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 3: Final Look at Dominaria United Previews in Modern and Pioneer
The Best Dominaria United Cards for Modern and Pioneer: Set Review Part 2 (ft. Manacymbal)
Set Review: The Best of Dominaria United in Modern and Pioneer, Part 1
Vivien and the Arkbow: A Tale of 10 Brews
What Is This? A Tournament for Ants? Magic 30 Las Vegas
Beyond Belief: Resurgent Brews for the Modern Enchanter
How to Win with Bad Decks (ft. IPlayBadDecks)
What If Innistrad Were Added to Pioneer? Brewer’s Mailbag (July-August 2022)
Dominaria United First Look and a $100k Grudge Match
Sweet 16: Vote for Our Next Card!
Five Reasons Why Token Decks Fail (ft. Serum Visions)
Maestroful Brews with Corpse Appraiser, Humble Defector, Rielle, the Everwise & More
Ten Decks, 20 Lessons: Fundamentals of Brewing
Mausoleum Secrets: The Last Demonic Tutor (ft. 1stTurnNegator)
The Enigmatic Architect of Tameshi Bloom (ft. Daviusminimus)
Ob Nixilis, the Adversary: What Went Wrong?
Activist Deckbuilding: Changing Technology in Modern and Pioneer
Moderation: The Anti-Ledger Shredder
The State of Brewing in Modern (June-July 2022)
Impossible 5-0 Lists with Fight Rigging
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