Aaron Forsythe has foreseen that the Modern Eldrazi menace will be hit with the ban hammer pretty soon. It could be Eye of Ugin or it may well be Eldrazi Temple, but either way, people will be seeking decks that aren’t based on the current beat-the-tentacles metagame.
As the bannings will coincide with the release of Shadows over Innistrad, it seems an appropriate time to check out the new cards. I confess, whenever a new set comes out, the first thing I check are the creatures that have flash. There’s been this hole in this deck I’ve been trying to build for years, a deck that means I never have to tap out on my turn. Up until recently, the deck looked something like this.
Flash — Modern | Neale Talbot
Spells (20)
4 Path to Exile
4 Mana Leak
4 Remand
4 Think Twice
3 Cryptic Command
1 Sphinx's Revelation
Creatures (12)
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique
4 Restoration Angel
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Basically, it was missing a good finisher—a creature with flash, preferably with evasion, that could close out a game quickly and that had some kind of enters-the-battlefield effect. It would be a Magical Christmas Land kind of creature, something completely unrealistic. I waited and waited.
Then, all of a sudden, Wizards went and printed her.

How far we’ve come since Serra Angel. Archangel Avacyn is exactly the kind of creature this type of deck wants.
Flash? Yes. Evasion? Yes. Able to finish out a game? Yes. Enters-the-battlefield effect? Yes.
Plus, she has the crazy upside of acting as both impromptu single removal and a possible sweeper. So finally, after all these years, here’s a list.
Avacyn Is Awesome — Modern | Neale Talbot
Spells (20)
1 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Cryptic Command
4 Mana Leak
4 Path to Exile
4 Remand
4 Think Twice
Creatures (16)
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Archangel Avacyn
Lands (24)
4 Flooded Strand
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Polluted Delta
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter

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So let’s talk about why exactly Avacyn Is Awesome.
Firstly, we have eliminated a key problem for the W/U control deck: having to tap out on our turn to land our finisher. Lately, this finisher has been Dragonlord Ojutai. Ojutai bring two key ingredients to the battlefield: hexproof on the turn you play it and ongoing card advantage afterward. Both are fine ingredients in terms of a resilient threat that advances control’s game plan, but it does require either risking the tap out at 5 mana or waiting to achieve 7 and hope to counterspell any relevant removal. Avacyn eliminates this need, allowing the control player to always stay in control, managing the flow of the game.
Second, Avacyn provides a constant problem for your opponent’s combat step once you hit 5 mana. He or she can only attack into it if he or she has removal in hand, and even then, she makes your other creatures indestructible, making combat extremely problematic for the opponent. If he or she doesn’t attack, as everything you do happens at instant speed, you’ll still be able to progress your board at the end of his or her turn. This is an absolute nightmare for aggressive decks.
Third, Avacyn creates all sorts of problems when your opponent wants to use removal. Say you have a Vendilion Clique on the board, and your opponent was to barrel on through it without it blocking. Your opponent targets it with a Doom Blade . . . and you shoot in Avacyn—suddenly, you have two blockers. Alternatively, say he or she casts Devour Flesh. In that case, with spell on the stack, you can flash in Avacyn and potentially Wrath the board. Either way, as counterspell or sudden Anger of the Gods, it’s a no-win situation for your opponent.
Wrath of God
Anger of the Gods
Unfortunately, as the good people of the Internet have pointed out, Restoration Angel and Avacyn are slightly anti-synergistic. Restoration Angel won’t restore Avacyn, and her dying won’t transform Avacyn. I’ve dropped her to two in the list above. However, Restoration Angel remains an all-star player without Avacyn, allowing us to generate double-duty from our Snapcaster Mages and Vendilion Cliques (the Thought-Knot Seer before Thought-Knot Seer was thought of). This high level of synergy helps us control the match while grinding out continual card advantage.
Supreme VerdictThe deck has a number of good sideboard options:
Supreme Verdict for those decks that try to get ahead on board before control can be fully established, or for those decks packing Cavern of Souls to prevent counterspells working on creatures, such as Elves
Stony Silence for the Robots matchup
Rest in Peace for those graveyard-based decks that have risen in prominence thanks to the Eldrazi menace, for example Living End, Dredge, and Melira, Sylvok Outcast–based combo decks
Leyline of Sanctity against to-the-face combo decks, such as Ad Nauseam and Storm
Spell Pierce, Spell Snare, and other counterspells if the metagame requires
Disenchant for those who decide to bring in pesky artifacts or enchantments against us
One of the key questions this deck will ask of its sideboard is, Do I have to tap out for this? Sometimes, a sideboard card is so powerful that we may be willing to, for instance, Stony Silence or Rest in Peace. Sometimes, the control advantage is important, such as with Supreme Verdict. However, we may be more interested in cards that don’t force us to tap out, such as Aven Mindcensor, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Venser, Shaper Savant. This is going to require some testing to discover.
The Eldrazi menace will die—or at the very least slow down. Once that happens, control deck like this, one that never needs to step out of control and can mount its incremental advantage over time, is ready to step up to the blocks. I expect this kind of all-instant, all-flash shell to remain very powerful in Modern. The weakest pieces (e.g. Think Twice) will continually be replaced with better cards as time goes on, but the all on-the-stack archetype itself will remain the same.