Combo Slivers In Modern! – Star City Games

This is definitely an Infect deck.

I built a version of Combo Slivers back in 2014. Since then Modern Horizons really juiced up the Slivers we have access to.

How does it work?

You need a mana Sliver to accelerate out . The full eight of them are in the deck because of how integral they are to the combo. Also, opponents tend to rudely cast removal spells on the first copy of Gemhide/Manaweft making extra copies rather important. You’re able to dump your hand quickly with one of these on the battlefield. They also help you pay for Summoner’s Pact, which is tough to do with just lands, since you’re playing full sets of , , and .

You need a Sliver that gives the rest of your team haste so you can tap them for mana immediately. Cloudshredder is best since it gives evasion as well. Firewake is necessary as a Summoner’s Pact target. The sacrifice ability of Firewake can be useful if you have a on the battlefield, which we’ll get to later.

The new Modern Horizons Sliver legend really helps the deck tick. A five-mana 7/7 is pretty large when it can come down on Turn 3. It cascades so you generate value automatically. It’s a shame that the cascade chain for Slivers doesn’t continue until after is on the battlefield. That’s fine, though; you just need any other Sliver in hand to continue going off.

and Summoner’s Pact are where the deck starts to look like something special and worth exploring.

With on the battlefield, every Sliver cascades, including one-drops, which will eventually hit a spell that costs zero in Summoner’s Pact.

With a mana Sliver and a haste Sliver out as well, those one-drops are net-neutral on mana. Eventually you’ll have all four on the battlefield. If you got in two poison earlier, it takes two unblocked attackers from there; if not, it’ll take three.

If you can’t win on the spot or fear opposing removal to break up the combo, you can always just decline to cast a Summoner’s Pact that you cascaded into. You’ll probably have to pay 2GG for one Pact next upkeep, but that’s not so bad. Better than losing.

The deck also has an aggro draw that can win Turn 3:

Turn 1:

Turn 2: , attack for two poison

Turn 3: Summoner’s Pact for another (or have a second naturally). Also cast any other Sliver, attack for eight poison.

That’s about as fast as you can reasonably expect from Simic Infect. Not bad for the deck’s Plan B.

Let’s take a look at my current working list:

Every land in the deck produces mana for , which ensures you don’t stumble when you have the aggressive draw with multiple .

and are both here to protect your creatures. Normally is used to beat your opponent down faster, but here its main purpose is to deter and . A deck full of one-toughness creatures comes with certain risks.

is better against cards like and as well as things that target you like or . It’s particularly good against cards with multiple targets, like , Kolaghan’s Command, and .

You do need a few more one-drops to enable your best draws involving a Turn 2 into a Turn 3 . The one-drops could be anything, but I’m choosing and because the mana pairs with the manabase that needs to support as best as possible.

The first copies of and are important as Summoner’s Pact targets. It’s really tough for Burn, Mono-Red Prowess, or really any creature-based deck to race a . is here mostly against , yet has utility against all sorts of artifacts and enchantments running around in Modern.

The only Modern-legal card featuring the exclamation mark. To Arms! generates mana if you have three or more Slivers on the battlefield and at least one is a Manaweft or . It’s difficult to combo off on Turn 3 without a copy and the cost of running a couple To Arms! is low since it cycles cheaply enough. I’ve tested all numbers between one and four and currently like two.

Other Considerations

is showing up in some decks as a way to turbo-charge your mana creatures that you were already playing. It also serves as a win condition if you can generate infinite mana. Slivers can’t generate infinite, although it can generate a lot. I think the deck is just a touch short on mana creatures to use it consistently. It’s also pretty poor to cascade into with .

is a lot like To Arms! It can be hard to cast, as this manabase can’t make blue mana. That’s not such a big deal, since intruder Alarm really wouldn’t do anything without a or on the battlefield anyway. It’d be much more appealing with something like to make infinite creatures. Too bad she isn’t Modern-legal.

Most Sliver decks play and . I’ve found that I want a higher density of actual creatures and doesn’t help with that. Vial doesn’t help cast a Turn 3 .

could be good, but you need mana to cast it. Currently there are six lands that produce green, which is below the threshold for what I’d want to consistently cast . Of course, it’s castable once you have a mana Sliver out, and even better with , but most cards are better once those are assembled.

Alternate Sliver Brew

can unearth any Sliver in your graveyard for just two mana. and both have hefty casting costs that would love to be reduced. and let you discard your big targets if you draw them. can mill them over if you’re lucky.

can generate a ton of black mana by sacrificing most or all of your creatures. Along with , you can unearth your entire graveyard, although you can’t attack with them all. You’d want some enters-the-battlefield abilities like from or . It’s still a work in progress discovering which mix is best. Still, you can hardcast a pretty quickly with a pile of black mana. Is there something better to cast with a bunch of black mana?

isn’t far off on raw power when compared to . People played in their Pro Tour decks in Honolulu 2009. I believe that is quite strong “on its own.” Obviously you need some sort of Sliver tribal shell to support it. The deck probably wants some better hits from natural cascade, perhaps a four-drop like or .

Combo Slivers has been surprisingly competitive for a deck full of 1/1 creatures. When those 1/1s help crank out a huge monster, it’s worth it.

The similarities are staggering.