July in brewing? More of the same. More copies of Unearth, to be sure. And more of what’s become known as Modern’s calling card: novel experiments bursting with hot tech. Today we’ll look at some of the month’s breakout strategies: Elemental tribal, White Weenie, and the return of old-school Miracle Grow. Disentombed Again Unearth continues […]
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This is an odd feeling for me. For all its flaws, the PPTQ system meant that grinders like me always had competitive level events to grind and keep our skills sharp. The MCQ system is functionally the same as the old PTQ system, which means very few events and very spread out. Since I’m a […]
It’s maybe been said to the point of platitude at this point, but Modern is a format that rewards deck mastery. At least for me, it’s also way more fun when you can find a deck that ticks all your preference boxes. I’ve been playing Eldrazi Stompy since Thought-Knot Seer was spoiled, and Counter-Cat since […]
With Core 2020 and the London mulligan finally legal, the metagame can begin to take shape. Begin being the key word there. So much has changed in Modern over the past month that it is impossible to predict what exactly is changing. At the end of this week, GP Denver looms. I’m not playing the main […]
Last week, we began taking stock of the novel decks appearing in 5-0 dumps post-Modern Horizons. With a ban in the books and M20 entering the card pool, the coming weeks are sure to feature even more upheaval. But lots of new tech is already out in force. Perhaps June’s innovation bears signs of what’s to […]
I had planned to spend today’s article discussing Hogaakvine: what it does, how it does it, how to play against it, and how I’d build decks given Hogaak’s rise. However, that article was mooted this morning by Wizards. Instead, let’s examine what’s happened and where it leaves Modern. Also, once again, nothing got unbanned. This […]
In “Stitched Together: Early Successes from Horizons,” we looked at some of the breakout cards in Magic’s newest expansion. The month has now ended, and it’s left plenty of new developments in its wake. Today, we’ll look at the veritable explosion of tribal aggro strategies in Modern as well as a few novel takes on […]
With all of Core 2020 spoiled and the prerelease looming, it’s time to wrap up spoiler talk. After the flood of clear playables in Modern Horizons, 2020 is back to being mostly about roleplayers and brewing opportunities. This is typical of a non-Modern-specific release, and much like a typical set, 2020 has plenty of interesting cards that need a […]
Modern Horizons has deeply affected the format, and Core 2020 is now poised to emerge and shake things up further. But behind all that ruckus, a storm has been brewing—rather, I’ve been brewing up a snowstorm. Today we’ll look at my adventures with Ice-Fang Coatl in Temur and Bant. Dreadhorde Snow This shell combined a […]
This is a bit sudden: Modern Horizons has only been out for two weeks, but here we are starting Core 2020 spoilers. The summer release schedule has ensured that Modern is utterly saturated with new cards, and it is struggling to absorb them all. There hasn’t been much time to determine the effects that War of the Spark […]
Core Set 2020 spoilers are under way, and a couple cards have already caught my attention. The one we’ll discuss today is Elvish Reclaimer, a potential 3/4 for one mana… with upside! But can its drawbacks be mitigated effectively? Let’s find out by comparing Reclaimer to Modern’s other one-mana combat creatures, seeing in the process […]
New metagames can be hard to pin down, as fresh cards lead to new brews and new tech, forcing established decks to adapt. This forces the new decks to adapt to the new pressure, and their success or failure creates ripples through the metagame. With War of the Spark and Modern Horizons released in quick succession, Modern […]
Modern Horizons becomes legal today in the paper world, but it’s been tearing up Magic Online for a good week. Wizards has published two events since then: a Modern Challenge and a league. Today, we’ll scour each for the hottest tech stirring up the format. Scourge of the Format? In the very first Horizons-featuring event […]
