In case you missed the news yesterday, Inquisition of Kozilek is back! Yes, IoK is being upgraded to a rare for its printing with brand-new art in Conspiracy: Take the Crown, aka Conspiracy 2. While cards from this set are not usually Modern-legal, this time we have a reprint that is obviously geared toward the Modern crowd. Moderners have […]

Sometimes, innovation takes time. Endless nights of preparation, countless hours of practice, hundreds of games contributing to spreadsheets of statistics that inform close, calculated changes. In Magic (and Modern especially), this is the most common form of innovation we see. Death’s Shadow Zoo lists tend to fall in one of two camps, but within those […]

In my early experiments with delirium, I found Tarfire invaluable as a card that efficiently stocked the graveyard with card types. Its especially Modern-relevant effect soon made the card an obvious include in most of my Traverse the Ulvenwald brews. Another card I tried, Architects of Will, also guaranteed two types in the graveyard for a one-mana investment. But […]

In my last article, I gushed about Bedlam Reveler just a couple days after he was spoiled. It’s been a week since then, and I’ve had plenty of time to improve my Temur Traverse build with the walking Treasure Cruise. Today, we’ll talk achieving delirium in Modern and building around Bedlam Reveler, and continue to explore Temur […]

After months of chaos, Modern is starting to settle into a groove. Splinter Twin and Amulet Bloom have only been dead for six months, and in that time we’ve seen the Eldrazi menace come and go, numerous challengers to the throne rise up and be defeated, and more plot twists and surprises than a Game […]

I’m always both sad and relieved when preview and spoiler season ends. Sad, because it’s fun watching the trickle of cards throughout the day and getting the big story and set staple reveals. Relieved, because it’s painful to watch people misappropriate the Bolt Test, evaluate cards without either testing or any metagame context, and make one […]

Modern never ceases to amaze me in its constant innovation and evolution. From crazy one-off brews, to slight metagame tweaks in established decks, to defunct archetypes that rise pheonix-like from the ashes with a new printing, there’s always plenty to discover. I spent most of the weekend chaining Eternal Masters drafts like a degenerate and watching […]

Finding cards that could fit into existing decks is fairly easy. You know what sees play and what effects these decks need, so you know what kind of card you’re looking to find. It’s much harder to find cards that inspire new decks. I suspect this is why the only truly new deck we’ve seen […]

It annoys me greatly when I hear people derisively discuss the size of the Modern cardpool. The typical conversation revolves around deriding some odd card choice in someone’s deck because it isn’t “good enough” to see play in Modern or dismissing someone’s brew because it “has no staying power.” Part of me is always angered […]

Before Ancestral Vision was unbanned in Modern, it struck me as one of the more deserving cards on the list. Given the choice between playing against Jace, the Mind Sculptor in a format where tapping four mana at sorcery speed can often just leave you dead, and a Treasure Cruise analog that required an investment […]

Someone who was maybe Ghandi once said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” If Modern were a person, it would probably ascribe to this inspiring motto. When Wizards of the Coast took Modern’s Eye, the format repaid them with a beautiful metagame they’re happy to take credit for. The story doesn’t end there, and neither does this desperate analogy; after all, […]

Somewhere between answering comments to Monday’s article, talking Magic with my pals, and battling waves of forum doomsayers, I realized I’d yet again been lured into the ban discussion trap. Didn’t I just promise, and then re-promise, to stay clear of banlist mayhem? Darn you, Wizards and your colorless hordes! Even beyond the warped Pro […]

Well, it’s been quite a week hasn’t it? The banning of Splinter Twin really touched a nerve with the whole community. However, that is now firmly behind us and continuing to bemoan (or extoll) that decision adds nothing new or useful. Instead, let us look to the future and answer the burning question: What now? Looking to the immediate future, […]