The State of Modern: Death’s Shadow, by Ryan Hovis
Hey everyone, my name is Ryan Hovis. For those who don’t know me from grinding around the Midwest, I have been playing Magic since 2000, with an extended break from Coldsnap to Dark Ascension.
I have had some mild success with a few Star City Games 
Tour Open top 8s, a GP top 8, and many 5k top 8s to my name. Outside of this I am mostly known for building and brewing decks for various grinders and myself. I enjoy the deck building aspect of Magic and always trying to figure out what is the next best or most fun thing before everyone else.
We are here to discuss the deck everyone either loves or hates in Modern. Death’s Shadow gets a bad rap in the format, but is it for good reason? It took the Modern format quite a while to unleash Shadow decks. This is not to say they would have been good enough before or after many of the Modern bannings, but its recent rise to power cannot be underestimated. It also has been the talk of the town in recent banning discussions. Anything from it’s too powerful, to it strains the metagame, or it is too difficult for newer players to understand how the deck functions the way it does. We are going to look at the different versions and how you can win yourself a slot at the Nerd Rage Gaming Championship Series Championship at the end of the year with the powerful 13/13.
The Deck
There are three different versions of Death’s Shadow that are popular at the moment. The most common recently is Grixis, but versions of four-color and aggro are also popular. These decks mostly splash white while being Jund based. All of these mana bases are going to be very similar in builds, even between the different colors. You will see a high fetchland count and a low fetchable land count, because life loss with lands is the biggest upside to any Death’s Shadow strategy.
Grixis Shadow
This version is the most popular because when running smoothly, it not only has good nut draws, but also can go long with Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan’s Command. Killing your opponents anywhere from turn 3 to turn 6 can be considered normal. Gurmag Angler and
Tasigur, the Golden Fang give the deck powerful threats that dodge Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt, which is a plus against other Shadow variants.
The blue spells allow the deck to smooth out its draws while also making sure a low land-count deck can continue to hit land drops so you can Snapcaster Mage back Kolaghan’s Command. The version you see here is what I personally play, though nearly every card besides the Temur Battle Rage (which can be Lightning Bolt on occasion) are standard.
The other strong aspect of Grixis colors is how powerful the sideboard slots are. Ceremonious Rejection allows you to attack decks like Tron, Affinity, and Eldrazi Tron with great efficiency. More Stubborn Denials in the board will help out against spell-based combo decks and control decks. Anger of the Gods is the best card against Dredge and Collected Company decks, while Nihil Spellbomb and Collective Brutality help shore each of those matchups up respectively. When you add all these aspects up, you get a deck that has a strong game 1 plan and can shore up nearly all of the matchups in Modern to keep the win in sight.
The downside of Grixis Shadow is the high ceiling and low floor of the deck. As good as the hands that work out are, more cantrips means more air. You can get caught spinning your wheels for too long, or even flooding out in some games. Another issue is the threat base. As good as the delve threats are, they are very susceptible to being killed. It is very hard in the early turns to play threats back-to-back that aren’t Death’s Shadow, and all of your threats need your hand to go relatively well to be played on turn 2. Also, as modern has seen lately, the best way to attack this deck is to go under it. Death’s Shadow Aggro, Death and Taxes, and Affinity are all great ways to go under this version.
Four-Color Shadow
Four-color Shadow is in my opinion the most consistent of the Shadow variants. Eight discard spells and Traverse the Ulvenwald make sure your game plan goes uninterrupted and your threats keep coming. Tarmogoyf supplements Death’s Shadow very well. It is a threat you can curve into with no setup needed. This deck also gets
to play Liliana of the Veil in a shell where it can not only be protected well, but in a game plan that can set it up on turn 3. Overall this is the strongest version in a metagame where your game plan is being attacked, as it is the most proactive of the non-aggro versions.
Sideboarding in four-color Shadow is very powerful, but weak at the same time. You have a few different options that can really shut down decks in the metagame. Kataki, War’s Wage and Eidolon of Rhetoric can be game over when they are cast in the matchups they are used for. Unlike the Grixis version, you will not see any countermagic here. This is why you see so many Fulminator Mages in the sideboard. Big-mana strategies can go over the top of even a quick deck like Shadow, so attacking their development can be a game plan for success. Lastly you have graveyard hate for where it is relevant, and Lingering Souls to help in the mirror and control decks.
