Now that the entire Battle for Zendikar set is revealed, I’m going to spend some time analyzing a deck that has much to benefit from BFZ’s spoils: the Allies archetype. Recently discussed by Sheridan, Allies is a deck that has already had some success in the PPTQ scene. A Naya Allies build also had recent success […]
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What’s up guys! Welcome to Episode 1 of a new weekly video series here on Modern Nexus, where I take a Modern archetype and break down the decklist, basic strategy, tips, sideboard, and finer points and run it through an event on MTGO! This video series will almost always be two parts (video and text), […]
As a competitive player and avid brewer, I always look forward to spoiler season. I check the spoiler page at midnight and then again at 5 AM even though there’s almost certainly nothing new. Some moments of elation justify this diligence; I remember my head exploding when Hooting Mandrills was spoiled. So it hurts to say that Battle for Zendikar’s […]
The Scene: I was enjoying my weekend, minding my own business, working my way through the Battle for Zendikar spoiler in cool, calm, collected fashion. Aside for a momentary lapse in reading ability, I was relatively under control, ready to calmly burst dreams and inform readers exactly why Shambling Vent is unimpressive at best. Yeah, […]
You don’t need to play a tier 1 Modern deck to win a major tournament. Michael Malone knew this back in June when he led his company of Elves to victory in Charlotte, taking down a field of Affinity, Burn, and Jund. Gerard Fabiano’s Sultai Control was another entry in the list of rogue tournament finishers, […]
It’s spoiler season once again and the Battle for Zendikar previews are trickling in. While there are many interesting cards for Limited and Standard that are coming out of the woodwork, what about for Modern? Thanks to the Eldrazi theme, Battle for Zendikar has a lot of high cost spells and creatures. As I’ll talk about later, […]
Randall Thompson has been working on and playing Lantern Control since March of 2013, working alongside many other architects of the deck, including GP Oklahoma City winner Zac Elsik, in the MTGSalvation forums. Lantern Control has recently attained notoriety in the Modern community. The existence and nature of the deck is often one that sparks debate and […]
Five hours. That’s how long it would take me and a band of Modern-loving francophones to reach Toronto in Milkman’s big van. It took much longer. After an airport shuttle from the hotel, a busride from the airport, and a yellow-line subway jaunt, I arrive at my buddy’s Chinatown apartment five hours late. He’d hit the town without me, so […]
Another week, another giant leap forward. This past weekend Modern was showcased at the SCG Open Series in Cincinnati. This is very timely since this weekend is an even bigger Modern event in Grand Prix Oklahoma City. You would think that players looking for an edge would be pouring over the results looking for new tech […]
Magic has seen unprecedented growth over the last five years. Every year more and more players pick up the game, buy cards, and attend events. The logical first step is Standard with its smaller card pool and cheaper barrier to entry. With Modern being perceived as the “supported” eternal format between Modern Masters and active Banned List management, however, […]
Modern offseasons lead to weird metagames. Following the nonstop action in the June Grand Prix circuit, Pro-level Modern mostly wound down for the rest of the summer, a lull broken only by the SCG Modern Open in Charlotte. August saw a ton of PPTQs, IQs, and other regional events, but each had a different local flavor and […]
This week marks my fourth piece on deck archetypes, and it looks to be the most fun. Digging for specific answers with Serum Visions has taught me to be goal-oriented in other areas of my life. So with the basics laid out, we’ll focus on my favorite part of the theorizing process: application! We all know I can’t go […]
This past weekend was an exciting one for Modern. While the SCG Invitational was Standard/Legacy, and the World Championships was what felt like every format invented ever (sidebar: really hoping for a Tiny Leaders/Commander Pro Tour next year) Modern still got some love in the form of four rounds of the 24 best players in […]
