Quest and More

Hi guys,

there's a modern list I've been editing for awhile that I've thought is very interesting.  It was very similar to an old standard list about five years ago.

4 Quest for the Holy Relic
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Glint Hawk
4 Faerie Imposter
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ensoul Artifact
4 Kor Skyfisher
1 Argentum Armor
1 Batterskull
3 Erayo, Soratomi Ascendant
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Mox Opal
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Flooded Strand

Sideboard:
1 Erayo, Soratomi Ascendant
3 Spell Pierce
2 Kor Outfitter
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Welding Jar
3 Mizzium Skins
3 Repeal



Anyone familiar with the Zendikar block probably remembers how this deck works.  You play a Quest and vomit out 5 creatures in 1-2 turns, usually getting Argentum Armor and the opponent is unable to deal with a Vindication every turn.

I believe I've put a unique twist on the deck and I'm somewhat proud of it, as the deck now goes a few levels deep.  The first level is the Quest of course.  After that comes Erayo.  It only takes four spells to flip him, as opposed to 5 creatures.  Flipping Erayo on turn 1 or 2 could be back-breaking for any opponent, especially a tempo-oriented deck.  I think the only deck that wouldn't care about an Erayo might be Affinity, they sacrifice an Ornithopter and then dump their hand.  Gitaxian Probe is very helpful in regard to flipping Erayo, and can help smooth out your draws / find other creatures to keep Quest going.  The third option of the deck is to become aggressive with Ensoul Artifact.  Unfortunately, there are going to be those hands without Quest or Erayo and you can dump your hand, but only have 2 power among 4 creatures isn't the strongest.  Other forms of the deck utilize Signal Pest to try and swarm the opponent, but I cut it in favor of Erayo.

I also had to cut an equipment (1 Sword of War and Peace) and then 4 Vault Skirge, which was painful, but I thought that Kor Skyfisher was ultimately better for what the deck was trying to do.  I'm not sure on the numbers for mana right now.  16 might actually be too many, 1 Seachrome Coast or 1 Hallowed Fountain could be shaved.  I think 4 Springleaf Drum and 3 Mox Opal is correct, but this probably needs testing.

Things I've considered:
Running Repeal - it helps for the Erayo count and possibly for Quest.  It you're bouncing a Mox Opal, then it just cycles a card, Springleaf Drum is similar if you have another untapped creature to spare.  I'd like to put it in, I just don't know what to cut.

Quickling - it's very similar to Kor Skyfisher, but it can only pick up a creature.  It's nice that it has flash, but that isn't actually all too relevant.

Kor Outfitter - the nightmare scenario is being on the draw and the opponent letting you go through the Quest combo and responds to your attack step by Abrupt deacy / smother / vapor snag on your equipped creature (in the case of Argentum Armor) and you fold after not being able to re-equip.  Kor Outfitter would give you a second chance for decks with a lot of removal

Street Wraith - meh, making the deck have four cards less could be marginally relevant.

Bonus!

Modern burn

4 Lava Spike
4 Needle Drop
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Stomping Slabs
4 Shard Volley
4 See Beyond
4 Treasure Cruise
4 Thunderous Wrath

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Steam Vents
9 Mountain

So, this deck seems pretty ridiculous I assume.  Stomping Slabs is a pretty awful card, but with See Beyond and enough Magma Jets, it might be good enough to hit.  Even if you only cast 1, 7 damage is so much life for a burn deck, you're basically getting a free card (there are a few cards that deal 4 damage for 2R or RRR, so you get 3 damage "for free").  Say, you're on the play and you kept Stomping Slabs and 6 Mountain, on your third turn, if you cast Stomping Slabs after drawing three mountain there's 49 cards left in your deck (3 of them being stomping slabs), you have about a 6% chance that the next card is another stomping slabs.

The chance that you would hit a Stomping Slabs in the top 7 cards is roughly 35.7% (individually), each additional card you turn over is something like .3%, so you could call it an even 36%.  I'm not sure if this is "good enough" for modern, but this is your basic chances in 49 cards.  a fetchland on turn 1 and a magma jet on turn 2 (putting both cards on the bottom) definitely help your chances.

See Beyond is for when you draw Thunderous Wrath off a Treasure Cruise (/Opening Hand) or draw an extra Stomping Slabs.

Needle Drop is for casting burn spells on your opponent's turn and then trying to draw a thunderous wrath off of it.

I think this deck is neat, I like the idea of some of these cards, but it seems kind of weak to creature decks.  The inclusion of Searing Blaze or Searing Blood might be needed in the sideboard.

Anyway, hope someone is reading this at least.  I have many more crazy ideas to throw out there.  Take care, guys.