Warp World Ramp

[CaptainTwiddle]

So, this deck started as an attempt to build something "fun," not necessarily competitive. However, I was surprised by how powerful it actually ended up being. I haven't tested a thorough gauntlet against skilled players, but so far, it has been performing better than anticipated. Let's start with the list:

Warp World
CREATURES
4 Arbor Elf
2 Chancellor of the Forge
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
3 Eternal Witness
1 Hornet Queen
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Nest Invader
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Primeval Titan
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
3 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Urabrask the Hidden
4 Wood Elves
SPELLS
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Warp World
LAND
5 Forest
3 Mountain
1 Cinder Glade
1 Fire-lit Thicket
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Khalni Garden
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Stomping Ground
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Basically, this is a Red/Green ramp deck. You can just play the ramp into fatties game and can get wins in that fashion. A number of decks in Modern aren't well suited to dealing with creatures the size of this deck's top end or fighting through the tokens it produces. Warp World is generally an "I win" spell. The entire deck, with the exception of the 3 copies of Warp World itself, consists of permanents that can be put into play via Warp World. The card choices are based on ramping your mana while adding permanents to the board. It's possible to Warp on turn 3. When this happens, you generally end up with a vastly superior board state to your opponent or you win on the spot by:

-attacking with a lethal Craterhoof Behemoth, along with any goblins created by Chancellor of the Forge or potentially all of your creatures, if you hit Urabrask the Hidden
-generating a ton of mana via Lotus Cobra landfall triggers and activating Siege-Gang Commander to hurl goblins at your opponent (also provided by Chancellor of the Forge)
-generating lethal triggers from Purphoros, God of the Forge (notable that Purphoros's ability does not target)

You can also Warp into Eternal Witness to rebuy your Warp World and immediately recast it with an increased permanent count.

Sideboard (possible configuration)
1 Acidic Slime
1 Nullmage Shepherd > anti-artifact/enchantment package. Bogles can be a really rough match, as they're fast and can be Warped into a huge, lifelinking creature
1 Reclamation Sage
3 Blood Moon - hoses many decks without much symmetrical damage, playable on turn 2 with Arbor Elf or Utopia Sprawl
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All - to force Warp World through counters, fetchable with Primeval Titan
1 Defense Grid - counterspell protection and hate against Splinter Twin combo
1 Garruk Relentless - removal against small creatures/hatebears, makes permanents, tutors for value
2 Kitchen Finks - anti-aggro, a permanent that returns to play after being killed once
1 Thragtusk - trumps aggressive decks that aren't necessarily going wide, provides added ability to grind, leaves a token behind if Warped away
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed - anti-control, storm, etc.
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - not sure about this inclusion, have mostly been boarding it in whenever I bring in Zealous Conscripts
1 Zealous Conscripts - powerful card with interesting utility in this deck specifically; after Warping against Tron you can steal an Eldrazi, against Twin you can steal a Deceiver Exarch that they had to enchant with Splinter Twin, or you can give one of your own Primeval Titans haste and proceed to pull further ahead

Pros of the deck:
-It's unexpected and your opponent won't be ready for many of the cards you play.
-While many of the cards included are not commonly played in the format, they are powerful nonetheless.
-The deck passes the "turn 4" test.

Cons of the deck:
-The deck has no immediate means of disrupting decks which are not based on winning through combat.
-There isn't a lot of card draw/filtering available to the strategy. (Mandatory ETB draw triggers like that of Elvish Visionary are a potential liability, as Warping for a large number may cause you to deck yourself.)
-Warp World can be dangerous. While the deck is designed to come out on the winning side of a Warp, it's possible to just Warp into lands and mana creatures or Warp your opponent into something like Deceiver Exarch + Splinter Twin.
-It's unclear that this strategy offers anything of significantly better value than something like R/G Scapeshift or Tron.

Possible considerations for further development:
It would be very feasible to include additional colors in the deck. The question becomes whether or not it's worth it. My original build of a Warp World deck was in SOA/ZEN Standard and was 5-color, but that had more to do with the need to reach into other colors for certain effects (e.g. Eternal Witness was not in Standard, so I was playing Mnemonic Wall for Warp recursion, Wall of Omens for draw, and Overgrown Battlement for ramp, while Ob Nixilis, the Fallen was a win-con that didn't require attacking). You could splash white for Restoration Angel and Wall of Omens, which is probably preferable to Elvish Visionary if you want card draw, as the early defense is desirable.

[Admiral_Arzar]

This seems interesting. I would recommend having 1-2 copies of Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the 75 just to force Warp World through a counterwall (control auto-loses if the card resolves, but getting it to resolve is the problem). On the "dudes that attack but also make mana" front, Kozilek's Predator seems not bad as a double helping of Nest Invader. Thundermaw Hellkite seems pretty good as it's a big guy with haste that just happens to kill things like Pestermite and Vendilion Clique.

