Deck and SB Guide Effective 10/2/23

Hello hello hello everyone, and welcome back to Modern! I’ve seen a ton of people doing well with the list that I posted to Twitter in September, and I’m really happy to see everyone spiking their RCQs!

The meta has definitely shifted since last month’s update. We are seeing a lot more 4C, Titan, and Agatha’s Soul Cauldron Decks. As such, we’ve adopted the 75 to account for this shift.

*** As usual, make sure to adjust your mid-match decisions based on the specifics of any list you face and use this as a guideline, rather than a hard and fast rule! Sometimes vibes > guide.***

Current Hammer List

SB Guide

Current Deck Configuration Notes:

-3 Thopter - While I would like to play a 4th thopter, I couldn’t really find anything else to cut. I tried cutting the 2nd Forge Anew and didn’t like that. I also considered playing a 4 Thopter/2 Giver split. I think that is completely reasonable, but I prefer the 3/3 split at the moment.

-Giver of Runes - Giver always gets better when you have a powerful 2-drop to follow it with. WIth the SB being 8 powerful 2-drops, Giver’s stock has gone way up, and so I decided to move the 4th Surge to the SB.

-Esper Sentinel - Echoing what I said last month: Yeah… don’t cut this card. People overstate how good bowmasters is against Hammer on the whole, and this is no exception. Definitely board them out when they are bad though. I am also noticing a resurgence of UR Murktide as well as 4C becoming more popular. Don’t cut the good cards from your deck for bad cards.

-Nettlecyst - I liked this card a lot more about a month ago when we saw a bit more RB Scam, UB Ring, and 4C/UW weren’t all on Beanstalks. With their current configurations, grinding out 4C is simply not a reasonable plan, as they will always draw more cards than us (by like.. A LOT of cards).

-Strict Proctor - Following up on that 4C issue, Proctor allows us to choke them on their mana rather than cards. This is a much better plan, and it gives us a very real shot to win that matchup. Additionally, Proctor throwing a pile of wrenches into Amulet’s plan is a really nice upside.

-Pithing Needle(s) - Between the continued presence of Tron and other Ring decks, and now the uptick in Hardened Scales and Yawgmoth, Pithing Needles have never been better.

-4 Drannith - Living End has seen a downwards tick since its resurgence in the first couple weeks of LOTR Modern. With that said, the card is absolutely our best tool vs LE, and is excellent against Rhinos, which has been seeing an uptick

-SB Solitudes - While I absolutely love the card, I do believe that they all belong in the sb atm. You simply cannot really afford to draw them against UB Control, Tron, and 4C in the current meta. I would rather have the needle as an effective 5-of for the time being.

-Sanctifier - While Sanctifier is a fine card against exactly Rakdos Scam, I believe it is fairly overrated, and a bit too narrow for the current meta. Additionally, since we only want it in matchups where we are already favored, I would rather cut it to make room for more important cards.