Murktide Modern: The Blue-Red Tempo Deck Built Around a 9/9 Flyer
Murktide Modern is one of the most consistent tempo decks in the format — a blue-red delver-style list built around cheap threats, cheap interaction, and the namesake 9/9 flier that wins games by itself. The core idea is simple: deploy a one-mana threat, disrupt your opponent, and ride a Murktide Regent to victory before they stabilize. According to recent MTGGoldfish Modern metagame data, Murktide holds a Tier 1 position while costing roughly $700-$1,200 in paper. You can verify any printing on Scryfall before you build.
This guide walks through the 75-card Modern list, the 10 key cards that make the deck work, how the tempo shell plays out, the matchups you need to know, and what a proxy-first version looks like for players who want a Tier 1 Modern deck without the four-figure price tag.
| 📋 Table of Contents | |
|---|---|
| 1. | The 75-Card Decklist |
| 2. | The 10 Key Cards That Win Games |
| 3. | How Murktide Wins Games |
| 4. | Matchups: What to Expect in Modern |
| 5. | Sideboard Strategy |
| 6. | How to Get Started |
| 9. | Related Reading |
The 75-Card Decklist
Here is the full 75-card Murktide list optimized for the 2026 Modern meta:
Maindeck (60 cards):
Sideboard (15 cards):
The manabase is fetch-heavy (10 fetches total) so you can thin the deck, find your colors, and bin extra lands. Every blue card feeds Delve for Murktide, every red card enables Unholy Heat’s threshold — the deck is built so that each draw does multiple things.
- 4 Dragon’s Rage Channeler
- 4 Murktide Regent
- 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- 4 Expressive Iteration
- 4 Unholy Heat
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Counterspell
- 4 Preordain
- 4 Mishra’s Bauble
- 3 Thought Scour
- 2 Scalding Tarn
- 4 Steam Vents
- 4 Spirebluff Canal
- 1 Island
- 1 Mountain
- 4 Arid Mesa
- 4 Bloodstained Mires
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 2 Hall of Storm Giants
- 3 Blood Moon
- 2 Surgical Extraction
- 2 Engineered Explosives
- 2 Force of Negation
- 2 Spell Pierce
- 2 Mystical Dispute
- 1 Bonecrusher Giant
- 1 Unholy Heat
The 10 Key Cards That Win Games
Murktide is a tempo deck in the classic sense: deploy a cheap threat, hold up mana for interaction, ride the threat to victory. Every card in the 75 either creates tempo, protects it, or closes the game.
Murktide Regent — The Win Condition
Murktide Regent is the namesake and the kill. The card costs seven mana normally, but with Delve it costs one generic for each card you exile from your graveyard. Because the deck fills its graveyard from turn 1 (Thought Scour, Bauble, fetchlands, Dragon’s Rage Channeler’s discards), you can cast a 9/9 flier on turn 3-4 with no mana trouble. A single Murktide attack wins on the spot against any opponent who can’t remove it — and most Modern removal is one-for-one, which means a follow-up Murktide closes it out. The deck runs four copies and tutors none; you simply cast one when the time is right.
Dragon’s Rage Channeler — The Prowess Engine
Dragon’s Rage Channeler is the deck’s one-drop and the card that ties the whole strategy together. As long as you’ve cast two or more instants or sorceries this turn (you always have — Bauble counts, Preordain counts, Bolt counts), DRC becomes a 3/1 flying menace that surveils 1 on entry. The surveil feeds your graveyard for both Delve and Threshold, so each DRC you play makes the next Murktide and the next Unholy Heat better. Four copies is correct because DRC is the deck’s most consistent turn-1 play.
Source: Scryfall — Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) #121, illustrated by Martina Fačková.
Expressive Iteration — The Card Selection
Expressive Iteration is the deck’s signature card-advantage spell. You look at the top three cards of your library, exile two, and put one into your hand — and you can play the other this turn. That single-card selection beats anything: lands you don’t need go to the graveyard (Delve), spells you do need come to your hand, and you get a tempo boost because the third card is live immediately. The card also works on a clogged hand when you’re trying to find a specific answer. Four copies is non-negotiable.
Source: Scryfall — Strixhaven Mystical Archive (STX) #186, illustrated by Rimas Valeikis.
Unholy Heat — The Scalable Removal
Unholy Heat is the deck’s primary removal spell. As a one-mana instant, it deals 1 damage by default — but if you have three or more cards in your graveyard (Threshold, which the deck enables on turn 2 consistently), it deals 5 instead. Five damage kills almost every creature in Modern, including Murktide Regent, Sheoldred, and most planeswalkers. Because the deck fills its graveyard from turn 1, Threshold is online almost immediately, and Unholy Heat becomes one of the most efficient removal spells in the format. Four copies maindeck; the sideboard gets a fifth.
Source: Scryfall — Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) #145, illustrated by Kari Christensen.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer — The Disruption Engine
Ragavan is the deck’s other one-drop and the card that creates the most awkward games for opponents. As a 2/1 haste monkey, Ragavan connects on turn 1 and creates Treasure on every hit — the Treasure accelerates your Murktide, your Expressive Iteration, your Hall of Storm Giants, or any other big play. Critically, every Treasure you create exiles the top card of your opponent’s library, and you can cast it. That means Ragavan single-handedly strips combo pieces, hate cards, and finishers out of your opponent’s deck. Four copies is correct because the card is so high-impact.
