I've been playing around with a deck idea that does look a bit promising given some options available in modern. This all started with how much I liked Lone Rider back when it was in standard and wanted to see if there was a way to make it viable in modern. A lot of current listings are already pretty tight, but with Ixalan out as well I've started working on a deck idea that starts with time spiral...
The basic idea is to try to win via attrition and just bolt the field down while swinging in with Adanto Vanguard and a transformed It that rides as one. I especially like Children of Korlis since it's actually really good against a lot of decks and plays right into the flip strategy. Vengeful Rebel is this decks Wasteland Strangler since there's so many things that are going to die in this deck to Fatal push I might as well reap revenge. That and they can come back with Claim // Fame anyway.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
This deck looks like it struggles without its premier 2-drop. In particular, Gonti's Machinations is a horribly weak card even with Vanguard (and especially so without other energy production), and Children of Korlis is rather unimpressive in a vacuum. Lone Rider feels like it needs a more lifegain-heavy shell to really maximize its potential. Your limited means to deal with decks that go bigger than you is also a cause for concern. Vengeful Rebel is not a bad card by any means, but excluding Fatal Push is baffling.
As far as suggestions go, your removal and lifegain packages should be your first priority. You'd have a lot to gain from a more burn-heavy suite backed up with Soulfire Grand Master and Seeker of the Way, and mass removal designed to take advantage of your indestructible effects should at least be a sideboard option. Archangel Avacyn also seems like a potential good fit for this deck. Alternately, you could lose the lifegain theme altogether and pair Vanguard up with Death's Shadow.
Yeah the idea is very raw at the moment. Fatal Push is a card that I'm meaning to include at the moment and honestly, I'm not even sure if black is needed in this deck. To Flip the rider you just need to get 3 life in one swing, so things like Lightning Helix pull double duty fairly reliably. Children of Korlis is a card that I added for one very specific reason: Grapeshot. It takes a bit of stack trickery, but it works. Basically, if they have a storm count of 9, you can use Children to shut it down by having it work at 8. So you gain 8 life before the 9th shot hits. It also doubles as a way to flip the rider. So yes, it's a sideboard card more than a maindeck, but it is definitely one of the better cards.
Gonti's Machinations works fine in a vacuum in modern as well, since cracking fetches causes life loss and adanto can work as a way to trigger it as well. I do need another life paying outlet, though.
Lightning Bolt + Soulfire Grandmaster may be another option, and if 3 damage isn't enough for creature removal going with Flash Slash as a sideboard can work fine. The part of the deck that I do NOT like is Ajani Vengeant and I'm thinking there's definitely better options in that slot.
Edit: bah, yeah machinations is problematic if it comes down late so that opens some spots.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Yeah the idea is very raw at the moment. Fatal Push is a card that I'm meaning to include at the moment and honestly, I'm not even sure if black is needed in this deck. To Flip the rider you just need to get 3 life in one swing, so things like Lightning Helix pull double duty fairly reliably. Children of Korlis is a card that I added for one very specific reason: Grapeshot. It takes a bit of stack trickery, but it works. Basically, if they have a storm count of 9, you can use Children to shut it down by having it work at 8. So you gain 8 life before the 9th shot hits. It also doubles as a way to flip the rider. So yes, it's a sideboard card more than a maindeck, but it is definitely one of the better cards.
Eh, just use Leyline of Sanctity or Eidolon of Rhetoric instead for your anti-storm needs.
For Children of Korlis to work as a genuine anti-storm tool, it must either:
1. Not get killed by Grapeshot. Maybe you have a Selfless Spirit or maybe your opponent is some kind of idiot. Either way, having the last copy on the stack (and first to resolve) pointed at Children renders it useless.
2. Enter the battlefield at instant speed. Not something this deck can do.
Yeah the idea is very raw at the moment. Fatal Push is a card that I'm meaning to include at the moment and honestly, I'm not even sure if black is needed in this deck. To Flip the rider you just need to get 3 life in one swing, so things like Lightning Helix pull double duty fairly reliably. Children of Korlis is a card that I added for one very specific reason: Grapeshot. It takes a bit of stack trickery, but it works. Basically, if they have a storm count of 9, you can use Children to shut it down by having it work at 8. So you gain 8 life before the 9th shot hits. It also doubles as a way to flip the rider. So yes, it's a sideboard card more than a maindeck, but it is definitely one of the better cards.
Eh, just use Leyline of Sanctity or Eidolon of Rhetoric instead for your anti-storm needs.
