Current Recommended 75

Last updated: July 23, 2026 Recommended shell: Classic Golgari Cauldron / Green Sun’s Zenith Yawgmoth Status: The list I would run at an event this week.

We are now using the configuration Xerk registered in his last two Modern Challenges. He won the July 22 Modern Challenge 96 at 10-0, then finished 5-2 in the July 23 Modern Challenge 64 with the same 75. He then tweeted that the deck is perfect. This makes it an easy recommendation. That is enough evidence to make this the current baseline rather than continuing to tune from the previous Chord of Calling configuration. The copyable list below retains our 2/2 split between [[Windswept Heath]] and [[Wooded Foothills]] in place of Xerk’s four copies of Windswept Heath.

Visual Decklist

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Copyable Decklist

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Creatures — 25
4 Badgermole Cub
4 Delighted Halfling
4 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
4 Young Wolf
3 Walking Ballista
1 Endurance
1 Formidable Speaker
1 Haywire Mite
1 Ignoble Hierarch
1 Ouroboroid
1 Strangleroot Geist

Artifacts — 4
4 Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Sorceries — 7
4 Malevolent Rumble
3 Green Sun's Zenith

Enchantments — 2
2 Dredger's Insight

Planeswalkers — 1
1 Grist, the Hunger Tide

Lands — 21
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Overgrown Tomb
3 Spymaster's Vault
2 Boseiju, Who Endures
2 Forest
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Swamp
1 Underground Mortuary

3 Thoughtseize
2 Fatal Push
2 Force of Vigor
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Culling Ritual
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Grist, the Hunger Tide
1 Murderous Cut
1 Soulless Jailer
1 Vexing Bauble
1 Witherbloom Charm

Why this build

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The most important reason to adopt this list is that it has now produced consecutive strong Challenge finishes in Xerk’s hands without changing a card. The first run was a 10-0 tournament win, and the second was a 5-2 finish the following day. Rather than treating individual card choices as isolated innovations, this gives us a complete and recently tested configuration.

The deck moves away from the light [[Chord of Calling]] package and commits more fully to the Cauldron engine. Four [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] and three [[Walking Ballista]] maximize access to the deck’s strongest cards, while four [[Malevolent Rumble]] and two [[Dredger’s Insight]] provide enough selection and graveyard velocity to find them consistently.

The creature package remains compact but functional. [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] has access to [[Dryad Arbor]] for acceleration, [[Haywire Mite]] for artifacts and enchantments, [[Endurance]] for graveyards, [[Formidable Speaker]] as a value creature, and [[Ouroboroid]] as a scalable threat. [[Ignoble Hierarch]] increases the number of one-mana accelerants, while [[Strangleroot Geist]] adds another undying creature and preserves the traditional Yawgmoth lines.

The 21-land configuration is lean, but the deck compensates with eight one-mana accelerants, four copies of [[Malevolent Rumble]], and the Zenith-to-Arbor line. Three [[Spymaster’s Vault]] provide substantial late-game value without requiring additional spell slots.

Sideboard structure

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[[Fatal Push]], [[Murderous Cut]], and [[Witherbloom Charm]] provide efficient interaction against creature decks.

[[Force of Vigor]], [[Witherbloom Charm]], and the maindeck [[Haywire Mite]] cover artifacts, enchantments, and permanent-based hate.

[[Thoughtseize]], [[Vexing Bauble]], [[Ashiok, Dream Render]], and [[Soulless Jailer]] attack combo, graveyard, and stack-based strategies from different angles.

The second [[Grist, the Hunger Tide]] and [[Culling Ritual]] improve attrition matchups and punish wide boards.

[[Fulminator Mage]] gives the deck targeted disruption against Tron, Eldrazi, Titan, and other mana-intensive strategies.

What changed from the previous list

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Removed the two-copy [[Chord of Calling]] package.

Increased to four [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]].

Kept three [[Walking Ballista]] as a central part of the Cauldron kill structure.

Increased to four [[Malevolent Rumble]] and two [[Dredger’s Insight]].

Added maindeck [[Haywire Mite]], [[Ignoble Hierarch]], and [[Strangleroot Geist]].

Moved to a 21-land configuration with three [[Spymaster’s Vault]].

Rebuilt the sideboard around flexible one-ofs and three [[Thoughtseize]].

Change Log

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July 23, 2026: Replaced the previous recommended list with Xerk’s configuration from consecutive Modern Challenges on July 22 and July 23, including a 10-0 Challenge win. Retained a functionally equivalent 2/2 Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills fetchland split in the linked list.

June 23, 2026: Initial recommended 75.