EDIT: On the Hellkite front, Bogardan Hellkite and Dragonlord Atarka are also huge bombs to ramp into, and are insane off of Warp World (a la Dragonstorm).

[AlterEgo]

Omnath says, "whenever an elemental you control dies".
Why not play him 4x to maximize the chance - all you need then is a free sac outlet.

even if you only hit 1 Omnath plus 6 lands and a sac outlet, that is (6+Omnath)x3 = 21 damage

Dream situation: Warp hits all 4 -> 3 of them die -> each of the 4 sees 3 elementals die -> 4x3x3 = 36 damage - instant win
a little more likely: Warp hits 3 -> 2 of them die -> each of the 3 sees 2 elementals die -> 3x2x3 = 18 damage -> sac 1 more Elemental to make it 21 damage

Just theorizing though - I might be horribly wrong.

[CaptainTwiddle]

This seems interesting. I would recommend having 1-2 copies of Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the 75 just to force Warp World through a counterwall (control auto-loses if the card resolves, but getting it to resolve is the problem). On the "dudes that attack but also make mana" front, Kozilek's Predator seems not bad as a double helping of Nest Invader. Thundermaw Hellkite seems pretty good as it's a big guy with haste that just happens to kill things like Pestermite and Vendilion Clique.

EDIT: On the Hellkite front, Bogardan Hellkite and Dragonlord Atarka are also huge bombs to ramp into, and are insane off of Warp World (a la Dragonstorm).

I've definitely thought about Boseiju. I don't know if I'd just want it in the board or if a single copy main would be worth it (I do have Primeval Titan to find it...assuming the Titan can resolve). Kozilek's Predator was in the initial list, but I cut it as 4 mana is an odd spot on the curve, as you tend to jump past it; Siege-Gang just works better when you have an extra mana, and Nest Invader is a better mana to bodies value that allows multiple spells in the early turns. Thundermaw was also considered. I like it a lot and, if the mirror match ever became a consideration, I think it would be great for trumping opposing Hornet Queen tokens. The only strike against it is that it doesn't really play into the Warp plan very well, as it's 5 mana for a single permanent (even though it's a very, very good permanent). Bogardan Hellkite and Dragonlord Atarka weren't cards I considered. They're powerful, but I think the 7 mana options that I'm playing are just better suited to the strategy, as they are powerful cards that tend to bring friends to the party.

Omnath says, "whenever an elemental you control dies".
Why not play him 4x to maximize the chance - all you need then is a free sac outlet.

even if you only hit 1 Omnath plus 6 lands and a sac outlet, that is (6+Omnath)x3 = 21 damage

Dream situation: Warp hits all 4 -> 3 of them die -> each of the 4 sees 3 elementals die -> 4x3x3 = 36 damage - instant win
a little more likely: Warp hits 3 -> 2 of them die -> each of the 3 sees 2 elementals die -> 3x2x3 = 18 damage -> sac 1 more Elemental to make it 21 damage

Just theorizing though - I might be horribly wrong.

This is an interesting thought and I guess I don't really know how it would work until I play it out. The main reason I only have the 1 copy is because I wanted to diversify my options and if I ran a full set of Omnath, I'd have to cut the other bombs. That makes the deck more susceptible to things like Slaughter Games, Surgical Extraction, etc. Also, Omnath can be a bit slow if played out directly instead of via Warp. Plus, there is the possibility of wiffing on enough lands/other Omnath to have lethal. Maybe if I had a worthwhile sacrifice outlet (I had considered Magmaw, as a port from my older Standard list, that happens to be another elemental that allows you to sac things, but it seems kind of clunky. In the Standard version, I was playing Oblivion Ring which allowed for really bizarre stacks, exiling your own Seige-Gangs, then the O-Ring to generate more goblins, etc.).

Honestly, I wasn't mentally prepared to be thinking this much about the deck. I really just thought it was going to be something fun and casual, but it seems like it could be more. Regardless of how "good" the deck is, it's super fun. I played against R/G Tron last night and had a turn 3 Warp which gave my opponent an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. They seemed pretty excited, until I trampled over their Eldrazi monster with a 36 power Craterhoof. I've also been able to just ramp into a lethal Craterhoof attack on turn 3. It makes me think a second copy of the Hoof might be a good idea, but again, it needs friends to really do it's work.

*EDIT* - adding some addition thoughts.

