Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan may be behind us, but Modern is still on many players’ minds. More Modern Grand Prix will be happening around the world this weekend, and overall perceptions of the format have been positive. Modern is as diverse as ever, with decks as disparate as Affinity and Lantern Control coexisting in the metagame.
While Lantern Control would win Luis Salvatto a trophy in Bilbao, the most popular and talked-about deck of the weekend was Five-Color Humans. The Humans deck has been popular in Modern for months now, and it proved to be a dominant deck at the Pro Tour, with sixteen players piloting it to 6-4 or better records (including Top 8 contenders Andrea Mengucci and Javier Dominguez). Once Unclaimed Territory came on the scene with the release of Ixalan, there was nothing to stop players from building the most colorful creature decks they could assemble.
The creature suite in this deck reads like a Greatest Hits of Standard formats past. There’s Noble Hierarch, one of Modern’s most valuable one-drops; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, an invaluable tool against Control decks; Thalia’s Lieutenant, the all-star of last year’s Mono-White Humans decks; and Reflector Mage, whose tempo swings are too powerful for our current Standard environment. Recently, Humans has adopted Kessig Malcontents, a little-known uncommon from Avacyn Restored that gives the deck a little extra reach.
5-Color Humans by Javier Dominguez | Top 8, Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Meddling Mage
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Kessig Malcontents
4 Mantis Rider
4 Reflector Mage
4 Aether Vial
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Unclaimed Territory
Sideboard:
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Auriok Champion
1 Kataki, War’s Wage
2 Dismember
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Sin Collector
1 Vithian Renegades
2 Xathrid Necromancer
If you’re looking to get into Modern and want a linear, aggressive deck to try out, Humans might be the deck for you. And of course, if you’re looking for more Modern content, check out our weekly Modern streams every Thursday evening on Twitch, and stay tuned for coverage of Mox Boarding House‘s upcoming Modern 1K on Saturday, February 17th.
Header design: Justin Treadway
Header image: “Noble Hierarch” by Mark Zug
Hallie served as Content Manager for CardKingdom.com and editor-in-chief of the Card Kingdom Blog from 2017-2022. Part tournament grinder, part content creator, Hallie is always looking for ways to improve her game and to share what she learns with others.