents 1 Undercity Sewers 1 Watery Grave 1 Raucous Theater 1 Spell Pierce 1 Island 1 Darkslick Shores 4 Consign to Memory 2 Meltdown 2 Pyroclasm 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Spell Pierce 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Damping Sphere 1 Harbinger of the Seas

Grixis Reanimator uses Faithless Looting and Psychic Frog to put Archon of Cruelty into the graveyard, then brings it back to life with Persist or Emperor of Bones. Alternatively, the deck can return Abhorrent Oculus to the battlefield with Unearth. All of this is wrapped in a midrange shell, utilizing interactive spells like Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, and Spell Pierce to keep opponents off balance.

While a mere 19 lands may seem low for a deck without additional modal double-faced cards or mana rocks, it fits Grixis Reanimator because nearly every spell that is intended to be cast costs only one or two mana. Moreover, a suite of one-mana card-draw effects helps you make your land drops.

9. Boros Land Destruction (4.3% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Demolition Field 4 Field of Ruin 4 Plains 4 Solitude 4 Cleansing Wildfire 4 Erode 4 Path to Exile 4 Price of Freedom 4 Cori Mountain Monastery 4 Wrath of the Skies 4 Galvanic Discharge 4 Karn, the Great Creator 3 Sacred Foundry 3 Sunken Citadel 2 Mountain 2 Avengers Disassembled 2 Reprieve 4 High Noon 2 Rest in Peace 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Liquimetal Coating 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Pithing Needle 1 Soulless Jailer 1 Engineered Explosives 1 The Stone Brain

Boros Land Destruction is a relative newcomer in the Modern metagame. The set of Cleansing Wildfire-style effects recently expanded with Erode from Secrets of Strixhaven and Avengers Disassembled from Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes. Most decks in Modern run only two or three basic lands, so overwhelming opponents with those effects means you can rapidly exhaust their resources.

Erode and Path to Exile quickly become one-mana removal spells with virtually no drawback. Meanwhile, Cleansing Wildfire, Price of Freedom, Demolition Field, Field of Ruin, and Avengers Disassembled effectively become hard land-destruction effects.

In essence, this is a grinding resource-denial deck that does not aim to win the game quickly but instead seeks to prevent the opponent from making progress. To support that plan more appropriately, the typical main deck over the past few weeks adopted Reprieve and Karn, the Great Creator over Mana Tithe, The Legend of Roku, and/or March of Otherworldly Light. With Avengers Disassembled acting as a sweeper and land-destruction effect, the archetype is still evolving, and it'll be exciting to see if it can perform on the Pro Tour stage.

10. Amulet Titan (3.2% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Crumbling Vestige 4 Forest 4 Simic Growth Chamber 4 Urza's Saga 4 Arboreal Grazer 4 Scapeshift 4 Amulet of Vigor 4 Spelunking 3 Boseiju, Who Endures 3 Gruul Turf 3 Primeval Titan 3 Green Sun's Zenith 3 Malevolent Rumble 2 The Mycosynth Gardens 2 Summoner's Pact 1 Echoing Deeps 1 Hanweir Battlements 1 Mirrorpool 1 Otawara, Soaring City 1 Shifting Woodland 1 Tolaria West 1 Aftermath Analyst 1 Cultivator Colossus 1 Dryad Arbor 3 Trinisphere 2 Dismember 2 Force of Vigor 2 Stock Up 1 Collector Ouphe 1 Six 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Skyline Cascade 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Boseiju, Who Endures

Amulet Titan is one of Modern's most intricate ramp decks, built around the explosive synergy between Amulet of Vigor and bounce lands like Gruul Turf. With an Amulet of Vigor in play, those lands effectively enter untapped and generate additional mana, letting you ramp out Primeval Titans. Even when Amulet of Vigor doesn't show up, Spelunking and Urza's Saga serve as redundant copies. Once Primeval Titan hits the battlefield, it can fetch Hanweir Battlements to give itself haste and shift the game in your favor. Mastering the deck requires a deep knowledge of its available lines of play, making it a high-skill, high-reward archetype.

The deck can also generate loads of additional mana with Scapeshift, especially when combined with Aftermath Analyst. Until recently, Scapeshift let you assemble infinite loops involving Lotus Field, but after Lotus Field was banned back in May, you need an alternative sacrifice outlet like Zuran Orb. While some lists do feature Zuran Orb, many players decided that the card is too weak on its own and shaved it for a more streamlined deck. Convoluted infinite-mana loops are still possible if you can put another Scapeshift on the stack as a sacrifice outlet, then continually copy it with Mirrorpool and alternatingly return all lands via Shifting Woodland. My brain exploded as I was trying to figure out the requirements for that loop and the steps needed to win with Echoing Deeps, so I look forward to the Amulet Titan masters showing off all the complex tricks at the Pro Tour.