Scalding Tarn — The Manabase Anchor
Scalding Tarn is the deck’s best fetchland and the card that makes the manabase work. The fetch-shock manabase (10 fetches, 4 Steam Vents, 4 Spirebluff Canal, 4 Arid Mesa, 4 Bloodstained Mires) gives the deck perfect color consistency while thinning the deck and feeding the graveyard for Delve and Threshold. Every fetch you crack on turn 1 goes straight into the graveyard — which means Murktide comes down a turn earlier and Unholy Heat hits Threshold a turn sooner. The deck runs two copies and could run more if Scalding Tarn wasn’t $30+.
Source: Scryfall — Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) #254, illustrated by Philip Straub.
The Supporting Cast
The remaining cards are the cheap interaction and selection. Counterspell is the deck’s premier answer to opposing combo and big threats. Lightning Bolt is the cleanest one-mana removal spell ever printed — kills Ragavans, DRCs, and closes out races. Thought Scour fills the graveyard while cycling. Preordain smooths draws and bins lands. Mishra’s Bauble is the deck’s free card selection and graveyard filler. Together, these ten cards form a deck that asks one question: do you have an answer? If not, Murktide wins on turn 4.
How Murktide Wins Games
Murktide follows a repeatable three-stage pattern that closes games by turn 5:
Stage 1 — Deploy a One-Mana Threat (Turn 1) Play Dragon’s Rage Channeler or Ragavan. DRC starts the surveil chain and fills your graveyard for Delve. Ragavan connects and creates Treasure. Either way, you start generating tempo and shaping the game.
Stage 2 — Disrupt and Cast Spells (Turn 2-3) Hold up Counterspell and Lightning Bolt. Cast Expressive Iteration to find your best three cards. Crack fetches to thin the deck. Fill the graveyard with Thought Scour and Bauble triggers. Every spell you cast pushes your graveyard count toward the seven needed to Delve a Murktide for two mana.
Stage 3 — Ride the Murktide to Victory (Turn 3-5) Cast Murktide Regent for cheap. The 9/9 flier attacks for nine flying damage immediately. Most opponents need two removal spells or a sweeper to answer it. Your Counterspells and Bolts protect the Murktide, and a second one closes the game before they recover.
The cleanest opener is: turn 1 Ragavan (opponent takes 2, creates Treasure), turn 2 Expressive Iteration (find Counterspell and Murktide fuel), turn 3 crack two fetches, surveil from DRC, and Delve a Murktide into play. Your opponent has one turn to answer a 9/9 flier — most cannot.
Matchups: What to Expect in Modern
Against Burn (Slightly Unfavored ~45%) Burn races you. Their Eidolon of the Great Revel and Rift Bolt pressure your life total while your Murktide is still in hand. Sideboard in Bonecrusher Giant for extra early blockers and Surgical Extraction to strip their key burn spells. Use your Bolts on their creatures, not their face — the race is closer than it looks.
Against Hammer Time (Favored ~55%) Hammer Time is faster than you game 1, but they fold to a Counterspell on Sigarda’s Aid. Sideboard in Force of Negation and Spell Pierce for the combo turn, and race with your Ragavans. The matchup flips with one free-counterspell up.
Against Tron (Favored ~60%) Tron is too slow. You deploy threats while they assemble Urza lands, and Blood Moon post-sideboard shuts them out of the game. Bring in all three Blood Moons and Surgical Extraction on their key payoffs. Save Counterspell for Karn Liberated.
Against Rakdos Scam (Even ~50%) Scam’s Grief discards your hand and removes your threats. Sideboard in Mystical Dispute to counter their Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Blood Moon to punish their black-heavy manabase. Don’t over-extend into their evoke turns — let them waste a Grief on a Bolt, then deploy Murktide.
Against Living End (Unfavored ~40%) Living End cascades into a board full of fatties and out-races your Murktide. Sideboard in Blood Moon to shut off their mana and Surgical Extraction to strip key cascade payoffs. The matchup is rough — hope they stumble on turn 3.
Sideboard Strategy
The 15-card sideboard is built around four plans:
The key is identifying which plan to deploy. Game 1, you play the tempo shell. Post-board against Tron, you bring in Blood Moon and pivot to land destruction. Against combo, you bring in counterspells and try to interact. Against aggro, you bring in Bonecrusher and stabilize.
- Land Disruption: 3 Blood Moon — for Tron, Greasfang, and other greedy manabases
- Graveyard Hate: 2 Surgical Extraction — for Living End, Phoenix, reanimator
- Sweepers / Tokens: 2 Engineered Explosives — for Hammer Time, Yawmoth, tokens
- Counterspells: 2 Force of Negation, 2 Spell Pierce, 2 Mystical Dispute — to protect your combo turn and counter opposing blue threats
- Extra Threat / Removal: 1 Bonecrusher Giant, 1 Unholy Heat — for Burn and creature mirrors
How to Get Started
Building Murktide in paper costs roughly $700-$1,200 in 2026. The expensive pieces are the manabase (Scalding Tarn, Steam Vents, Spirebluff Canal, Arid Mesa — $15-$40 each), Murktide Regent itself ($30-$50 each), and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer ($50-$70 each). The interaction package — Counterspell, Lightning Bolt, Expressive Iteration, Unholy Heat — is mostly cheap single-digit-dollar cards.
For players who want the full Murktide experience without the price tag, printing the entire 75-card list costs about $70 at MakeProxyCard using bulk tier pricing — Murktide Regent, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Expressive Iteration, Unholy Heat, and every land in the 75 all print at tournament quality with sharp text and accurate colors. The proxy version plays identically to the paper version at your LGS, FNM, or any proxy-friendly Modern event.