by Johnny Cycles, May 9th, 2025
Hello! Welcome to another edition of Dragons in Modern! Tarkir: Dragonstorm has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve already tested out Magmatic Hellkite and Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant. The Mono Red deck I played them in was super fun and very competitive. For my second Dragons deck from the latest set, I’m trying out what I consider the best (read most playable) mythic Dragon – Shiko, Paragon of the Way.
When Shiko, Paragon of the Way enters, it copies any nonland card in our graveyard with mana value 3 or less. Let’s take a moment and soak that in…
Now, let’s talk about what this card is not.
It’s no Sun Titan. In fact, it’s better than Sun Titan. It lets us target any nonland spell, not just permanents. So while Sun Titan can snag us a Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, for example, Shiko, Paragon of the Way can target Lightning Bolt. Or Molten Rain. Or Consider.
And, it’s no Snapcaster Mage for the opposite reason. Instead of only targeting cards like Lightning Bolt and Counterspell, we can get nonland permanents like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Seasoned Pyromancer back from the graveyard.
Of course, Shiko, Paragon of the Way does have its drawbacks. First, we’re limited to cards that cost 3 mana or less. In a format like Modern, though, this is hardly a drawback. Second, unlike Sun Titan, which puts permanents back on the battlefield, Shiko exiles the card from our graveyard, then allows us to cast a copy of the exiled card for free. That’s a lot of new legalese for a fairly common effect. I’m not sure why Wizards felt the need to hamstring a 5-mana mythic, but I assume they were concerned about infinite loops or something.
Regardless, what this means is that if we target a card like Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury, then we lose that card from our graveyard forever and won’t be able to cast it for its escape cost later. It also means that we have to pay all alternate mana costs, as well. Thus, we can’t cheat in Abhorrent Oculus with Shiko. I learned this the hard way.
Shiko, Paragon of the Way is a super fun card that is begging to be built around. Modern is ripe with powerful 2- and 3-drops (not to mention all those pushed 1-drops) for us to try out with this new mythic Dragon.
Furthermore, given Shiko’s ability to target any nonland card means we have multiple archetypes to test her (him?) in. Is this effect better in a good stuff deck looking to abuse enter effects? Or is it better as a top-end finisher in a Control build? Do we want to go all in on the blink strategy, or do we want to take a more go-wide, aggressive approach?
For the purposes of this article, I’ve tried out a few of these approaches. Here’s the first one:
Decklist – Shiko, Paragon of the Way and 3-Drop Tribal
by Johnny Cycles
Format: Modern
Creatures (29)
| 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer | |
| 4 Ajani, Nacatl Pariah | |
| 4 White Orchid Phantom | |
| 3 Mantis Rider | |
| 4 Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury | |
| 2 Seasoned Pyromancer | |
| 4 Skyclave Apparition | |
| 4 Shiko, Paragon of the Way |
Spells (8)
| 4 Lightning Bolt | |
| 4 Strike it Rich |
Lands (23)
Sideboard (15)
| 2 Deafening Silence | |
| 3 Meltdown | |
| 2 Counterspell | |
| 2 Rest in Peace | |
| 2 Wear/Tear | / |
| 4 Magmatic Hellkite |
Deck Tech
A quick note on the decklist above. I tested a variety of 3-drops over the course of my matches. Thus, some games you’ll see Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Brutal Cathar, among a few others. I also tried Guide of Souls at least once over Strike it Rich, but was unimpressed with the 1-drop in our build.
Primary Game Plan
We’re looking to play value creatures up the curve, then slam a Shiko, Paragon of the Way to get back whatever our best threat is that’s in the yard. We are definitely a Midrange strategy looking to outvalue our opponents in a format ripe with high-value decks.
I’ve put a primacy on cards with ETBs, since we want more value than simply a body from our Shiko trigger. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah can win games all by himself, as can Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury. White Orchid Phantom is a powerful answer to the problematic lands dominating the format.
