[Modern] 4-mana Painful Truths breaks Modern: A Tournament Report

So after Eldrazi Spring, I came back to Modern with the desire to brew. I knew I wanted Thalia in my deck to combat Burn and Snapcaster decks, so I decided to throw together a 4-color deck with lots of lifegain and the Knight of the Reliquary/Retreat combo. One of my friends suggested as a joke that I play Painful Truths so I put one in as a joke, but every time I drew it against decks that aren't Affinity or Burn, it won me the game. At this point, I just went all-in on Painful Truths because there is so much lifegain, and decided to add Thorns in addition to the Thalia's to try to draw more cards, also it helps against the Thopter or Ancestral Visions matchups. You may call it greedy, but I call it "winning". I also decided to splash one Stomping Ground over a 3rd Forest just in case I ever had a 5 mana Painful Truths, which also opened up the option to put Blood Moons in my sideboard.

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Noble Hierarch

4 Thalia

4 Kitchen Finks

4 Siege Rhino

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Knight of the Reliquary

3 Thorn of Amethyst

4 Painful Truths

4 Retreat to Coralhelm

4 Verdant Catacombs

2 Misty Rainforest

4 Windswept Heath

2 Overgrown Tomb

2 Temple Garden

1 Breeding Pool

1 Stomping Ground

2 Forest

1 Godless Shrine

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Plains

1 Swamp

SB

3 Blood Moon

2 Rest for the Weary

4 Path to Exile

2 Duress

1 Bojuka Bog

3 Stony Silence

I played this deck at a 35-man local Modern event this past Sunday for store credit and ended up making Top 8, which we split.

Round 1: Burn 1-2 (0-1) SB: -4 Painful Truths +2 Duress +2 Rest for the Weary

Started off the day bad with a free loss against Burn. The first game, I just drew the wrong half of my deck and took a loss. In Game 2, I curved Noble>Thalia>Siege Rhino and was able to take it after drawing a mixture of Finks, Rhinos, and Rest for the Weary. Game 3 he started with a Goblin Guide, and I played a Bird. Next turn he played a Swiftspear and Bolted the Bird, which pushed me out of the game.

Round 2: Jeskai Black Control 2-0 (1-1) SB: -3 Retreat -2 Knight of the Reliquary +2 Duress +3 Blood Moon

Game 1, my opponent was on the play and led off with an Ancestral, and played another one on his second turn. He was visually frustrated when I curved Thalia into Thorn of Amethyst. Casting Painful Truths multiple times definitely won me both of my games. In Game 2 I managed to fetch my 3 different basics before casting a Blood Moon, which helped seal the game.

Round 3: Kiki-Chord 2-1 (2-1) SB: -3 Thorn of Amethyst -1 Thalia +4 Path to Exile

In Game 1 I had an aggressive start and my opponent apparently kept a loose hand, because he played a Noble and then fumbled on lands the rest of the game, giving me a free win. Game 2 he had the turn-4 end step Resto>Turn 5 Kiki and I had yet to draw a Path. Game 3 I out-valued him with Painful Truths and just slammed Goyfs and Rhinos until I won, luckily had Path for both times he tried to Kiki.

Round 4: Jund 2-0 (3-1) SB: -3 Thorn of Amethyst -4 Retreat +4 Path +3 Blood Moon

In Game 1, I had a really powerful draw, Noble>Finks>Rhino>Rhino>Rhino, which is nearly impossible for Jund to beat. Game 2 I snuck in a Turn 2 Blood Moon off a Birds and he never drew any basics. Part of Blood Moon’s power in this deck is that no one expects it, so they don’t fetch basics early.

Round 5: ID

Top 8: As I said earlier, we just split the Top 8 and walked away. I kind of wanted to test the deck more, but I also was happy to go home with some essentially free store credit. I think this deck might become a serious contender in the new meta, as it can take lots of free wins with the Knight Combo or sideboard Blood Moons, but you can also grind out value with Painful Truths.

Edit: Formatting