While it is often a very active format, with flavor of the week decks shifting in and out and a rotating cast of main characters, true new change doesn't happen to Modern that often. Modern Horizons looks to upset that paradigm, but typical sets don't tend to change things too much.

So it comes as a surprise that the biggest effect War of the Spark, a set focused around an army of new and powerful planeswalkers, would have is adding a very big pig to a somewhat forgotten archetype, breathing new life into a proven glass cannon.

Goryo's Vengeance decks have long been considered too fragile for Modern, offering high power that is too inconsistent and disruptable, especially in a format where people aren't afraid to maindeck Surgical Extraction. However, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, alongside oft forgotten M15 common Generator Servant, gives the deck more of a plan B that doesn't rely on the graveyard at all. This is a huge boon for the deck, as no longer is the plan against graveyard hate a Through the Breach and a prayer.

Time Stamps:

Match 1 - 00:04:33

Match 2 - 00:22:40

Match 3 - 00:58:36

Match 4 - 01:17:34

Match 5 - 01:33:56

Boaryo's Vengance | Modern | Dominick Harvey ,15th Place SCG Louisville

• Creatures (19)
• 3 Generator Servant
• 4 Simian Spirit Guide
• 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 4 Griselbrand
• 4 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar

• Instants (8)
• 4 Goryo's Vengeance
• 4 Through the Breach

• Sorceries (10)
• 3 Cathartic Reunion
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 4 Faithless Looting

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Pentad Prism

• Lands (19)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 2 Blood Crypt
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Gemstone Caverns

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Abrade
• 2 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Terastodon
• 3 Thoughtseize
• 2 Lightning Axe
• 3 Chalice of the Void
• 1 Blood Moon

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Dominik Harvey's new take on Goryo's Vengeance rewarded him with a Top 16 finish at SCG Louisville, War of the Spark's debut in Modern, and raises renewed interest in the archetype.

While Emrakul, the Aeons Torn won't trigger annihilator off the Raze Boar's trigger, it is a clean 21 damage that can happen on turn two giving the deck a full on early kill that it was lacking. There were also a number of times that we just cast our 6/6 and we're able to play a reasonable game of Magic as well.

The deck is still somewhat vulnerable to disruption and finicky at times, but we are looking at an exciting evolution of a forgotten archetype. If you're a fan of Sneak and Show in Legacy or just a fan of degenerate Griselbrand shenanigans in general, the big pig is certainly worth a look.