Introduction

Hi everyone, Mythic Championship IV has ended, I ended up playing Hogaak and the tournament did not end well for me but at least I am happy that Hareruya Sword was able to secure the playoff for Team Series. I can’t wait for Hogaak to be banned as there are just too many non-game happening which are really bad for the health of Modern.

The Deck I Want to Play in the Future

Now I have more time, I decided to explore Bant Company with Modern Horizons cards. I did test a bit Bant Company before Mythic Championship IV but decided to stick to Hogaak as the deck was just broken in testing and I did not have a build of Bant Company that I am comfortable with. I saw 2 versions of Snow Bant Company on Mythic Championship IV decklist pages and decided to try with my own version and managed to go 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, 4-1 in 4 leagues. This is the updated decklist I will play:

I want to discuss some of the cards that performed well or did not perform well in testing.

Cards That Did Perform Well

《Ice-Fang Coatl》

At first glance when the card was previewed, I did think the card was pretty unplayable as hitting 3 snow-permeant was not easy but after playing with it, now with 4 《Prismatic Vista》, 5 Fetche Lands as well as 《Knight of the Reliquary》 able to tutor snow-covered land, it was fairly easy to enable Deathtouch on turn 3-4.

It also provides the deck with removal in creature form. Multiple time, I have opponent attacking into my empty board and having their board ambushed by 《Ice-Fang Coatl》 off 《Collected Company》. Now with 《Spell Queller》, 《Ice-Fang Coatl》 and 《Collected Company》, you can play like a Flash game against your opponent which they will have a hard time playing around everything.

《Collector Ouphe》

This is the better replacement over 《Stony Silence》 in our deck as we are able to find it off 《Collected Company》 or when you need a 2/2 body against aggressive decks like Goblin etc.

《Force of Negation》

With 16 blue cards including 《Force of Negation》 and 《Unified Will》 post-board, we are very likely to be able to cast it by exiling a blue card. The free casting cost is very important as we can tap out to cast a threat while having protection against combo deck the next turn. Even if we do not have a blue card to exile, with 8 mana dorks, casting it was not a problem. This was an upgrade over 《Negate》 in the deck.

《Ashiok, Dream Render》

《Ashiok, Dream Render》 is my go-to graveyard hate while its static ability is very useful against a wide variety of decks like Tron, Titanshift, 《Devoted Druid》 combo and Amulet Titan which have issue answering Planeswalker. It also acts as a repeatable graveyard hate if they try to rebuild their graveyard.

《Winds of Abandon》

Since we already play 4 《Path to Exile》, it negates the downsize of giving them extra lands from 《Winds of Abandon》 as most creature decks do not have that many basic lands. With 8 mana dorks and 4 《Knight of the Reliquary》, the Overload ability was not that hard to cast and was usually game changer when it resolves especially against 5C Human and Hogaak.

《Teferi, Time Raveler》

《Teferi, Time Raveler》 acts as our Artifact or Enchantment removal against 《Ensnaring Bridge》, it is just an all-rounder card which is good against creature deck, stopping counterspell from opponent as well as some interactions like 《Bloodbraid Elf》, 《Living End》, 《Finale of Promise》.

Cards That Did not Perform Well

《Giver of Runes》

I was very impressed with 《Giver of Runes》 when I was playing 《Devoted Druid》 combo as it saves your best creature from a single removal and also makes attacking and blocking hard for your opponent.

I believe it will be at its best in a combo version of Bant Company with 《Retreat to Coralhelm》 as the problem used to be having your 《Knight of the Reliquary》 killed and 《Retreat to Coralhelm》 being a weak card without it. Now you have 《Giver of Runes》 to protect it.

I tried it in the value version of Bant Company and 《Giver of Runes》 was just too low impact with so many 1 drop and the mana base was awkward if you are playing together with 《Ice-Fang Coatl》.

《On Thin Ice》

This should be one of the perfect removal for any snow-based deck but with 《Assassin’s Trophy》, 《Deputy of Detention》, 《Engineered Explosives》 in the top tier decks, giving them back the creature which you removed can be quite dangerous.

Conclusion

That marks the end of my article! I hope this helps you on exploring Bant Company.

If you have any questions regarding the deck, I will be happy to answer them in the comments section or via Twitter. Thanks!

Kelvin Chew (Twitter)