More Modern Action

Greetings All!  Stephen here again with some state-side modern action.  Normally, I would try to type eloquently and make my posts quite wordy and entertaining, but today I'm just going to make it straight and to the point.

At a local 4-Round Modern event that fires pretty much every Saturday, I decided to take my Cheerios list to the event, with a major modification: I actually was going to borrow Mox Opals.  This was going to revolutionize just how brutal the draws of this deck can be, moreso that I thought.  
Now, as I would rather this article be about the deck and some of my ideas for the future of it, I'm not going to give a pure play-by-play, but I will try to remember the list exactly as I played it and we shall go forward from there.

Cheerios:
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
4 Sigil of Distinction
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net

4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
4 Noxious Revival
4 Spoils of the Vault
4 Puresteel Paladin
2 Grapeshot

2 Manamorphose

12 Lands

Sideboard:
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Mana Tithe
1 Storm Entity
1 Laboratory Maniac
2 Apostle's Blessing
4 ?

Please note, I have intentionally left the land section unspecified and the sideboard incomplete.  The lands can be built in almost any fashion, so long as you play either a lot of WUBRG lands or at least one Godless Shrine and a way to get it.  Spoils into Puresteel Paladin in quite literally the most common play you will make, so a land that can cast both is necessary.  The sideboard is incomplete because, well, I don't think you could fit 15 useful cards into this sideboard.  Think about it... what can you actually cut in this deck? I typically will cut at most, 1 Sigil (it does actual nothing as apposed to the fake nothing everything else does) and 1 Grapeshot for another style win-con as well as 4 lands if I win, as I want to be as explosive as possible game 2.

Here's an example of a game versus mono white death and taxes.
I win the die roll and start with a fetch land and pass. He plays plains into Aether Vial and I fetch for a Godless Shrine.  My turn I play a Gemstone Caverns and pass, and he plays a plains and passes back. I do nothing on my 3rd turn and he plays land into Blade Splicer.  At this moment I cast Spoils naming Puresteel, losing 4 life but adding the Puresteel to my hand.  I jam the Puresteel into 4 equipment, drawing 4 cards, cast Mox Opal and then Retract, returning all my equipment and my Mox Opal to my hand, essentially making Retract cost 0.  I draw around 40 cards before casting Grapeshot for lethal.
Game 2 I start with a near perfect hand, starting with Gemstone Caverns in play for the turn 0 Spoils into Puresteel.  My turn one I cast the Paladin into triple equipment into Mox Opal to go off with the Retract in my hand. I draw all 53 cards left in my deck on my first turn, cast the Maniac, and then cast another equipment for the win.

This deck is crazy fast, but I feel that it is also the notable example of a deck defined by the name 'Glass Cannon'.  You mulligan hands this deck feeds you with incredible frequency, but at the same time the cards are so redundant that it almost doesn't matter.
Noxious Revival and Spoils of the Vault make most hands snap-keeps, believe it or not.  If you have one fetch land in your hand and Revival, its basically 2 fetch lands.  Revival allows you to loop with only one Retract, as you simply put the Retract back on top before casting your last equipment.  Also, if your opponents misses a land drop for whatever reason, or they are on reanimator, you can hose them by putting blanks on top of their library. (totally relevant, haha)

Where do I stand on this list?  Personally, I like it. Alot.  The speed this deck offers is unmatched, and while the deck does sort of die to removal, I am currently looking for ways to remedy this problem.  Losing the Paladin hurts, but it doesn't mean the game is over. You only need one turn to win, which is more than some decks can say.

The next thing I would like to do with this list, that I think may just push it into the realm of sustainability would be to try out maybe 2 Riddlesmith as a pseudo Paladin until you can find one, and also some number of Angel's Grace.  Splinter Twin in popular where I am, and if my opponent wishes to combo me out on turn 4 and I cast Angel's Grace, then win on my turn, I'm sure that would likely be the most savage play you could do.

In closing, I do recommend this deck if you have the Mox Opals.  Its brutal to play with, as well as against.  Mulligan aggressively, and I mean aggressively.  But also have fun.  We all love playing Magic, but let us not forget to have fun, even if that means putting all of our chips in a basket named Spoils of the Vault and hoping not to lose 26 life looking for a Puresteel Paladin. (totally happened to me)

I'll see you all next time!
-Stephen D.