Welcome back to the Beginner’s Guide. Once again, it is time for some general advice for those making the transition from Standard to Modern. As always, my intention is to provide a foundation for newer players to build on. Once this is established, only then are you ready to talk about all the nuance that aficionados […]

Since the Golgari Grave-Troll banning, the Modern banlist hasn’t been updated. But the format has changed dramatically, welcoming Fatal Push into its upper crust and appropriating Death’s Shadow for a Probeless era. Of course, the format’s recent stability hasn’t stopped detractors from clamoring for bans or unbans. Today, we’ll explore what makes a format healthy, and why the notion of metagame health […]

A lot can change in a week. I was all set for SCG Baltimore this weekend, and then two things happened. First, some family issues came up that would unfortunately prevent me from traveling to play Magic. Second, Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies spawned a new(ish) archetype that, well, changed everything. What was good […]

Greetings, everyone! I’m back for more action here at Modern Nexus, this time with the debut of my video series. I tend to cast a pretty wide net in Modern, which means I have experience playing a large range of different archetypes. In my videos I’ll be exploring these decks and trying to shed some […]

With Standard in a finance lull, Brian turns his attention towards Modern. He explains the seasonality of the two formats and lays out some of the cards he’s targeting.

The Oracle at Delphi was always correct. Every ancient Greek source confirms this truth. No matter what you asked the Oracle, the answer would accurately foretell the future. However, thanks to surviving prophecies, we now know she owes this accuracy to vagueness. The Oracle answered questions in ways that could mean anything. When asked about the outcome of a battle, […]

When Amonkhet spoiled, Vizier of Remedies sparked interest among Modern players as a possible redundancy boost to Abzan Company, the grandchild of beloved Modern archetype pillar Birthing Pod. It’s been nearly a month now since the set was released to Modern, and Vizier seems to have succeeded in improving Abzan Company… as well as in spawning some Company variants […]

Last week, an old Magic buddy texted me out of the blue, asking if I was interested in going to SCG Baltimore at the end of the month to play some live Modern. My first reaction: “Can’t do it, I’ve got way too much going on…” But then I remembered that it’s summer, and I […]

I’m back this week with more of my popular financial set review, now tackling the Modern Masters 2017 rares. I won’t cover each rare in the set, but I will review the most important ones in depth. I also want to talk about a few choice uncommons, so grab your calendars and wallets. You’ll need them to plan out the […]

Tilt is quite a mighty thing. Re-reading my fevered scrawlings from last week proved deeply concerning. I knew I was unwell, but I didn’t know how unwell. While I’m better now, I may need to refocus before things get worse. Therefore, it’s time to torture myself by beginning another Banlist Test. In Moby Dick, Ishmael goes to sea […]

Last week, I suggested Grixis Death’s Shadow as one of a shortlist of archetypes that I felt was strongly positioned against the major players in the format. A combination of disruption, cheap threats, and a proactive gameplan that can mold to fit a variety of matchups seemed very appealing in a Modern format full of […]

Immediately following its mainstream introduction to Modern by Josh Utter-Leyton and his crew at GP Vancouver, Death’s Shadow gained significant footing in the metagame. The explosion of Jund Shadow onto the paper scene at roughly 10% has since cooled, with the deck taking a more reasonable 8% share when lumped in with Abzan Shadow builds. Part of the reason for […]

Mike breaks down the many big spikes we’ve seen in Standard plus a few Modern Masters 2017 cards worth keeping an eye on. Check it out!