This week, we’re digging into Modern decklists from the SCG Invitational in Atlanta, along with the Modern Classic event, looking for sweet tech, spicy brews, cold-hearted killers, and everything in between. Did Atlanta bring with it some harbinger of things to come? Will it instead fall to the groupthink hype propping up its slightly above-average […]

Last week I found myself playing a head’s-up Cube match against my friend Mike. I was handily crushing him (obviously) and our other friend Kevin asked me, “Do you always just draft blue/red?” It’s not my fault! They’re the best cards, after all. Throughout the history of Magic there is some truth to there being […]

Not every tournament is going to go your way. Sometimes no matter how well prepared you are or how well you play you just can’t win. That does not mean that the tournament is a failure as long as you utilize it well. Every game you play is an opportunity to learn something. Something about your […]

I’ve had a theory for a while about the supposed health of Modern. Diversity is a big talking point for people who want to play Modern or Legacy over Standard, and I’m not sure it’s quite as diverse as people want to think. It’s diverse in the sense that a lot of people play a […]

I’m preparing for an RPTQ, but it’s hard to stop brewing. Whipping up decklists full of pet cards is just too fun. Even when those pet cards are literal pieces of trash. Ross Merriam’s recent Legacy article reminded me of one pet card I’d long forgotten, four copies languishing in my Modern collection with the other rejects. I don’t expect to break […]

I’ve been saying for a few weeks now that, since the printing of Blossoming Defense, Infect is far and away the best deck in the format. The addition of yet another pushed pump effect seemed to me to be a strict upgrade to Apostle’s Blessing, an already powerful card in the archetype. While Infect’s weaknesses […]

Player expectations, however unfounded, are often built into the price of a given card. David explains how to recognize such scenarios with some concrete examples.

Last week I went against my better judgment and wrote about the Modern banlist. The piece seemed to be generally well received, though as one would expect, there were disagreements. Most seemed to be with regard to levels of understanding or differences of philosophy, though there was one commonly expressed sentiment that I felt deserved its […]

I just remembered something: the RPTQ I qualified for is next week. For some of you, it’s this weekend but for me, that’s GP Denver. As a result, Standard has unfortunately taken up almost all of my Magic time recently. I know many people think that Modern is broken and unhealthy, but I assure you: […]

Join Mike as he provides a breakdown of the two most dominant decks in Standard!

Looking solely at the Top 16s of recent events, observers might argue that Modern has become shockingly interactive. Todd Stevens’ Sun and Moon, a white-red prison deck with a midrange slant, just won a Star City Games Open in Knoxville, headlining a Top 16 packed with more Sun and Moon, Skred Red, and Jund. Earlier this month, […]

Last weekend, top players from nations worldwide gathered in Rotterdam to wage war for their respective countries. The battlefield? Team Unified Modern, with a little Limited thrown in. With so many players from every corner of the world turning their eyes to Modern, the results of this tournament were anticipated to have a larger effect […]