The second half of September 2020 brought us swaths of new decks, as Zendikar Rising did more than its fair share in shaking up the Modern metagame. Today, we’ll explore new combo options and view the myriad directions ramp strategies are starting to take. Kombo Krazy We’ll start with Belcher, a deck that recently received […]

Time waits for no man, as they say, and Magic is the same for all players. Good advice will always be good advice, but relevance is relative. By the same token, Magic players need advice that is relevant to formats as they actually exist. And that must be re-evaluated periodically. The second Beginner’s Guide article […]

A house is not a home, they say, and what is Modern if not a format that houses some of the baddest cards banned from Standard? Well, it’s also got Standard newcomers, be they banned or not. And one among them has had its heart set on turning our beloved format into its own sweet […]

Magic can get weird at times. There are utterly incomprehensible cards like Ice Cauldron. Sometimes it’s rules weirdness, like Blood Sun not stopping Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth’s ability. Other times it’s a deck that makes no sense, like Inverter of Truth combo. And sometimes it’s because of logical paradoxes and other contradictory truths. Case in […]

New sets always inspire brewing and changes of pace, but this month, I was pleased to see that some of the ideas I’ve had about future metagame developments seem to be more realistic than I’d thought! If these decks have legs now, imagine what they’ll look like when Zendikar Rising drops… maybe quite similar, and […]

Paper Magic is going to come back someday and people are going to start wanting paper copies of cards featured in competitive decks again. Joe takes a look at his top choices from Double Masters for players looking to pick up cheap, competitive reprints before paper tournaments begin again in earnest.

With the new set fully spoiled, it’s my turn to look at the spoilers. Normally, I’d have led off with a look at the new mechanics. It just wasn’t applicable this time. Kicker and landfall have been around before, and party isn’t really a mechanic. And the Spell lands aren’t enough to carry a whole article. […]

Ah, spoiler season. The time when I don’t have to stretch myself doing statistical work. Just looking at the new cards, doing some basic analysis, and speculating about whether there’s a place in Modern for them. Simple and low-pressure, just what this year’s called for. Then, something had to come in a ruin everything: a […]

Zendikar Rising spoilers are officially underway! That also means summer is ending… but what great outdoor plans did we have that weren’t ruined by a global pandemic anyway? There’s never been a better time to forget about real-life exploration and lock ourselves inside to peruse new cards at a glowing computer screen! Flip Top Rising’s […]

It’s the start of a new month, and that means it’s time for a new metagame update. Yes, I do intend this to be a regular monthly feature. Based on how discussions are going, there’s never been a greater need for clear data. Additionally, I’ve been doing it piecemeal via events for quite some time […]

Earlier in the month, we saw Stoneforge Mystic come to form the backbone not just of popular UW and Stoneblade decks, but of Colossus Hammer combo decks and bulkier flash strategies. Blue aggro-control decks also had an interesting month, with Arclight Phoenix making a comeback and Devotion to Blue rearing its head. The latter trend […]

With all the talk of generalities, such as metagame numbers and new decks, it’s easy to overlook the specifics. So let’s talk about Monastery Swiftspear. Indeed one of the most pushed combat creatures ever, Swiftspear reigns supreme among Stage 1 beaters and has come to define the majority of Modern aggro decks. If you want […]

It’s time, once again, for a return to The Beginner’s Guide to Modern. This my long-running but periodic series where I cover the fundamentals of Modern for those new to the format. Though, as happens with a series that’s four years old at this point, I’ve already covered all the fundamentals and obvious misconceptions long […]