That Modern is changing should be obvious: there’s a lower-power set coming out and we just had a major banning. But how Modern is changing is an open question. The only major Modern events for the next month are SCG Classics and Team Opens, which aren’t the most reliable sources for data. So we’ll have […]

Well, everyone should have seen another ban coming. There was no way that Wizards wasn’t going to let their last scheduled banned and restricted announcement go by without doing something about Oko, Thief of Crowns. However, I didn’t expect it to go this far. Three cards banned would be a fairly substantial shift by itself, […]

Editor’s Note: The Twin ban remained highly controversial into 2019, especially among what I assume to be an extremely vocal minority of Modern die-hards. That sentiment pushed David to revisit Twin’s previous role in the format with a thorough, data-driven approach. Also included in this re-run are David’s thoughts headed into 2020, which deal with […]

The saying goes that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In Modern, those who do not observe the metagame are doomed to be passed by. Applied to Magic, such proverbs encourage every player to duly note how the metagame evolves and develops over a competitive year. Having spent the […]

The end of the year is approaching, and with it a slowdown in competitive Magic. In fact, GP Columbus was the last Modern event of the year. As such, it is the final opportunity to look at the metagame before 2020’s SCG Columbus, so GP Columbus provides extremely important data. It not only defines the […]

An analysist goes to work with the data he’s given. With Modern on the competitive backburner for the past few weeks, I’ve lacked the means to properly dig into the metagame ahead of GP Columbus this weekend. As a result, I am looking a bit further afield into events that I normally wouldn’t analyze. Fortunately, […]

It has been a frustrating year for analyzing the Modern metagame, as multiple bannings and an influx of new cards have churned its natural state. Things are finally starting to stabilize, which means that a reasonable picture is forming. We’ve got a burst of new data to thank for that quieting down. Nonetheless, the new […]

With a few weeks of online events and an SCG Team Event, the metagame is finally taking shape. It’s nowhere near enough for any real analysis to take place, but it is a good starting point. With SCG Indianapolis in the books it’s time to start pulling apart the data and contextualizing it. Modern has […]

It’s been a packed weekend for Modern. Not only was there a major event, but there’s been a major, cataclysmic upheaval. August 26 will be remembered as a major turning point in Modern’s history. Which way it’s turning isn’t clear. But turn it will. In this article, I’ll give a quick report of my GP […]

Another event-filled weekend, another data dump, another chance for Modern to adapt and contain the arisen menace. It may not be likely, but as someone locked into making the trip to GP Las Vegas, I feel the need to hope. Barring a sudden abandonment of Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis in Birmingham, I was also hoping against […]

It’s Hogaak’s world; we’re just living in it. So are some great-looking brews that manage to 5-0 against the odds and the format boogeyman. With August halfway done, let’s peek at the coolest decks emerging from the delve/convoke wreckage. Hogaak’s New Bags It’s no secret that Hogaak is still a force to be reckoned with […]

With another GP in the books, it’s time once again to dig into the data. When I last did so right after the big MC weekend, the picture was muddied by contradictory results. Half indicated that Hogaak was a dominant force in the metagame. The other half indicated that it was just another deck. Its […]

For the first time in quite a while, I have a massive data dump to analyze! The past weekend contained a Modern GP, an SCG Open, and the Mythic Championship. With all the shocks finally wearing off, we can start to get a handle on the new metagame. But not without first noting that this […]