I've been testing some tweaks since I posted this. Currently, I'm debating what the correct number of Warp World is to actually include. It's a card you want to see most games, but not likely in multiples. 4 is definitely too many. 3 felt pretty good. I've currently cut down to 2 to make room for another awesome addition that I had initially considered and then brushed off for some reason: Chancellor of the Forge. I really like Chancellor. It is incredibly potent when you Warp into along with Craterhoof and any number of other creatures. It provides you several, if not many, additional bodies that have haste, which is really nice. Additionally, the tokens it makes are Goblins, so there is additional synergy with Siege-Gang Commander. The ability to make a Goblin token for free if it's in your opening hand is cute, but more useful than it make seem. If nothing else, the chump blocker can buy you an extra turn to go off or can be something for a Siege-Gang to chuck at opposing problem creatures while you're setting up. I'm tempted to let Chancellor, possibly a second copy, take the slot occupied by Omnath, Locus of Rage. Omnath is better if you can't win immediately, as he usually creates a wall that can't be attacked into, but Chancellor seems more likely to just provide an immediate win. Chancellor is also arguably better than Omnath if hard cast the turn prior to a Warp.

[CaptainTwiddle]

Edited OP with updated decklist and current sideboard.

Most recent addition was Purphoros, God of the Forge, which is another win-con that happens to have a (relatively) low mana cost (I had specifically felt like I wanted one additional 4-drop). Purphoros allows you to deal a lot of damage without expending extra mana or sacrificing permanents. As such, he makes recurring Warp World more beneficial. The fact that his damage ability doesn't target may be relevant in certain situations and his activated ability sort of works as a counterpart to Kessig Wolf Run, allowing you to go wide (usually with Chancellor of the Forge's goblins) instead of tall. Being indestructible adds another layer of security, especially when Warping into the unknown.

Next change to test: Adjusting the mana base to include the 8th G/x fetchland and a single copy of Dryad Arbor. I generally don't like Dryad Arbor that much, as I hate to draw it, but I love having it in the deck. Being able to fetch it (with a fetchland or Primeval Titan) after a resolved Warp to add to your creature count for Craterhoof/Chancellor/Purphoros seems rather nice. It may be the case that the inclusion of Dryad Arbor causes more clunky opening hands than it provides the final push over the top to win, but it seems like that will take a lot of testing to determine (Being able to fetch it after Warping will come up often, but many times it will likely be irrelevant, as you'll be winning by miles. However, sometimes, adding that one extra body translates into enough extra damage to seal the game when having to pass the turn would result in a lethal back-swing.).

[tarmogoat]

The deck seems to have a horrible matchup against all UR variants (Remand and Pyroclasm). I'd suggest some number of Expedition Map (counts as a permanent) or Sylvan Scrying to find either Cavern of Souls (For Titan, Behemoth or Chancellor) or Boseiju, Who Shelters All to cast Warp World.

[CaptainTwiddle]

The deck seems to have a horrible matchup against all UR variants (Remand and Pyroclasm). I'd suggest some number of Expedition Map (counts as a permanent) or Sylvan Scrying to find either Cavern of Souls (For Titan, Behemoth or Chancellor) or Boseiju, Who Shelters All to cast Warp World.

This is a fair assessment. I haven't played much against Blue/counterspell decks much. I think the current/default plan is to just jam more things than they can counter and attack with a motley crew of elves, snakes, and goblins. Resolving your payoff spells will likely be difficult. I've considered Vexing Shusher, Dosan the Falling Leaf, Leyline of Lifeforce, and even Spellbreaker Behemoth for the board. Of those, only Shusher & Dosan can actually force through a Warp World. Boseiju, Who Shelters All is in my current board, but I'm wondering if forcing Warp is really as important as forcing your creatures. If you resolve Warp against a spell-heavy deck, you basically just win, so it's a must counter for them. If you can tax their counters on the buildup, they may just be depleted by that point. Alternatively, if your creatures are resolving, those are things they need to answer too.

Pyroclasm, and similar effects, can be very rough for this deck, as having your first 2-3 turns worth of bodies get swept can really take away our steam, unless you're able to get back on board with something like Siege-Gang Commander, which isn't unreasonable, but not guaranteed. The only deck I've really had to deal with playing Pyroclasm is R/G Tron, and that match is just a race, pure and simple. If they beat you to a payoff card (Karn/Ugin), it's usually game over. If you Warp them into Oblivion Stone and sufficient lands, unless you hit lethal Purphoros triggers, it's over.

[rufus]

Since you're looking to ramp up to 8 mana, Blighted Woodland could be a decent card for you.

There are a bunch of other interesting landfall possibilities like Akoum Hellkite and Roil Elemental. (Alas, landfall enchantments like Retreat to Emeria won't work with warp world.)

How does it look if you go blue with Mass Polymorph? Master of Waves is a pretty good token maker, and you can sneak in some UUU value cards like Azami Lady of Scrolls or Magus of the Future.