Hello everyone, I'm Gianluca Boaretto, and today I'll be talking about the deck I used to Top 8 the 128-player Modern 4K Destination Qualifier last weekend, hosted by Mole during the Unity League European finals in Bologna: Sultai Living End!
The Deck
My choice of deck in Modern right now has to follow two factors: it needs to have a good matchup against Boros Energy and, at the same time, be able to stand up to various combo decks (Amulet, Storm, and Neoform primarily). With this in mind, I settled on this archetype, and specifically this version, because it suffers less from post-sideboard hate and has an excellent midrange plan.
Card Choices
The new additions (Formidable Speaker, Wistfulness, and Deceit) have given the deck an additional boost. In particular, Speaker acts as a tutor for both Shardless and for potential answers to various situations that can arise in different matchups (Subtlety, Harvester, Skyturtle, Wistfulness, Deceit, Endurance, Harbinger, Foundation Breaker are all creatures that answer specific needs, and being able to tutor for them on demand is a big deal), all while filling the graveyard.
The only change I would make to this list would be to remove Curator of Mysteries to add a third Wistfulness (which I unfortunately couldn't get in time for the event), and from the sideboard, swap a Foundation Breaker for a Culling Ritual.
The Event
Round 1 vs Boros Energy 2-1
The most anticipated matchup of the day occurred in the very first round. The game unfolded as expected: the deck won Game 1 quite easily, unfortunately lost Game 2 on the draw, but won Game 3 on the play. A clear illustration of the current Modern meta.
Round 2 vs Broodscale Combo 2-0
A deck I didn't expect to face and one of our toughest matchups. Fortunately, thanks to being on the play, good hands, and our opponent's lack of knowledge about the interaction between Living End and Gravekeeper's Cage, we managed to secure the win.
Round 3 vs Boros Energy 2-0
Energy again, and again the same pattern, but with an addition that allowed us to win the match 2-0: opening with Gemstone Caverns in Game 2, which provides exactly what the deck needs to secure victory against Boros even when on the draw.
Round 4 vs Necrodominance 0-2
Definitely the strangest match of the day. A deck I certainly didn't expect to encounter, and unfortunately, it managed to snatch the win from me, as I couldn't draw a single Force of Negation in two games. No big deal: it was still fun to see a deck like that go 4-0.
Round 5 vs Jeskai Blink 2-0
The easiest match of the day. The deck, despite having Consign main deck, couldn't generate a clock that concerned us enough; moreover, our midrange plan was very effective against them.
Round 6 vs Izzet Cori 2-1
Another rare deck these days and not easy to face, but the high number of artifact and enchantment hate (Wistfulness primarily) we possess allowed us to gain an edge in the matchup and win this difficult challenge as well.
Round 7 vs Golgari Yawgmoth
The high number of players meant no draws even in the last round, so we played: win and in against another tough opponent.
All three games were very close: we won Game 1, lost Game 2, and Game 3 was a card-for-card battle where I managed to come out on top, primarily thanks to Ashiok, who stopped my opponent's Formidable Speaker, and their questionable sideboard choice of Soulless Jailer, which prevented me from casting Living End but also prevented my opponent from comboing with Yawgmoth and Young Wolf.
In the end, I managed my resources better and secured a Top 8 finish!
Top 8
As I was already qualified for Prague and there were only four invites available, I conceded to my opponent and ended my run with the deck here.
Until next time, Gianluca!
