It’s strange to think that nearly six months after the release of Modern Horizons 2, Modern has yet to stagnate. Every week sees a new deck rise to prominence, followed by next week’s challenger upending it to become top dog, and the cycle has repeated for months on end now. Even with significant contributions from the most recent Standard sets (Demilich, Faithful Mending, and Chandra, Dressed to Kill to name a few), the format has stayed balanced. Nearly everything seems viable, and decks that aren’t good one week have a very real chance of becoming contenders the next.
With Modern remaining as open as it’s been, today’s deck guide is going to cover a tribe that’s floated on the fringes and just might be ready for the limelight: Changelings. Originally a Legacy brew, Magda Changelings was ported to Modern shortly after ThrabenU made a video about the deck. Then, just last month, TheTunnelingCat took a Yorion Build to a 5-0 finish. After joining the Magda Discord and discussing some card ideas and changes, I finally have a list that feels fantastic.
Why Magda Changelings
Modern rewards hyper efficiency and fast gameplans. With a potential turn 3 combo kill, solid beatdown, a tutorable prison lock, and myriads of redundancy, Magda Changelings presents a powerful threat that can hold its own against the best. These unassuming Changelings pack quite the punch, and if you’re not careful, you might just be dead. Magda Changelings is a potent creature-based combo deck that can win through aggression and combo out of nowhere.
Not only are there must-answer threats such as Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, but almost every creature is a combo piece. The only other creature that isn’t instead tutors for combo pieces, so your opponent needs to have all the removal to keep you from going off. Cavern of Souls, Pyre of Heroes, and Aether Vial provide solid protection against counterspells, and if they’re countering your artifacts, then they’re not countering your creatures. The tutoring sequence in the combo kill is instant speed, so if they don’t have an immediate answer, they’re dead—sometimes even through spot removal, similar to how GB Yawgmoth can loop its Persist creatures when the opponent tries to kill Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. There’s also some fun tutoring and sequencing lines, but we’ll get to those later.
Core Strategy
The central engine of the deck is Magda, Brazen Outlaw. Every Changeling synergizes with her token generation since they’re Dwarves, and can be tutored with her ability since they’re Dragons (this second part matters later as well). The combo between Magda and Mothdust Changeling was spotted almost immediately when Magda was spoiled, and together they allow you to spew your hand in an Affinity-esque way. Mothdust’s ability lets you tap not only your other Changelings but also Mothdust itself. If you go turn one Mothdust, turn two Magda, you can immediately generate two Treasures, which can then cast more Changelings or a Pyre of Heroes. Come turn three, you should be able to generate five Treasures and tutor lots of fun things with Magda. Depending on which Changelings you have access to once you get your first Magda tutor, you’ll then go for one of several kills.
Tick-Tock Goes the Clock
The first kill is your silliest one. Once you have your Magda tutor set up, if you have a Universal Automaton in play untapped, you can fetch your Clock of Omens to create infinite treasures. First, Tap the Clock and Automaton to untap the Automaton: this gives you an untapped Treasure token from Magda and a second untapped Artifact. Next, you tap the Treasure and your Automaton, again untapping the Changeling. Congratulations, you now have infinite Treasures. Unfortunately, you don’t have infinite mana, because you have to tap the Treasures to repeat the loop—but that shouldn’t matter where we’re going.
Now that you have all the Treasures you could possibly want, it’s time to tutor every Changeling from your deck. There’s some merit to fetching Unsettled Mariner first because once your opponent realizes what you’re doing, they may try to stop you with spot removal, but chances are if you’ve gotten to this stage they don’t have any meaningful interaction available.
After you’ve gotten all the Changelings out, your final tutor will be for Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund. When he comes into play, he’ll untap all your Changelings and give them haste because—surprise!—they’re Dragons, too. This usually gets you around 20+ creatures, all buffed by Magda’s anthem (except Karrthus, unfortunately). With double strike on Valiant Changeling, unblockable on Changeling Outcast, and flying on Mothdust Changeling and Karrthus, with all your Changelings, you’re swinging for 70+ damage—generally enough to kill your opponent through any boardstate. (Don’t forget to give your Mothdust Changelings flying before Karrthus untaps everything!)
