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
SHARK WEEK: Chrome Host Seedshark Is the Most Dangerous Animal
The Greatest Brews in the Multiverse (ft. Dack_Fayden07)
Top 5 Cards to Brew from March of the Machine
Something Is Very Wrong Here: Set Review, Part 3 (March of the Machine)
Set Review, Part 2: March of the Machine in Modern and Pioneer (ft. Lawson Zandi)
To Battle! March of the Machine in Modern and Pioneer (Set Review, Part 1)
UNCTUS, GRAND METATECT: Into the Metaverse of Broken Combos
I Perfected Crabvine and All I Got Was This Lousy Feature Match
Capricious Hellraiser: Disappointment or Multi-Format Sleeper?
Shining Shoal for Advanced Modern Players (ft. Lawson Zandi)
Blade Splicer 2049: Malcator, Purity Overseer in Pioneer & Modern
We’re Gonna Have Tryouts: Modern RCQ Prep with Crabvine, Eldrazi, Shining Shoal & More
ELESH NORN: Oil-Slick Brews to Challenge the Machine Orthodoxy
Unstoppable Juggernauts: Graaz for Treasure, RCQ Prep & March of the Machines First Look
MINDSPLICE APPARATUS: How to Break Wilderness Rec 2.0
The Pros Tried to Break Pioneer. Here’s What Happened.
Atraxa Is Everything. Brewing with Magic’s Greatest Creature
The New Modern Staples of New Phyrexia: Lessons from Week 1
All Will Be Brews: Impossible Deck Ideas for Pioneer
TYVAR’S JUBILEE BRAWL: Modern Mayhem! Turn 3 Kills! Pioneer Pandemonium!
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