Modern has been shaken up in a big way with the unbannings this week, and everything is set to change. Not only will Eldrazi decks be losing a key component of the archetype in Eye of Ugin, but artifact control decks and Blue decks in general will be getting a huge boost from both Sword of the Meek and Ancestral Vision. So what does this mean for the format? Modern may be ready to slow down, and we may see the return of something like Temur Control. Check out this fantastic starting point, built by alexeysuhih:

Temur Control ? Modern | alexeysuhih, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Grim Lavamancer
• 1 Thragtusk
• 1 Vendilion Clique
• 2 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 3 Deceiver Exarch
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Tarmogoyf

• Spells (20)
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Spell Snare
• 2 Cryptic Command
• 2 Electrolyze
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Remand
• 1 Roast
• 4 Serum Visions
• 1 Batterskull

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Desolate Lighthouse
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Wooded Foothills
• 2 Sulfur Falls
• 3 Steam Vents
• 4 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Dispel
• 3 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Anger of the Gods
• 2 Blood Moon
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1 Keranos, God of Storms
• 2 Negate
• 2 Relic of Progenitus

Buy This Deck

This is the perfect shell to slot Ancestral Visions into – a control deck leaning on cheap interaction like Lightning Bolt and Remand to maintain parity on the board, but which will need some help turning the corner to close out the game. This deck is very reminiscent of the Temur Delver decks we saw at the inception of the Modern format, and Ancestral Vision may be exactly what this strategy needs to break out again.

Critically, the shift to Ancestral Visions allows the deck to cut down on the expensive interactive elements and play more cards that trade one for one. Effects like Mana Leak and Spell Snare become much more desirable when you’re not trying to eke out card advantage with Electrolyze and Cryptic Command and you can just lean on Ancestral Vision instead. Similarly, a card like Vedalken Shackles becomes much more interesting when Ancestral Vision helps ensure you can find enough Islands to reliably steal Reality Smashers and Wurmcoil Engines.

The most interesting piece of this deck is the inclusion of Deceiver Exarch, even after Splinter Twin has been banned from the format. It turns out this card is just powerful in the format, even without the two-card combo. The ability to tap down a land to stop your opponent from casting critical spells while building a board is huge. Similarly, the ability to lock a creature out of combat, block, and then crack back for more is a big deal in a deck with Snapcaster Mage and Lightning Bolt.

All of the U/R control decks with Snapcaster Mage and Lightning Bolt have a lot to gain from the unbanning of Ancestral Vision. It remains to be seen whether the third color should be Green for Tarmogoyf and Ancient Grudge, White for Path to Exile and Celestial Colonnade, or Black for Kolaghan's Command and Thoughtseize. Given that Affinity and Eldrazi were the two big players in the metagame before the banning, and Affinity went untouched while a powerful artifact was unbanned, I think I’d rather be on the Ancient Grudge end of things. All told, this looks like a fabulous place to start in the new Modern format.