“I don’t know what this world is coming to,” once hollered The Soul Children. Indeed, society as we once knew it is becoming increasingly unrecognizable. Is the solution to succumb to our basest animal instincts, or to put mind over matter in a true triumph of human spirit? Today’s brew report encapsulates that struggle, as […]

A major cycle in Ikoria is that of companions, which are essentially opt-in Commanders for sanctioned constructed formats like our own. If a certain deckbuilding condition is met, companions may be cast once from outside the game. Except there’s no Commander Zone in Modern, meaning they’ll have to take up a sideboard slot unless they […]

As starved as many are for distractions in this day and age, distractions also abound, and got the better of me this time. Like a silent, scaled predator, this set crept up on me. I had to double-check if Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths was even slated to be sanctioned in Modern. Wait a minute… Behemoths? […]

Stuck at home? No better time to play Magic Online! At least, that’s what a lot of great minds are thinking alike. Today, we’ll see what can come of such a think tank! Midrange, in Black Black, you say? Why, that’s the defining color of midrange! And for much of Modern’s history, you may have […]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Despite recent bannings, the targeted decks are rising up again, reinventing themselves in novel ways. Axing Once Upon a Time from the format heralded an imminent paradigm shift for Amulet Titan, an enduring archetype that had redesigned itself around the free cantrip so drastically as […]

It’s been just over a week since Once Upon a Time got the boot in Modern, so we don’t have a lot of information with which to decisively answer the question on everyone’s mind: where does the format go from here? We do, however, have some data points. Today, we’ll look at a few decks […]

While putting together brew reports since the Oko ban, I picked up on an interesting trend: UGx midrange seems to be catching on. And by UGx midrange, I don’t mean a single deck, à la Jund Rock. I mean the archetype at large, which has opened itself up to a myriad of different plans, packages, […]

Nothing screams “Modern” like a bunch of crazy combos. And that’s exactly what February’s second half had in store for us. Turns out there are some decks that don’t run Arcum’s Astrolabe, after all: the ones that kill out of nowhere! “I Was Inverted” A the “Top” of our list is an inside-out version of […]

Back when Opt was spoiled, I wrote “Opting In: Modern Cantrips,” a piece dissecting the intricacies of and nuances between Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand, and other Modern draw-a-cards. Two years and some change later, Modern is all but crawling with cantrips, albeit not even the ones we had access to in 2017. Today, we’ll […]

Happy Valentine’s Day, Nexus readers! While I know this holiday can be a controversial one, today I’ll invite you to set aside your differences (or crippling loneliness, or whatever) and join me in celebrating the strong bonds between some of the most eligible decks of the year. As Modern again finds its footing, the format […]

Modern is at a crossroads right now. Between changes in banlist philosophy, the arrival and surging popularity of Pioneer, and the breakout success of Magic: Arena, doomsayers are out in force and quick to declare Modern passé. Today, we’ll explore each of the supposed challenges Modern faces and measure its staying power. Sporadic Banlists Towards […]

It’s a whole new Modern, but we’ve got some unfinished business to take care of. Sure, some of the following lists are from after the Oko ban. Others, before. But all of them are from this month, which saw some really neat developments! Simic Urza Don’t call it a comeback! Simic Urza may have lost […]

A scratching at the window. A fluttering of tiny wings. A grating of jagged teeth. Does anyone else hear what I hear? Perhaps 2020 is Delver’s year! Okay, so maybe I’m jumping the gun a bit. But there sure is a lot of Delver in the recent dumps. Today, we’ll look at the different varieties […]