It’s easy to identify with Ravnica’s guilds. The plane owes much of its popularity to that simple fact. In Modern, where color fixing is better than any other constructed format, players have more often aligned themselves with shards or wedges, such as Jund and Jeskai. But these days, decks tend to be defined less by […]
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The competitive drive always burns, no matter how many setbacks I suffer. After all, what’s the point in doing anything unless you strive to improve and grow? So, it’s once more into the breach for the last PPTQ. I failed to win a PPTQ this year, but that didn’t mean giving up on making the […]
Monday’s article examined the recent resurgence of blue-based aggro-control brews in Modern. A number of these decks have put up strong finishes on Magic Online lately, despite the continued presence of better-known aggro-control decks like Jund Rock and Grixis Shadow. More exciting still, these decks appear to be breaking out in a format already polarized […]
Between my banlist testing series and Thanksgiving, it’s been a heavy few weeks. For something lighter, this week I’m investigating the in-game mechanic known as velocity. Velocity is old news to Modern, but recently, a number of high-velocity aggro decks have gained prominence. Why is no mystery, as there is tons of red looting in […]
New aggro decks in Modern tend to be streamlined synergy machines full of critters. But “goodstuff”-style creature decks à la Jund, which wield Modern’s known best cards, do slip through occasionally. Perhaps the best-known example of this phenomenon is Traverse Shadow, a deck that blew Modernites away when it first reared its head over a […]
It is a common trap to look only to hard data when making decisions. After all, numbers are clear and unequivocal. However, they don’t tell the full story of the data. Confounding variables and intangible effects color the results and complicate the data. The data from my latest banlist test indicate that Green Sun’s Zenith […]
After a lengthy hiatus from playing the deck, I brought Colorless Eldrazi Stompy to SCG Regionals last weekend, and duked it out with around 250 players over nine rounds of Modern. I ended up finishing in 9th place. Despite my Top 8 miss, it was exhilarating to again play Colorless at this level. This report […]
Finally, it’s time for everyone’s favorite part of the banlist test: the experimental data. After playing 500 matches with GB Elves over several months, I can finally put some data to the speculation about the impact of unbanning Green Sun’s Zenith. I will be revealing the hard numbers and their statistical significance. As always, these […]
Creeping Chill has been sanctioned for a month now, and Dredge is steadily regaining its former status as format boogeyman. David’s article from last week met the deck’s rise with an optimism I’m no longer sure I can personally espouse: despite the hate, Dredge put three copies into the Top 32 of GP Atlanta and, more […]
It’s finally time for another banlist testing report. Back in May, readers chose Green Sun’s Zenith as the next banned card to test, which I’ll just call GSZ from here on out. I’ve spent the intervening months grinding games and recording results to test its effect on Modern. This week, I’ll explain my test procedure, […]
Looking over the Top 32 lists from last week’s Modern Open, I realized I hadn’t studied Wizards’ 5-0 lists in some time. My wake-up call? Andrew Schneider’s deck, which revolved around a Guilds of Ravnica card that immediately piqued my interest when it was spoiled six weeks ago: Arclight Phoenix. A careful review of each […]
As the metagame shifts, decks rise and fall. Sometimes, that churning is explosive. Such events are exciting and foster discussion and articles. However, it is important to remember to temper excitement with reason. Spikes and oscillations are just that, and only matter if they’re sustained. After Golgari Grave-Troll was banned, Dredge dropped out of sight. […]
Birthing Pod may have held the title for a good while, but Splinter Twin takes the cake as Modern’s most controversial ban ever. Even today, players debate its place on the banlist ad nauseam, a discussion seemingly reinvigorated with each new deck and expansion; Twin’s defense league has persisted to the extent of literally becoming […]
