Faithless Brewing MTG: Modern and Pioneer for the Spike Rogue
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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
Set Review, Part 2: The Best of New Capenna for Modern and Pioneer
Set Review: The Best of New Capenna for Modern and Pioneer, Part 1
Everything You Need to Know to Get Back into Pioneer
Last Call Neon Dynasty: Kaito Shizuki, Invoke Despair & Tezzeret Remastered
Regional Championships Are the Future of Competitive Magic
Everything You Need to Know to Get Back into Modern
What We’d Like to See from Organized Play
Why Is Everyone Suddenly Playing Fable of the Mirror-Breaker?
Transmogrify This! Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant and Careful Cultivation
Séance: The $3.5 Million Dollar Modern Deck That Never Was
Super Ponder for Enchantments? Brewing Commune with Spirits
Requiem for a Dream-Den: Modern After Lurrus
King Kirin: 5-0 with Hinata, Dawn-Crowned
Farewell
Call Your Sister: Brewing Reanimator in the Modern Age
Tameshi Bloom: Brewing Modern’s Newest Combo Deck
Experimental Synthesizer: This Egg Is Cracked
Week 1 Tech-Wreckers: The First Modern Decklists with Neon Dynasty
Mastering Artifice with Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
The Top 10 Cards to Brew in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
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