The Beginner’s Guide series offers advice to new to Modern players and dispels common myths about the format’s workings. This week, inspired by some consistent misplays I’ve observed, I am going to be tackling Modern’s control decks. There appears to be a perception that they’re something to tread carefully around. But control is just another […]
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How many times have you heard something you disagree with? How often has it pertained to Modern? My answer to both questions is plenty. Lately, none spur me into debate more than the claims that countermagic is bad and midrange is dead. In this article, we’ll debunk each of these myths by examining theory, decklists, […]
Every player has their own biases and preferences when it comes to deck selection. There’s nothing wrong with playing to strengths, and it is important to remember that Magic is a game. You have more fun playing something you enjoy. However, this goes both ways, and you can dislike a deck for less-than-rational reasons. I have […]
Along with Affinity, Burn and Infect once made up the Holy Trinity of blitzing wins in Modern. Times have certainly changed. The Affinity we knew now relinquishes most of its shares to Hardened Scales; Infect’s loss of Gitaxian Probe and inherent softness to Fatal Push put a serious dent in its former reign; Burn has […]
The metagame constantly cycles and decks rise and fall. Last year, Grixis Death’s Shadow was the deck-to-beat in Modern; today, it’s Humans. Sometimes, this fluctuation occurs because of players reacting to new decks or trends; sometimes, it’s because of new printings. With the release of Guilds of Ravnica, Modern seems poised for a major shift thanks to […]
I’m always brewing new Modern decks, especially when spoiler season rolls around. After the novelty wears off, I inevitably find myself pulled back to my favorite card combinations. Goyfs, Bolts, cantrips; Temples, Mimics, Seers. I believe the decks that best house these respective combinations are Counter-Cat and Colorless Eldrazi Stompy, both of which I’ve tuned […]
In the vast card pool of Modern, there are quite a few hidden gems that are either underplayed or could see play in other strategies. Decks like Death’s Shadow and KCI existed for a long time before being discovered. This leads me to believe there are plenty of other undiscovered viable decks lurking in the […]
There’s an old saw in Standard: play the best deck with the best cards. Standard is about the cardpool’s restrictions and the disparities in card power. Therefore, it makes sense to only play the most powerful cards, or to play as many as can work together. Modern’s far greater size means there are far more options […]
I’ve had lots on my plate the last few weeks, including finally installing Magic Online on my Macintosh and playing in a couple of paper PPTQs for old-time’s sake. While life passed me by as I struggled to 5-0 a competitive league, as much an exercise in beating the program’s hostile interface as besting my opponents, […]
There was much debate a little while back about the Modern bannings. Should Mox Opal get the axe? Is the card selection of Ancient Stirrings too good for Modern? I saw a lot of people making arguments on either side, but I did not see a lot of solid evidence for either case. It was […]
Oftentimes, new mechanics are set aside, to be discussed only in terms of their impact on cards. Today, I am going to flip the script and go into detail about surveil. This mechanic is the most interesting part of Guilds of Ravnica to me, and while it may not happen immediately, I expect that it will […]
For once, an entire set spoiler is up before my Friday article goes live. So I’m happy to present this list of the juiciest Modern standouts in Guilds of Ravnica! Granted, the very juicy ones are already high on everyone’s radar. But like most Standard sets of seasons past, this expansion is still packed with […]
Spoiler season is one of my favorite times of the year. The part of Magic I enjoy most is deckbuilding, and spoiler season is ripe for brainstorming and testing new deck ideas. Whilst pouring over the early spoilers, three words utterly stunned me: “Destroy target permanent.” Those three words are on a two-mana instant called […]