We’re also running Seasoned Pyromancer to draw cards and put bodies on the battlefield. I tested out Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, but I think Seasoned Pyromancer gives us what we want and need immediately, versus waiting a turn to dig for answers or fill our graveyard with more targets.
Skyclave Apparition is a catch-all against most of the problematic permanents in the format.
Mantis Rider is the odd 3-drop out that comes with no ETB effect. Unless, of course, you count it’s hasty evasion as dealing 3 damage when it enters. Playing this card makes my janky heart happy, but it’s also proven to be a powerful, must-answer threat.
Since we play so many 3-drops, not to mention a 5-drop we want to cast early and often, we’re playing Strike It Rich and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to help ramp us into them. Ragavan, of course, can win games nearly by himself, too, which gives us one more must-answer threat that will hopefully mean our opponent doesn’t have an answer for something like Mantis Rider later.
Sideboard
Nothing too crazy here, unless you consider Magmatic Hellkite. Yes, it’s my new favorite card, but that’s not the only reason I’m playing it. Besides why I love this card (an evasive finisher that punishes greedy lands), I’m including it as a legitimate swap for Shiko, Paragon of the Way when we have to bring in our own graveyard hate or are worried about our opponent’s.
Deafening Silence is a nod towards Storm, but I didn’t play it a single time. It’s possible we should bring it in against the new Izzet Cori-Steel Cutter decks that have cropped up, but I didn’t run into one of those until I was playing my Blink version of this deck.
Otherwise, we’re skewing towards hating on Affinity, while the two copies of Counterspell can be brought in to fight the unfair decks.
Per usual, though, the sideboard should be tweaked based on the meta.
Match 1 vs. Rakdos Modern Horizons
Match 2 vs. Gruul Midrange
Match 3 vs. Dredge
Match 4 vs. Reanimator
Match 5 vs. Amulet Titan
Match 6 vs. Domain Zoo
Match 7 vs. Hardened Scales
Match 8 vs. Seismic Assault
Match 9 vs. Ketramose Blink
Overall Record: 5-4
Impressions from Match Play
Overall, the deck was a lot of fun to play! It is definitely a fair (by Modern’s standards) Midrange deck that can grind out victories with all of its value. But since it’s playing fairly, even if with a number of the format’s best cards, there are some match-ups where we are heavily favored to lose game 1 and desperately need our sideboard cards to have a chance games 2 and 3 (looking at you, Dredge).
There were also several games where I thought we were in a solid spot to pull out the victory only to watch our opponent either have the perfect cards to answer our board or draw them. Some of this is variance, of course, but some of it felt like our Midrange synergies were just a little too underpowered.
Still, we’re playing powerful cards of our own that can hate on many of the field’s best decks. Mantis Rider was a sneaky good card that put a clock on our opponent and forced an answer. White Orchid Phantom continues to impress. Strike It Rich ramped us nicely. And Shiko, Paragon of the Way, the cornerstone of our deck, had its moments.
All in all, the deck was competitive and fun. If you like playing powerful cards up the curve (well, no 4 drops…), then this deck is a great option for you! Especially since it is so customizable, as I discuss above and as I am about to show you!
New Directions
With so many playable and powerful cards in the 1- to 3-mana range for us to choose from, Shiko, Paragon of the Way is begging to be built around in more than a simple Midrange deck. Here are two more approaches we could take, instead.
