If history is any indication, I’m probably not. Splinter Twin is more powerful when assembled, and has more play to it by virtue of the interactive nature of Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite, but I don’t think that’s enough for it to be a more powerful combo. Thopters were among the first devices worked upon by the brothers Urza and Mishra. Activate Thopter Foundry for 1 colourless mana and sacrificing Sword of the Meek. I think if I asked this same question for Legacy and the two options were Top/Counterbalance and Exarch/Twin, Top/Counterbalance would win by an enormous margin, despite Exarch/Twin being a more powerful combo when successfully executed. Regardless of what WotC thinks, I’m curious as to which of these combos is actually more oppressive in Modern. All Thopters are artifact creatures. Secondly, there are just as many cards that interact favorably with artifacts as there are that interact negatively. Certainly, you can play other cards like Muddle the Mixture to find the combo, but you’re not obligated to play those kinds of cards, and it’s no different than how Twin decks can play supporting pieces like Spellskite or Dispel. Those cards all do nothing against Thopter/Sword. Magic's ornithopters are based on the real world devices of the same name. Almost every deck plays cards like Lightning Bolt, Terminate, Path to Exile, etc. Thopter is a creature type used for cards depicting small flying devices. You can bluff them when you don’t have them, you can represent having other cards, people play in fear of the combo, it introduces a surprise element to the combo, and you’re not locked into spending your turn playing those cards if you need to instead play other things. At least, that’s the argument in favor of Twin being more mana efficient. The cards that beat Thopter/Sword are generally sideboard cards, like Ancient Grudge or Stony Silence. Updated Jun 09, 2019 by mcg93 using our MTG Deck Builder. Decks that are trying to win with creatures, which is most decks in Modern, basically stand no shot of successfully beating this combo. Another huge edge for Thopter/Sword is that there is no risk in going for the combo. If you have a Sword of the Meek in play and cast Thopter Foundry, you’re not risking anything. The implication is that either WotC feels like Splinter Twin is the more egregious of the two, or perhaps they just want to mix things up. Which combo is better in Modern? Only two fake words were created using the "thopter" basis (Roterothopter and Telethopter), before card names started referring to Thopters directly: Thopter Squadron was the first to solidify Thopter as the generic name for these devices. People are going to figure out how to build decks around this combo, and when they do, it’s going to be a big deal in Modern. Instead, I’ll break down some of the commonly-included cards that I don’t play in the archetype and why they’ve been left on the sidelines. Typically, this form of disruption involves a removal spell on the creature, which means you’re down 7 mana and 2 cards, and in order to reassemble the combo, you have to invest another 7 mana and another 2 cards. At most, it represents 8 cards in the deck. It’s certainly possible that I worded this question poorly. Splinter Twin also has a high rate of failure. Aether-fueled thopters are fabricated and used in large quantities on Kaladesh, the home plane of Chandra Nalaar. Splinter Twin was banned, and one cycle later Sword of the Meek was unbanned. Twin has a number of advantages on Thopter/Sword. For one, you can play Deceiver Exarch or Pestermite at instant speed. BBD started playing Magic competitively in 2012 and since then has been driven to succeed at the Professional level, increasing his efforts each year. But with the ban of Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis looming I don’t want to spend too much mental energy on a dead format.