Ryan Overturf | Quiet Speculation

Digging Delver, the Columbus Classic, and Hidden Herbalists

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 20:00:47 +0000

Given my poor Standard performance in Columbus this weekend, I got to experience my first foray into the new Modern format at the Star City Games Classic. No Gitaxian Probes, no Golgari-Grave Trolls, and some Fatal Pushes peppered into a handful of decklists. David Ernenwein did a solid job of breaking down the published winning decklists, […]

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A Blue(ish) Moon on the Rise: Grixis Moon

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 19:36:01 +0000

At some point last year I was killing time between rounds and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to jam some Modern. I didn't have a deck on me, but he had both Jund and Blue Moon. "Gimme that Jund deck. I'ma smash you." He was really into Blue Moon, but the deck […]

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Parsing the Gitaxian Probe & Golgari Grave-Troll Bans

Ryan Overturf — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 17:00:58 +0000

I knew they were going to take actions in Standard with the new banlist update—especially with it being moved up to this week. The pessimist in me expected that Modern would be left untouched. To be fair, I enjoyed Modern prior to this announcement, much unlike Miracles Legacy, though I'm very happy that action was […]

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A New Tool for Control: Evaluating Fatal Push

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:00:09 +0000

If you liked "dies to Doom Blade," you're gonna love "dies to Fatal Push!" Few are more surprised than I to see a great black removal spell grace the Aether Revolt spoiler page, though initial evaluations largely seem to be calling the card something it's not. It's a solid card with a role to play, […]

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The State of Delver: Adjusting to Metagame Conditions

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:00:54 +0000

Three of the sixteen players at the Star City Games Players' Championship piloted Grixis Delver for the Modern portion of the tournament. Kevin Jones was basically a lock to play it, but it's telling that he was able to get teammate Jim Davis onto the deck, and that the two were able to rope Brad […]

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The Importance of Identifying Weaknesses

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:30:45 +0000

When you talk to players about their Modern decks, most of them can tell you why they like their deck. Perhaps the play patterns fit their style or they have good things to say about the deck's relative power level. This is good information to have—but identifying a deck's weaknesses is more important when it […]

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Working to Improve: Advice for Effective Playtesting

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 17:00:47 +0000

When you first get into Magic, you'll undoubtedly have a lot of questions to ask. As you traverse your way through your early Limited and Constructed endeavors, you'll only find the number of questions increasing for a time. Magic is a very difficult game, after all. Eventually though, if you want to see competitive success, […]

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Know What You Play: Why Expertise Matters

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:00:06 +0000

Last week I found myself playing a head's-up Cube match against my friend Mike. I was handily crushing him (obviously) and our other friend Kevin asked me, "Do you always just draft blue/red?" It's not my fault! They're the best cards, after all. Throughout the history of Magic there is some truth to there being […]

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Mana Monkey vs. Mechanical Moxen: Understanding Fast Mana

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 17:00:00 +0000

Last week I went against my better judgment and wrote about the Modern banlist. The piece seemed to be generally well received, though as one would expect, there were disagreements. Most seemed to be with regard to levels of understanding or differences of philosophy, though there was one commonly expressed sentiment that I felt deserved its […]

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Examining the Banlist: Complaints, Clarifications & Suggestions

Ryan Overturf — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 00:13:02 +0000

Banlist discussion has become all the rage in recent years. The people who manage the banlist understand that changes should be made rarely and with good reason, though as we all know you can’t please everybody. Players still complain about the banning of Splinter Twin, and there is plenty of discussion over what could be […]

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Innovations in the Current Modern Environment

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 17:00:34 +0000

Modern breaks from time to time, and there was significant concern in recent months that the format had become dominated by linear aggressive decks. If you weren't beating down, you weren't trying. More and more articles and tweets have been popping up calling for bans, unbans, and even overhauls, though recent Modern results have demonstrated […]

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Putting Jeskai Delver to the Test

Ryan Overturf — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 17:00:23 +0000

About a month and a half ago I presented a Jeskai Delver build that I had been tinkering with, and today I have some changes to discuss. I was able to play a 61-person event last weekend, piloting an updated version to the semifinals of the event, where I was ultimately felled by Jund, which […]

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Digging into Dredge: How to Beat ‘Em

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 16:00:39 +0000

When they unbanned Golgari Grave-Troll in Modern, we all knew it was only a matter of time. For about a year we heard little from the Zombie hoard, until the release of Shadows over Innistrad brought us Prized Amalgam and Insolent Neonate. From there it didn't take long for Grave-Troll decks to start popping up […]

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Grixis Delver in the Dredge Metagame

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 17:14:45 +0000

Kaladesh shook up Standard in a big way, and with the results of the Star City Games Milwaukee Open in the books it looks to be making its mark on Modern as well. Early on in the tournament we saw Jeff Hoogland crush Bant Eldrazi with a build of the new Jeskai Aggro deck, though […]

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Breaking Down Bant Eldrazi

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:38:18 +0000

Oath of the Gatewatch significantly changed the face of Modern upon release. Even after the deck that the set spawned was hit by the ban-hammer, the Eldrazi have found a way to claw back to the top of the format. If you checked out the most recent Modern Metagame Breakdown then you no doubt noticed […]

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Role Assignment in Modern

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 17:14:38 +0000

Many years ago, Mike Flores wrote an article titled "Who's the Beatdown?" and the theory contained within this piece has been referenced time and again for nearly two decades. If you want to be successful at competitive Magic, you have to understand how to assign your role in a given matchup. This is no less […]

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The “Best Deck” in Modern

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:00:20 +0000

I see players agonize a lot about what deck they're supposed to be playing in Modern. I get asked questions pertaining to what's good in Modern at the moment, though when it comes to the deck registration sheet, the biggest mistake you can make is not being familiar with the strategy you're bringing to the […]

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Identifying Modern Playables in Kaladesh

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 17:00:03 +0000

In my opinion, recent sets have done a great job of influencing the Modern format. The two-block model increases the need for flagship cards in individual sets, which lines up with the fact that more Standard-legal cards are making their way into Modern. Some recent additions to the format have been less welcome than others, though I […]

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State of the Format: Addressing the Modern Critics

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 17:00:15 +0000

I really enjoy Modern as a format. This wasn't always true, though I think that the format is moving in an increasingly positive direction over time. What I don't care for is the fact that I can't express my interest in Modern without somebody feeling the need to remind me why they think it's a bad […]

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Quelling in Jeskai Delver

Ryan Overturf — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 16:00:08 +0000

When it comes to Delver decks in Modern, Snapcaster Mage is the most obvious second creature to feature, though over the years I've rounded out the threat base in a lot of different ways. Tasigur has been great for me as of late, though I've put Young Pyromancer, Monastery Swiftspear, and even Vedalken Shackles to […]

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