Every once and a while a deck comes along that wins a big tournament that is a complete enigma.

Strange numbers, cards that haven't seen play in a decade, a bizarre overall plan... yet it has been winning! This deck went undefeated in an 8 round Modern open in the hands of David Bishop, while multiple players have been reporting 5-0s in Magic Online leagues.

The decklist speaks for itself, so let's just jump right in.

Time Stamps:

00:04:00 - Match 1

00:46:46 - Match 2

01:25:56 - Match 3

01:38:52 - Match 4

02:02:05 - Match 5

Big Blue | Modern | David Bishop, 1st Place Face to Face Games Open

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Brazen Borrower
• 4 Subtlety
• 4 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
• 4 Vendilion Clique

• Instants (12)
• 4 Counterspell
• 4 Dismember
• 4 Force of Negation

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Spreading Seas

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Chalice of the Void

• Lands (24)
• 8 Island
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Waterlogged Grove
• 3 Hall of Storm Giants
• 4 Blast Zone
• 4 Faerie Conclave

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Hurkyl's Recall
• 2 Ratchet Bomb
• 3 Relic of Progenitus
• 4 Tide Shaper
• 2 Torpor Orb
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse

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Originally built by MHayashi, this deck is a very interesting take on a Blue tempo deck in Modern, but features some absolutely wild numbers.

This is probably the first competitive deck I've ever seen that plays four copies of Blast Zone, Dismember, or Vendilion Clique - a classic card that I almost forgot was legal in Modern. Oh, and did I mention the four copies of Faerie Conclave, a card that hasn't seen competitive play since the Bush Administration? It's crazy!

At its core however, this is a deck based around Svyelun of Sea and Sky in a very classic Blue tempo style. Get down your Ophidian, untap with it, and then keep attacking and drawing cards while countering and bouncing everything your opponent plays. Getting to play Chalice of the Void is very nice, and all the free counterspells allow you to tap out for Svyelun with confidence.

We did not do well in this league and the games were challenging; put simply, this deck makes me feel dumb! However, if you love Blue tempo and love challenging games, the deck has certainly proven it has the chops to win. Good luck solving this puzzle!