Decklist – Shiko Control
by Johnny Cycles
Format: Modern
Creatures (14)
| 3 Abhorrent Oculus | |
| 3 Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury | |
| 4 Seasoned Pyromancer | |
| 4 Shiko, Paragon of the Way |
Spells (23)
| 4 Consider | |
| 4 Lightning Bolt | |
| 2 Spell Pierce | |
| 1 Spell Snare | |
| 1 Stern Scolding | |
| 4 Counterspell | |
| 2 Force of Negation | |
| 1 Sink into Stupor | |
| 2 Supreme Verdict | |
| 2 Lórien Revealed |
Enchantments (2)
| 2 Temporary Lockdown |
Lands (21) + 1 mfdc
Sideboard (15)
| 1 Spell Snare | |
| 1 Stern Scolding | |
| 3 Rest in Peace | |
| 4 White Orchid Phantom | |
| 1 Brotherhood’s End | |
| 3 Geist of Saint Traft | |
| 2 Solitude |
Deck Tech
Match 1 vs. Gruul Midrange
Match 2 vs. Hammertime
Match 3 vs. Izzet
Overall Record: 1-2
Control is a tough deck for me to pilot in Modern (and in general), but I think there is something here if you like this archetype and want to use Shiko, Paragon of the Way as both your finisher and value engine. I do think traditional draw-go Control isn’t overly represented in the format because it’s fighting an uphill battle against the power creep of Modern Horizons creatures. Still, the archetype hasn’t gone away for a reason. We have the tools to compete.
What about still a different approach?
Decklist – Shiko Blink
by Johnny Cycles
Format: Modern
Creatures (27)
| 4 Ajani, Nacatl Pariah | |
| 4 Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd | |
| 4 White Orchid Phantom | |
| 3 Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury | |
| 4 Overlord of the Floodpits | |
| 4 Shiko, Paragon of the Way | |
| 4 Solitude |
Spells (12)
| 4 Consider | |
| 4 Ephemerate | |
| 4 Lightning Bolt |
Lands (21)
| 2 Arid Mesa | |
| 2 Elegant Parlor | |
| 2 Flooded Strand | |
| 2 Hallowed Fountain | |
| 1 Island | |
| 2 Meticulous Archive | |
| 1 Mountain | |
| 1 Plains | |
| 2 Sacred Foundry | |
| 4 Scalding Tarn | |
| 1 Steam Vents | |
| 1 Thundering Falls |
Sideboard (15)
| 3 Meltdown | |
| 3 Lightning Helix | |
| 3 Rest in Peace | |
| 2 Pillage | |
| 2 Temporary Lockdown | |
| 2 Wear/Tear | / |
Deck Tech
Match 1 vs. Eldrazi Combo
Match 2 vs. Starfield Enchantments
Match 3 vs. U/B Control
Overall Record: 1-2
Focusing more on blinking our creatures, both Shiko and its targets, skews our deck more towards the Orzhov Blink deck that we played against with our first version of the build. If you like this strategy, then I think Shiko, Paragon of the Way offers an additional target to blink, while bringing extra value as both a finisher and a psuedo blinker, itself.
Conclusion
Shiko, Paragon of the Way is an alluring new mythic Dragon begging to be built around. The play pattern and card selection it incentivizes are both fun and straightforward. We play creatures with ETBs and return them with a 4/5 evasive beater. If you like this kind of fair, Midrange strategy and you like Dragons, then give this deck a try!
Or, if you’re looking to go in a different direction, I think Shiko, Paragon of the Way is a highly flexible card and can be an enabler for many strategies. I’ve shown some of this potential in the two additional decks (Control and Blink) I highlight above. However, I have not even tried Shiko in an aggressive go-wide strategy or in a Combo deck that can use Shiko as a source of redundancy.
Truth time. 5 mana is a lot in Modern. The hard question we have to ask is, would any of the above decks be better without Shiko, Paragon of the Way? Would they be strictly better with another playset of any number of Modern (Horizons) staples? And, unfortunately, the answer is, yes, they would be better.
Shiko, Paragon of the Way is a powerful top-end threat, but power creep is such that decks don’t need 5-drop fair creatures to compete. Either keep your curve low and take advantage of all those cheap creatures with whole blocks of text that dominate the format, or go bigger and play truly game-changing threats as your top end.
But, if you’re like me and love Dragons, play this deck for the fun of it. It can compete with the best decks in the format. And we even got to watch Shiko, Paragon of the Way win a few games other cards might not!
As always, thanks for reading and watching! I’ll give Shiko a shot in Pioneer at some point in the future, but for now, it’s time to try a new deck for me…Gruul Ponza!