Emperion Lock
But what if you don’t have an Automaton to go for the Clock kill? Then your next-best option is preventing your opponent from killing you, hopefully for the rest of the match, with Platinum Emperion. I know, I know, Solitude has been everywhere recently, but not every deck has it, and you can side Emperion out against decks that do. It’s still extremely hard to remove and viable against enough decks to merit running. Plus, Emperion can buy you a turn or two to set up for a Clock kill while your opponent scrambles to answer it, or it can just beat down. An 8/8 body is nothing to sniff at, after all.
Back-up Combo and Aggression
There’s a “mini combo” between Valiant Changeling and all the other one-drop Changelings that lets you get a 3/3 double-striker into play as early as turn two. Whether it’s correct to call that interaction a combo or not can be debated until the sun goes down, but the fact remains that it’s one of your best lines to put you in a winning position. Valiant stonewalls Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and can kill or trade with Urza’s Saga tokens and Tarmogoyfs. If Magda is out, Valiant becomes a 4/3, and those pesky Rhino tokens aren’t swinging in anytime soon.
There’s also a fun little interaction Valiant has with Pyre of Heroes. Remember, all our Changelings are every creature type, which means Valiant, at seven mana, is a Golem you can Pyre into Emperion with. You can also Pyre it into Sundering Titan if you want to make the Dryad of the Ilysian Grove player regret their life decisions.
Speaking of Ragavan, Magda Changelings is, in fact, a Ragavan deck as well. Not only does Ragavan pair nicely with Magda thanks to his Treasures, but he’s also a lightning rod for removal. Modern players have an almost bling-rage need when it comes to killing the monkey, and if they’re killing Ragavan they’re not pointing that removal at your combo pieces. While there is some debate in the Discord on whether Ragavan or Springleaf Drum is better (since the latter gives you an extra, albeit weaker, tapping effect for your Changelings), Ragavan is a “one-card combo” on his own, in a sense. An unanswered monkey can run away with the game, and even if Ragavan only connects once, that tiny bit of ramp or extra Treasure can let you explode out of control.
The final pseudo-combo in the deck is everyone’s favorite creature planeswalker, Grist, the Hunger Tide. Hey, Changelings being every creature type is relevant again! When you uptick Grist, if you hit a Changeling (or an extra Grist), you get an extra Insect token, loyalty counter, and mill trigger. While the dream is hitting multiple Changelings in a row off a single Grist activation, you’re often “only” going to get one or two Insects a turn. But it is possible to have that one epic activation, and if it ever happens, you’re sitting pretty with a Grist ult primed to blast your opponent the next turn.
From Pod to Pyre
Recently, I’ve come to realize just how busted tutors are in Magic, and the tutors in Magda Changelings are no exception. Although it’s not exactly Birthing Pod, in our deck Pyre of Heroes comes very close to it. Thanks to Changelings, Pyre can directly tutor every creature in our deck except Ragavan. Insect tokens from Grist’s uptick can be Pyred into any of our one-drop Changelings; said Changelings can be Pyred into Magda, Unsettled Marinter, or Masked Vandal; and Mariner and Vandal can fetch Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mirror Entity or, more typically, Imperial Recruiter off Pyre. Recruiter is also great because he can get you any creature besides Valiant Changeling. And, as mentioned earlier, Valiant can be Pyred into Platinum Emperion or Sundering Titan.
This provides a ridiculous amount of redundancy in the deck, offsetting the downside of running eighty cards, while also giving you another way to circumvent countermagic. And don’t forget your companion! Not only is Yorion, the Sky Nomad a solid body, it can often come into play “for free” or close to it since you can blink Magda and all your Changelings to get another round of Treasure generation in. If you had to tick your Vials up past three, Yorion can reset those as well.
Finding the Winning Lines
Perhaps the hardest part about seeing lines in Magda Changelings is wrapping your head around the juggling act of “tribes matter” in the deck. Magda, Brazen Outlaw cares about Dwarves when she’s applying her lord effect and making Treasures, then cares about Dragons when she’s fetching. Pyre of Heroes cares about which creature type you’ve sacrificed and what you’re getting. Valiant cares about how many creature types are in play to reduce its cost. Meanwhile, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund cares about Dragons, both yours and your opponent’s. Once you’ve gotten your combo off, you need to remember that Magda still buffs your creatures and makes tokens when you attack (assuming your opponent doesn’t concede to you flipping half your deck into play). Non-Changelings matter when it comes to naming a tribe with your five-color lands. Grist is tutorable with Pyre of Heroes and Imperial Recruiter and can be Vialed into play.
