The new month brings a new metagame update. And this time, there’s nothing disruptive to report. No bannings, no weird and still-unexplained data gaps; just a perfectly normal bit of data gathering. Which means that I’ll be delivering a straightforward metagame update. Which will be nice, since there’s another Modern Horizons coming, and that might […]

The month after a new set release is always an exciting time in the 5-0 dumps: full of churn, upheaval, and of course, ideas! In these periods, players are far less concerned with identifying metagame direction and innovating solutions to emerging trends; indeed, attempting to do so this early might prove a fool’s errand anyway. […]

Just before Strixhaven dropped, we observed some intriguing developments among Modern’s top decks in Jund Shadow and Omnath piles. While all the talk’s been focused around Clever Lumimancer latelty, with the card showing promise (and also, floundering) depending on the shell, I’d like to remind us all that some players were breaking the mold before […]

By the time you read this, Strixhaven: School of Mages will have been available on MTGO for six days. And some people even have it in paper. Consequently, results are beginning to trickle in which include the new cards. Which means that I can start seeing how well my psychic abilities are developing. And maybe […]

And now, back to the spoilers. The full spoiler is now out and Strixhaven launches online this Thursday. In turn, this means that brewing and experimentation is already underway. Which means that the fruits of discovery will begin to make themselves known for next month’s metagame update. Having just typed that sentence, I’m worried that my […]

Despite a glitch in the Matrix which led to less data than usual last month, the March dumps nonetheless did betray a grip of Modern movement both among established archetypes and lesser-played brews. Today, we’ll look at a few of the ways two of the format’s premier strategies—Omnath and Jund Shadow—have adjusted to the recent […]

First Tuesday of a new month? Must be time for the metagame update. Yes, I realize that there wasn’t one last time, but those were special circumstances. A major ban invalidated more than half of February’s data. There’s really nothing statistically valid from ten days of results. Of course, March wasn’t much better. Thanks to […]

Players, Vendors, and WOTC are all anxiously awaiting the time for MagicFests to resume. What will happen to the market once this happens? This week, Sig speculates on the format that stands to gain the most from the re-opening trade.

Greetings students, and welcome to the first week of Strixhaven spoilers. As this is the first week, I’ll be keeping things simple by going through the set’s mechanics. I’ve made this a tradition for all new set spoilers, and it’s particularly appropriate this time as the new mechanics are a both surprisingly straightforward and annoyingly indirect. […]

And now, back to our regularly scheduled metagame analysis. Let me just take a look at what’s been winning… oh. MTGO’s reporting system is bugged; there’s been no new data since March 10. Huh. Ok, well, let me just see what’s happening in the community… wait, really? Heliod Company is considered the best deck now? […]

The time after a set release or a major ban is always exciting. The format is in flux, the metagame undefined, and everything seems playable. This is even more true right now, thanks to the ban taking away a metagame pillar. This has in turn renewed interest in Modern, bringing an influx of players and […]

And now, to wrap things up. I’ve talked about the setup and the hard data, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s usually the intangible or at least unquantifiable observations that most inform decisions. I made a number of observations and ancillary impacts during my testing that changed how I see Hypergenesis. Today, I’ll […]

The latest banlist announcement did a number on Modern’s top decks, decimating the Uro piles which week and again would claim top of the heap as well as the new bullies on the block, cascade-powered decks abusing the latest Tibalt cards. In order to solve for these displays of power, though, Wizards took an unconventional […]