So last week I spoke about how good a Standard mythic was in modern. Today I’m going to talk about how a bunch of standard legal rares are good in modern. Spirits was one of the most hyped decks we’ve had leading into a standard season for a while, with many different people trying bant company builds, uw flash style builds and even a uw control build.

I’ve seen a few builds in modern, mostly uw and esper builds, playing a AEther Vial strategy and splashing Lingering Souls. They seemed cool concepts but just looked liked slower merfolk decks. Then I stumbled on bant spirits, and it completely changed my perspective on the tribe in modern.

Caleb Durward

I can’t take credit for designing the original list, that goes to Caleb Durward, I’ve made some slight changes to his list.  I have not posted a sideboard because I haven’t been come to any final conclusions on this as yet, which is kinda worrying seeing as I may play the deck in a pptq in a few days time.

So what does the deck do? Why should you play this deck? This deck is very good at playing different roles; you can be the aggro deck, the tempo deck, a slow grind deck, all depending on the matchup and the pace of the game.

Bant Spirits has a very good matchup against both Jund and Jeskai Nahiri , with most of your creatures being efficient disruption against spot removal, combined with the ability to play a flash game and apply decent amounts of pressure, you have the exact tools you need to be dominant in that match up. It is more difficult to beat my new favourite card: Ishknah, Grafwidow, although it is unlikely to be played in multiples.

The only real bad matchups I’ve identified so far are bogles, affinity and tron. All 3 decks seem to be under represented in the meta right now. In all honesty I would ignore bogles completely, its very rare there is  more than 1 player on the deck in the room so devote your time and sideboard to other matchups.

Lucky for us we are a white deck, and white has some of the best sideboard cards in the format. If you expect both affinity and tron, then I highly recommend boarding 3/4 Stony Silence. If you expect 0 tron but 1 maybe 2 affinity then were in luck! There’s a nifty little spirit that can help dominate that matchup. Kataki, War’s Wage is a very powerful card that happens to be on tribe so benefits from the bonus of Drogskol Captain.

Eidolon of Rhetoric is another powerful sideboard spirit! With Eidolon, Spell Queller and Mausoleum Wanderer, you have a lot of powerful disruption against decks like storm, Ad Nauseum and Goryo’s Vengeance and any other powerful unfair combo decks. Spell Queller is a lot more powerful in modern than it is in standard. Modern decks on average have a lower curve and on average top out at 4. It may get hit by Lightning Bolt, but with all the protection in the deck that should not matter as much. Along with the next card I’m going to talk about, gives you a lot of interaction and disruption.

Cursecatcher and Judge’s Familiar are both powerful magic cards, with multiple Pro Tour and Grand Prix wins and top 8’s between them, so when wizards release a similar card you should pay attention! Mausoleum Wanderer is another card in the “Force Spike” Trinity. Wanderer’s upside is huge, it can quickly go from a Force Spike to a Mana Leak with the help of Drogskol Captain and Gavony Township. As well as a powerful counter mode, Wanderer also has a nice aggressive ability! The ability to pump itself on offence is extremely powerful!

Normally when playing creature based strategies you need to manage how much your committing to the board to avoid being blown out be Anger of the Gods and Wrath of God style cards and effects, but luckily for us we have a lot of protection from these effects! Spell Queller, Selfless Spirit and Wanderer itself all help you play around those strategies, so committing more to the board is usually ok with the amount of protection we have.

Anafenza Kin-Tree Spirit is the worst card in the deck, and I have tried cutting it multiple times, but there is just no better option. Ideally the deck requires an additional 2 drop and Anafenza covers those needs whilst being on tribe. The biggest bonus is the ability to pump your Wanderers.

With only one actual lord, Kira acts as a kind of pseudo lord. Instead of providing an anthem to your team, she protects your spirits from all the spot removal running around the format. Absorbing two removal spells just by herself makes her a very powerful way of protecting your creatures. On top of that, she is a spirit (thanks Kamigawa).

If you have time, I highly suggest testing this deck in your gauntlet! I don’t think this is the optimum build, and I’m sure the deck has room to grow and I’m really keen on hearing how you find the deck and any changes you have made in the comments below.