A lot of the lines feel obscure at first, but are simple once you’ve seen them.
- Pyre can use Grist Insects to fetch Mothdust or Automaton.
- Since Karrthus untaps all your Changelings, you can give your Mothdusts flying before you tutor him, and you can make a bunch of untapped Treasures and pump everything with Mirror Entity, which will also make your non-Changelings into Dragons for Karrthus reasons.
- If you’re missing Automaton for the Clock kill but you have Pyre and an Unsettled Mariner or a Masked Vandal, you can Pyre for Imperial Recruiter to fetch it.
- Both Grist and Pyre can put creatures in the yard for Masked Vandal, and you can tutor for Pyre mid-combo if you need to exile something like a Heliod, Sun-Crowned or Ensnaring Bridge.
- If you’re worried the Clock combo won’t actually kill your opponent or if they manage to kill your Karrthus, you can always flip Emperion into play at the end.
- Tiny sequencing things, like playing Changeling Outcast or Universal Automaton before Mothdust Changeling to bait counters and spot removal, especially after you’ve put the fear of Valiant Changeling in them.
- Giving Mothdust flying so it can block an Inkmoth Nexus or Murktide Regent.
- Using Pyre to tutor Graveshifter off Imperial Recruiter then immediately getting Recruiter back so you can fetch with Recruiter again.
- Remembering that your sideboard Obsidian Charmaw is tutorable with Magda.
- Heaven forbid your opponent have instant-speed wrath with Teferi, Time Raveler, but if they do, you can always set up for a Grist ult to hit them for easily over 20 life.
There are probably other lines I’ve missed, but those are most of the important ones.
Manabase
Being a 5c Tribal deck means Magda gets access to all the best five-color tribal lands: Ancient Ziggurat, Cavern of Souls, and Unclaimed Territory. Often you’re naming Dwarf, but if you have access to red for Magda or a Vial, then you can also name “Monkey” for Ragavan or “Insect” for Grist. (Don’t forget, Ziggurat can cast Grist!)
Modern staple Haven of the Spirit Dragon is great for not only casting your Changelings but getting them back if, say, your opponent killed your Mothdust or Automaton and you need it to combo off the next turn. It can get Valiant Changeling back as well if you really need to beat down.
Mana Confluence is a solid five-color land as well, although perhaps it should be City of Brass since Confluence gets shut off by Platinum Emperion. The counterpoint to City of Brass is the prevalence of Fire//Ice in Rhinos and some Control decks.
Reflecting Pool, however, is absolutely fantastic paired with any of the other five-color lands as a painless source of all our colors. The two-of Blackcleave Cliffs and Inspiring Vantages are for Ragavan and Magda purposes; as for the basic, it’s a Plains because white is the second-highest represented color in the deck, and Blood Moon does nothing to take us off red.
I’ve seen a few lists on the Discord experimenting with Urza’s Saga, and while I’m not sure that’s the direction the deck wants to go, there are some serious strengths to it. Having access to main deck Nihil Spellbomb or Soul-Guide Lantern is rather appealing. Meanwhile, Saga tokens provide a more reasonable midrange plan than hoping you find your Valiant Changelings. Saga also tutors Universal Automaton, giving you more combo redundancy. It can also fetch Springleaf Drum to help you fix your colors. However, Saga is always a colorless land and it’s been on Modern players’ radar for a while now. With Modern heading towards a Blood Moon meta, I’m not sure this is where you want to be with your landbase, but it’s definitely worth exploring. This is especially true in conjunction with something like Smuggler’s Copter (both an aggressive card and additional “tap outlet.”)
Sideboard
The sideboard plan for Magda is fairly simple. Your cuts are usually Masked Vandal, Platinum Emperion, and Sundering Titan, depending on what’s bad in the matchup. Ragavan can get boarded out as well, especially on the draw. Then you’re boarding in Sanctifier en-Vec against graveyard strategies and Murktide Regent, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben against Control and other spell-based decks, and Obsidian Charmaw against Tron and Hammertime. When TunnelingCat 5-0’d last month, Elementals was still around enough to justify Plague Engineer, but that’s the weakest sideboard card and could be flexed to a back-up Emperion. My store has a couple Elves players and an Elementals player still hanging on, so I’ve found it useful to keep in the board for now.
