Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue
Leisure:Hobbies
Season 18, Episode 23: Brew Session (Archfiend of the Dross) + Flashback (Invasion of Gobakhan)
Archfiend of the Dross burst onto the scene at DreamHack Dallas, where cftsoc unleashed a devastating combo with Metamorphic Alteration that took the tournament by storm. Turning an opponent’s creature into a copy of Archfiend, without access to Oil counters, means instant death on their upkeep. The one two punch of a 6/6 flier for 2BB, paired with a blue two drop, harkens back to the days of Dimir Inverter, when the unique combo-control strategy menaced the Pioneer format while racking up an impressive 47% win rate.
Excitement for the Archfiend combo has abated in recent weeks. Despite the heavy scrutiny among dedicated Pioneer players, there is still no stock build of the combo that has delivered consistent results. While cftsoc splashed blue into a mostly Rakdos shell, others like laa11 and DJeffMTG have pushed for a dedicated Dimir build. Then there are weirder options like Golgari Fight Rigging, or even Jund with Harmless Offering — all decks predicated on the promising observation that Archfiend of the Dross is a powerful standalone card. This is a combo that should work, and it’s a great mystery why the new Inverter has so far failed to live up to its billing.
Today on Faithless Brewing, David and Cavedan put on their sleuthing caps to get to the bottom of the mysterious missing demon. We look at eight different Pioneer builds with Archfiend, some featuring Metamorphic Alteration, and others not. We also review our testing results with Invasion of Gobakhan, which snagged David a nifty 5-0 trophy with a unique aggro brew.
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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com
Decklists
David’s Sultai Fiend Rigging
Sultai Fight Rigging by biz1 (5-0)
David’s Jund Harmless Offering
Dimir Archfiend Combo by DJeffMTG
Dimir Alteration (Yorion) by laa11 (5-0)
Dimir JVP Alteration by OafMcNamara (T16 Pioneer Challenge)
David’s Atraxa Rise to Glory
Drossed to Kill by KilgoreTrout503
David’s RW Shatterskull Invasion (5-0)
Dan’s BW Demonic Processors
Sedgemoor Witch: 99 Problems But a Witch Ain't One
Through the Breach with Velomachus Lorehold
Elite Spellbinder: Putting Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa to the Test
8 Spicy New Decks: Velomachus Turns, Brought Back, Paradoxical Galazeth, and More
Everything Is Magma Opus: Five Brews for the Prismari Virtuoso (ft. ManaCymbal)
The Top Innovations from Week 1 of Strixhaven (ft. Zach Ryl)
Real Ultimate Power: Planeswalker Combo with Kasmina, Enigma Sage
Strixhaven 101: Codie, Emergent Sequence, and Ecological Appreciation
Brewer's Guide to Strixhaven, Part 3: Creatures and MDFCs
Brewer's Guide to Strixhaven, Part 2: Instants and Sorceries
An Abundant Harvest of Brews: Alrund's Epiphany, the Mystical Archive, and Narset Bring to Light
Brewer's Guide to Strixhaven, Part 1: Recruitment Week
Keeping the Blade: Brewing in the Age of Legends
Bad Teacher: Professor Onyx, Kasmina, and Urza PyreBlade
Pyre of Heroes: Lessons from Birthing Pod
Dimir Inverter Is Back!
The Invasion of the Giants
The Case for Sylvan Caryatid
Chariots of Fur: Esika's Chariot and the New Cat Combo
The Clock Strikes Midnight: Time Spiral Remastered and Our Worst Results Ever
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