11. Jeskai Control (2.6% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Flooded Strand 4 Consult the Star Charts 4 Orim's Chant 4 Arid Mesa 4 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Solitude 3 Galvanic Discharge 3 Prismatic Ending 3 Wrath of the Skies 3 Teferi, Time Raveler 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 2 Meticulous Archive 2 Plains 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Isochron Scepter 2 Day's Undoing 1 Monumental Henge 1 Steam Vents 1 Counterspell 1 Supreme Verdict 1 Spell Snare 1 Thundering Falls 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 1 Force of Negation 1 Lórien Revealed 1 Sink into Stupor 3 Consign to Memory 3 Mystical Dispute 2 High Noon 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Counterspell 1 Supreme Verdict 1 Celestial Purge 1 Spell Snare 1 Wrath of the Skies

Jeskai Control seeks to dictate the pace of the game through efficient removal, sweepers, countermagic, and card-draw spells. The deck runs almost no creatures, which renders opposing creature removal largely useless while unlocking Kaheera, the Orphanguard as a companion. Most builds can also imprint Orim's Chant onto Isochron Scepter, locking many opponents out of the game entirely. Victory will come slowly but methodically.

That said, there are many ways to build control decks in Modern. This aggregate deck splashes red for Galvanic Discharge and can potentially lock the opponent out of new draws with the combination of Narset, Parter of Veils and Day's Undoing or Geier Reach Sanitarium. Other versions might not splash red at all, instead emphasizing Counterspell and/or Wan Shi Tong, Librarian. Some players may opt for different card choices entirely. But no matter how the deck shuts down its opponents, the goal is clear: control the game.

12. Tameshi Belcher (2.5% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Hydroelectric Specimen 4 Tameshi, Reality Architect 4 Disrupting Shoal 4 Jwari Disruption 4 Sea Gate Restoration 4 Sink into Stupor 4 Suppression Ray 4 Whir of Invention 4 Goblin Charbelcher 4 Lotus Bloom 4 Waterlogged Teachings 3 Force of Negation 3 Into the Flood Maw 3 Counterspell 2 Spell Snare 2 Stern Scolding 1 Beyeen Veil 2 Preordain 4 Consign to Memory 2 Engineered Explosives 2 Mystical Dispute 2 Flusterstorm 2 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student 1 Island 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Stock Up

Tameshi Belcher's core plan is to activate Goblin Charbelcher, revealing zero actual lands to deal lethal damage instantly. To reach the necessary mana to cast and activate Goblin Belcher, the deck relies on a suite of modal double-faced cards and Lotus Bloom, which Whir of Invention can conveniently put onto the battlefield as early as turn three.

The deck also features a potent backup combo. Tameshi, Reality Architect, when paired with Lotus Bloom, can generate immense amounts of mana, often culminating in an enormous Sea Gate Restoration that seals the game. Meanwhile, the deck features a surprising amount of interaction, as it exploits Disrupting Shoal and Force of Negation as potentially free countermagic. Even though it may look like a glass cannon, Tameshi Belcher is deceptively resilient.

13. Domain Zoo (2.4% of the Winner's Metagame)

4 Arid Mesa 4 Wooded Foothills 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer 4 Scion of Draco 4 Territorial Kavu 4 Leyline Binding 4 Leyline of the Guildpact 4 Flooded Strand 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Quantum Riddler 3 Stubborn Denial 3 Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd 2 Arena of Glory 2 Steam Vents 2 Consign to Memory 1 Indatha Triome 1 Temple Garden 1 Thundering Falls 1 Plains 1 Mountain 1 Godless Shrine 1 Blood Crypt 1 Doorkeeper Thrull 3 Mystical Dispute 2 Consign to Memory 2 Wrath of the Skies 2 High Noon 2 Obsidian Charmaw 2 Wear Tear 1 Rest in Peace 1 Pyroclasm

Domain Zoo is a disruptive aggro deck that leverages two- and three-color lands to unleash Territorial Kavu and Scion of Draco. These creatures hit hard and turn Stubborn Denial into a reliable counterspell. When Leyline of the Guildpact begins the game on the battlefield, the mana base becomes painless, and Scion of Draco gives your entire team vigilance, hexproof, lifelink, first strike, and trample.

The deck had to reinvent itself after Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury was banned in May. Before the ban, many Domain Zoo lists relied on Phlage alongside Arena of Glory to grant haste and Doorkeeper Thrull to shut off the sacrifice trigger. The most successful replacements so far have been Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and Quantum Riddler—a powerful combination. The deck still uses Arena of Glory, which is capable of delivering explosive turns by granting haste to a warped Quantum Riddler or Scion of Draco.

Prepare for the Pro Tour

With Modern shaken up by recent bans and unbans, along with novel options from Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes, I can't wait to see what the Modern metagame at the Pro Tour will look like. And we won't have to wait long to find out! Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes begins on Friday, July 17! This time, it's being held in my home country of the Netherlands, and I look forward to taking a seat at the news desk to provide all the numbers on the Modern metagame, decks, cards, matchups, and more throughout the weekend.

You can experience the excitement in person at MagicCon: Amsterdam, or you can follow the action live on YouTube or Twitch. With $500,000 in prizes on the line and the best players in the world battling for glory, it promises to be a showcase of high-level gameplay.