Unlike the Grixis version, it is very hard to go under four-color Shadow. Where you can attack it though is by going over the top or being the better mid-range deck. Scapeshift can be a powerful option against it, as four-color Shadow has no way to stop the top of their deck from killing it. Also decks like traditional Jund, Abzan, and U/W Control are very good against these types of strategies. Your threats, though very powerful, are not generating any value and it is easy for these decks to run you out of cards. This is the best way to attack Golgari-based versions.
Death’s Shadow Aggro
Death’s Shadow Aggro is a new take on an old deck. Originally this was one of the decks that helped ax Gitaxian Probe from the format. The last few weeks it has seen an upswing in popularity. Part of the reason for this is what I mentioned above about Grixis Shadow. Grixis is the most popular version at the moment, and the best way to attack it is to go under it. This deck does an extremely good job of going under Grixis, while still having the Death’s Shadow draws that end the game so quickly and efficiently against the rest of the format. Instead of wasting time on attacking your opponent’s hand, you are attacking their life total right away.
Sideboarding in this deck looks like a real treat. 
You are an aggressive deck that can play Pyroclasm, which will stop decks from getting under you. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben can attack spell-based combo and control without hindering your game plan very much. You don’t have any graveyard interaction, so Grafdigger’s Cage allows you to disrupt Dredge and Collected Company efficiently and kill them before they can remove it and recover. Being able to run all five colors allows you to change the sideboard to be whatever you need. Stubborn Denial can even be an option if Thalia isn’t powerful enough.
The downside of a deck like this is how linear it is. Unlike the other Shadow decks, it only attacks the opponent’s life total, not their hand, and has no permission. Even with a five-color manabase, it would be hard to change this aspect of the deck. If a deck that is good against this strategy becomes more popular, there are going to be very few ways to get out from under the stranglehold. Decks like Storm and U/W Control should be able to either outrace or control your game plan pretty easily since you have so few interactions for non-creature strategies.
Gameplay
The gameplay for all three of these decks are very similar. You have a very aggressive manabase that has the ability to deal you a lot of damage very quickly, which can be very unintuitive for new players.
What you want to look for are matchups and hands. The more lands in your hand, the less likely you are to need to shock yourself every time, but it really depends on context. Being aware of what you are playing against is key to determining how aggressive you should be. Remember that low land counts plus high fetchland counts mean Shadow will have a leaner deck then most other decks in the format, so Shadow builds will generally be pretty stable in top deck mode outside of the discard aspect of their deck.
The key to Death’s Shadow in general is balance. Whether you are playing against it or with it, you need to understand what the deck can do. The namesake card has the ability to kill an opponent in two turns, and sometimes one if Temur Battle Rage is involved. Be aware of attacking or being attacked. Occasionally you will allow your opponents to attack you to help out your game plan. If you are playing against this deck, question whether or not this attack will help them more than you. Cards like Stubborn Denial and Fatal Push do a great job at stabilizing at a low life total so the large threats can take over the game.
Wrap Up
Death’s Shadow, in any configuration, is one of the best decks in Modern. Even though it is currently being adapted to rather well, it’ll be a fixture of the format because of the generically good cards it runs.
I recommend running a version of Death’s Shadow in any tournament in Modern. Does it get a bad rap? Sure, but Modern has shown that it can attack the deck in ways it might not be able to always handle. What we really have to worry about is how many decks add Death’s Shadow as a secondary option. Even if a card is a healthy power level on its own, it might be too generically powerful in many different shells, similar to Bloodbraid Elf, Deathrite Shaman, and the blue cantrips such as Ponder and Preordain.
It took years for this deck to come out from the shadows, and since it has the mark it’s made in the metagame has been huge. I am excited to see what decks become popular to fight against it. I am also excited to see where Death’s Shadow goes in the future. The deck has certainly changed shells over the course of the year it has been in the spotlight, and it is still evolving as we speak.
Where it will end up no one truly knows, but I imagine as Modern tries to fight it, it will fight back. If you guys have any ideas on where to take it next, I suggest trying them out at your local Championship Trial or CTQ, because you never know: It could be the next big thing in the shadow realm.
Thanks for reading everyone,
Ryan Hovis
Ryan Hovis is a Midwestern grinder with a number of Star City Tour Open top 8s to his name, including most recently at the Baltimore Open in May. Follow him on Twitter @MXFrodo195.
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