For Children of Korlis to work as a genuine anti-storm tool, it must either:
1. Not get killed by Grapeshot. Maybe you have a Selfless Spirit or maybe your opponent is some kind of idiot. Either way, having the last copy on the stack (and first to resolve) pointed at Children renders it useless.
2. Enter the battlefield at instant speed. Not something this deck can do.
Good point on that one. Going to have to keep taking cracks at this thing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
So the deck is definitely going to need some fetch and shock action. Reason I say this is because turn 1 children. Turn 2 fetch grabbing a shockland makes you lose 3 life. Play the rider and sac child to get your 4/4 lifelink, firststrike, trampler. That can put some serious pressure on someone.
I would decide if you are playing white red or white black. Doing more only makes you vulnerable to cards like bloodmoon and dumn meta hate. Now a Boros list hasn't really been competitive for quite some time, so I'd rather see you play white black. Issue there is you don't gain much from Machinations unless you really go energy route. People saying it's not that good are partially correct. If you play Machinations, Glint-sleeve Siphoner, and harvester (which combos nicely with rider), And the energy land suddenly you have a little bit going for you. Machinations provide a constant flow of energy for Siphoner and Siphoner beats pretty well with it's evasion. Harvester gets lifelink and flying to block up the air and further gain life. All while making the Mana from the land produce the color you need.
The color combination has the best answers to just about anything. You have access to path, and push. A good catch all is unmake and your planeswalkers are pretty good also. And you have hand disruption should you not get the aggro plan in the open.
So I'd suggest
The basic idea is to try to win via attrition and just bolt the field down while swinging in with Adanto Vanguard and a transformed It that rides as one. I especially like Children of Korlis since it's actually really good against a lot of decks and plays right into the flip strategy. Vengeful Rebel is this decks Wasteland Strangler since there's so many things that are going to die in this deck to Fatal push I might as well reap revenge. That and they can come back with Claim // Fame anyway.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
As far as suggestions go, your removal and lifegain packages should be your first priority. You'd have a lot to gain from a more burn-heavy suite backed up with Soulfire Grand Master and Seeker of the Way, and mass removal designed to take advantage of your indestructible effects should at least be a sideboard option. Archangel Avacyn also seems like a potential good fit for this deck. Alternately, you could lose the lifegain theme altogether and pair Vanguard up with Death's Shadow.
Gonti's Machinations works fine in a vacuum in modern as well, since cracking fetches causes life loss and adanto can work as a way to trigger it as well. I do need another life paying outlet, though.
Lightning Bolt + Soulfire Grandmaster may be another option, and if 3 damage isn't enough for creature removal going with Flash Slash as a sideboard can work fine. The part of the deck that I do NOT like is Ajani Vengeant and I'm thinking there's definitely better options in that slot.
Edit: bah, yeah machinations is problematic if it comes down late so that opens some spots.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Eh, just use Leyline of Sanctity or Eidolon of Rhetoric instead for your anti-storm needs.
For Children of Korlis to work as a genuine anti-storm tool, it must either:
1. Not get killed by Grapeshot. Maybe you have a Selfless Spirit or maybe your opponent is some kind of idiot. Either way, having the last copy on the stack (and first to resolve) pointed at Children renders it useless.
2. Enter the battlefield at instant speed. Not something this deck can do.
Good point on that one. Going to have to keep taking cracks at this thing.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I would decide if you are playing white red or white black. Doing more only makes you vulnerable to cards like bloodmoon and dumn meta hate. Now a Boros list hasn't really been competitive for quite some time, so I'd rather see you play white black. Issue there is you don't gain much from Machinations unless you really go energy route. People saying it's not that good are partially correct. If you play Machinations, Glint-sleeve Siphoner, and harvester (which combos nicely with rider), And the energy land suddenly you have a little bit going for you. Machinations provide a constant flow of energy for Siphoner and Siphoner beats pretty well with it's evasion. Harvester gets lifelink and flying to block up the air and further gain life. All while making the Mana from the land produce the color you need.
The color combination has the best answers to just about anything. You have access to path, and push. A good catch all is unmake and your planeswalkers are pretty good also. And you have hand disruption should you not get the aggro plan in the open.
So I'd suggest
4 Children of Korlis
4 Glint-sleeve Siphoner
3 Aethersphere Harvester
2 BitterBlossom
2 Gonti's Machinations
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
4 Fatal Push
3 Path to exile
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3 Windswept Heath
4 Godless Shrine
3 Aether Hub
2 Plains
2 Swamp
3 other lands
As a decent starting point.