As for other flex options, Voracious Dragon would be good against Prison-style decks. Reaper King can help you clear out an Enchantress board if they only have a single Sterling Grove, especially if they get out Rest in Peace to shut off your Masked Vandals. Sphinx of the Steel Wind or Shadowspear might be helpful in a Burn meta. Spellskite or Lord of the Unreal could be good options if you’re expecting a lot of removal. Realmwalker, Dark Confidant, or Smuggler’s Copter could provide card advantage. Perhaps the Thalia, Sanctifier, and Charmaw numbers could be tweaked as well to make room for more flex slots, since the deck is full of ways to tutor silver bullets. But those changes will only come with more testing and adapting as the meta changes.
Mirror, Mirror, On the Online Client
Before we go, there’s one final note I need to make on the deck. Playing Magda Changelings is much easier in paper than online because MTGO still doesn’t have a way to loop conveniently. To generate one Treasure on MTGO, you need to click four times: once to activate Clock of Omens, twice to tap your artifacts, and once to untap your Universal Automaton. After you auto-yield to Clock and save targets, you’re down to three clicks.
However, since Magda needs five Treasures to tutor, each Magda activation costs a whopping fifteen clicks. It’s unreasonable to go through the sheer number of mouse clicks it would take to fetch all your Changelings into play (at least three hundred), so it might be better to run Cranial Plating over Mirror Entity online. Plating significantly reduces the number of creatures you need to tutor since you can just get a couple Changeling Outcasts and Karrthus to swing in for the win. With Karrthus’ untap ability, you’re able to generate as many Treasures as you need to kill your opponent, and Plating’s first ability means you’ll be able to re-equip it at instant speed if your opponent has an answer to the buffed-up Outcast.
Mirror Entity gives you a mana sink for when you don’t have much else to do, and can supercharge your 1/1s to increase your combat threat potential. The aforementioned Cranial Plating might generically better than Entity, but I haven’t done enough testing yet. Another solid option for online play is Time Sieve, which lets you demonstrate that you have infinite turns if you have the Clock combo set up. Most opponents will concede at that point, but if one doesn’t, you can always tutor up your Changeling Outcast and kill them rather quickly.
All of that isn’t to say that Magda is completely unmanageable online. Mothdust Changeling is simple to activate, and you’re often spending a couple turns building up Treasures for your first Magda, Brazen Outlaw activation. The aggro plan in the deck isn’t to be discounted, either. Valiant Changeling is a serious beater, and Magda’s lord effect can make your derpy one-drops chip in for just a little more each turn. Half my wins so far have been with the Clock combo, but the other half have been a blend of simple aggro and Grist, the Hunger Tide being a powerhouse.
Wrap-up
To say that I’ve fallen head-over-heels for this deck would be an understatement. I tried a 60-card version shortly after Magda got ported to Modern, and I dropped it since there was a fair bit of clunk in the trunk. When I picked up the Yorion build, I went in with a healthy dose of skepticism since “any pile can hit the 5-0 dumps,” but then I spent the whole night going, “Is this deck actually good?” The ability to just combo off out of nowhere while presenting must-answer after must-answer threat is simply intoxicating. Any one-drop Changeling your opponent leaves alive could be the fuel that feeds the Valiant Changeling fire. If they’re killing Ragavan, they’re less likely to be removing your Magda, Mothdust, or Automaton. Heaven forbid they let you untap with a Pyre in play, because who knows what you could be tutoring up next? And while they’re worrying about your combo, they could be slowly dying to creature beats.
So if you’re looking for a spicy, powerful tribal deck with an insane creature-based combo, consider giving Magda Changelings a shot. Unfortunately, I don’t have a video of the Clock Changelings version yet, but you can watch TheTunnelingCat’s VOD of games 3-5, Manacymbal’s video playing the exact same 95 cards, and a tournament finals of a 60-card version running Bolas’s Citadel. Special thanks to the Magda Discord for their help with deck lists and card discussions.
