Oath of the Gatewatch significantly changed the face of Modern upon release. Even after the deck that the set spawned was hit by the ban-hammer, the Eldrazi have found a way to claw back to the top of the format. If you checked out the most recent Modern Metagame Breakdown then you no doubt noticed […]

My article about testing Stoneforge Mystic generated a lot of conversation, both here on Modern Nexus and elsewhere. Judging by the reaction, people really do want some actual data and scientific method brought into discussions of the Modern banned list. Which means that I’ve got a lot of work to do. But I also know […]

Last month we saw three major Modern Grand Prix around the world post a metagame breakdown that mirrored almost exactly the one established in July. Paradoxically, September had both far fewer high-profile events and much more significant shifts in share percentage. I believe these were the result of careful and systematic re-positioning by Modern players, with the intent […]

Every spoiler season, you can catch me looking over the new cards and imagining how they line up in Modern. “I wonder if this card could work?” Invariably, I’ll make a bunch of lists and bring them to battle on Cockatrice. I lose. I fix the list. I lose some more. After a full day of […]

Adam lays out which Kaladesh cards are already having an impact on the Modern metagame and market.

With no SCG events to analyze, and the next Modern Grand Prix in Dallas still almost a month away, I’m left with a “free” topic of sorts this week. Unchained of the duty of analyzing set impact, as Kaladesh appears to be making only a minor impression in Modern, the sky’s the limit as to […]

Every three months a new set is released and people get really excited for Standard. Moderners get excited too, but not for the same reasons—each set release brings the possibility of an update to the Banned and Restricted list. Most of the time the entire article amounts to “no changes,” but every once in a while […]

Many years ago, Mike Flores wrote an article titled “Who’s the Beatdown?” and the theory contained within this piece has been referenced time and again for nearly two decades. If you want to be successful at competitive Magic, you have to understand how to assign your role in a given matchup. This is no less […]

The start of every spoiler season brings the promise of a shakeup in Modern. Whether it’s Jund players speculating on Bloodbraid Elf (again), a new mechanic showing promise, or a single powerful-looking card, the Modern community always goes berserk trying to fit new cards into the format. And within a week of release most of that […]

When players talk about Modern’s “high power level,” they are generally referring to how hard it is for Standard-legal cards to break into the format. After receiving archetype-spawning hits in Oath of the Gatewatch (Thought-Knot Seer, Reality Smasher), Shadows Over Innistrad (Nahiri, the Harbinger, Prized Amalgam), and Eldritch Moon (Eldritch Evolution, Bedlam Reveler), it’s a little disheartening to leaf […]

As Magic players we all end up with cards we don’t want or need. Turning these into cards we can use can be difficult. That’s unavoidable and really part of the reason why Magic cards have any value at all. It’s pretty easy for people to look at a pile of cards on each side and […]

With Kaladesh finally released, and week one of new Modern in the books, it’s time to finally transcend the realm of conjecture and speculation and step out into the world of the physical and tangible. Will Kaladesh “shake up” the Modern landscape we’ve become accustomed to over the past few months? Or will it fade […]

I see players agonize a lot about what deck they’re supposed to be playing in Modern. I get asked questions pertaining to what’s good in Modern at the moment, though when it comes to the deck registration sheet, the biggest mistake you can make is not being familiar with the strategy you’re bringing to the […]