We are in countdown mode. T-minus one week, and Shadows Over Innistrad releases upon us, bringing with it an Eldrazi banning and good tidings for all boys and girls. The combination of Eldrazi’s removal (good riddance) and the influx of (possible) new cards will undoubtedly shake up Modern for better or for worse, and my […]

For better or for worse, the events of tomorrow will forever go down in history. Children will be told tales of the weekend’s events; be they whispered over a smoldering fire in some remote cave, or trumpeted from the ramparts of some lofty castle. Eldrazi, or the Allies? The delicate fate of our very existence […]

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: the StarCityGames Louisville Classic was a total nightmare. Not the nightmare where Wizards doesn’t reprint Damnation in Eternal Masters, or where Jeff Hoogland doesn’t drop his turn one Birds of Paradise (which, to my horror, I witnessed this weekend!). This was the kind of twisted, tentically nightmare normally reserved for H.P. […]

Sheridan’s Eldrazi checkup article from Wednesday linked to a reddit post about Modern’s “canaries in a coalmine:” cards and strategies whose presence in a format should set off red flags of obvious metagame issues. I also find the idea “fascinating,” but could not believe the inanity of the post’s replies, which suggested Spell Snare, Ensnaring Bridge, […]

Last week’s article touched off a bit of a firestorm in the comment section. I’ll admit I didn’t phrase my point as well as I could have, but I still maintain the hysterics are overblown and, despite its power (and metagame share!), Eldrazi can be beaten. Later on, I’m going to show you how by […]

For all the moaning about the Pro Tour and its lack of diversity, did anyone not have fun watching it? I had a blast. The whole thing felt very surreal. We knew Chalice of the Void and colorless Eldrazi made a perfect match in Modern, but had no idea they would crush the format. I couldn’t do anything this week without faintly […]

Last week’s metagame snapshot article was a big hit, making the January 28 Daily Magic Update and releasing one of the only evidence-based portraits of our new Modern. You can be sure we’ll add to that dataset and revisit it in a few days. For today, instead of taking the Ornithopter’s-eye view to analyze broader metagame forces, we’ll zero […]

Actual comments from my previous article, “A Defense of the Splinter Twin Ban:” “As someone who has played around extensively with a variety of URx decks, I can tell you that in the past four years or so, Twin is the only one I’ve found viable not because the Twin package is so enticing, but […]

Well, it’s been quite a week hasn’t it? The banning of Splinter Twin really touched a nerve with the whole community. However, that is now firmly behind us and continuing to bemoan (or extoll) that decision adds nothing new or useful. Instead, let us look to the future and answer the burning question: What now? Looking to the immediate future, […]

I know many Modern players who read the January 18th ban announcement and wanted to eBay off their collections on the spot. Or burn them and overnight the charred Splinter Twin remnants to Wizards in Hallmark condolence cards. Have faith, ye Modern faithful! I too am deeply dissatisfied with Wizards’ handling of this recent update, but I’m also a devoted Modern […]

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day American Nexites, or Monday for rest of the world. It is I, your editor stepping back into the overly bright spotlight (I really need to adjust those) for your edification on this, the first weekday of the new Twinless Modern Era! Yes, we have a new banned list, and […]

Most Magic players identify with a certain strategy. Some people like goldfishing complicated combos. Others enjoy dropping three Lava Spikes on an opponent under ten life. I prefer attacking with efficient creatures while deploying disruption, and manipulating my library to find what I need. Decks that give me this experience are generally blue, green, and red. […]

And they said Wasteland wasn’t Modern legal! Ghost Quarter has been a poor man’s Wasteland replacement for years, but with the recent rise of RG Tron, Bx Eldrazi, and other big-mana strategies, the Dissension uncommon is quickly emerging as a major police card in a format notoriously lacking the generic hate of Legacy. Nowhere was this more […]