It’s been just over a week since Once Upon a Time got the boot in Modern, so we don’t have a lot of information with which to decisively answer the question on everyone’s mind: where does the format go from here? We do, however, have some data points. Today, we’ll look at a few decks […]

While putting together brew reports since the Oko ban, I picked up on an interesting trend: UGx midrange seems to be catching on. And by UGx midrange, I don’t mean a single deck, à la Jund Rock. I mean the archetype at large, which has opened itself up to a myriad of different plans, packages, […]

Nothing screams “Modern” like a bunch of crazy combos. And that’s exactly what February’s second half had in store for us. Turns out there are some decks that don’t run Arcum’s Astrolabe, after all: the ones that kill out of nowhere! “I Was Inverted” A the “Top” of our list is an inside-out version of […]

Back when Opt was spoiled, I wrote “Opting In: Modern Cantrips,” a piece dissecting the intricacies of and nuances between Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand, and other Modern draw-a-cards. Two years and some change later, Modern is all but crawling with cantrips, albeit not even the ones we had access to in 2017. Today, we’ll […]

Happy Valentine’s Day, Nexus readers! While I know this holiday can be a controversial one, today I’ll invite you to set aside your differences (or crippling loneliness, or whatever) and join me in celebrating the strong bonds between some of the most eligible decks of the year. As Modern again finds its footing, the format […]

Modern is at a crossroads right now. Between changes in banlist philosophy, the arrival and surging popularity of Pioneer, and the breakout success of Magic: Arena, doomsayers are out in force and quick to declare Modern passé. Today, we’ll explore each of the supposed challenges Modern faces and measure its staying power. Sporadic Banlists Towards […]

It’s a whole new Modern, but we’ve got some unfinished business to take care of. Sure, some of the following lists are from after the Oko ban. Others, before. But all of them are from this month, which saw some really neat developments! Simic Urza Don’t call it a comeback! Simic Urza may have lost […]

A scratching at the window. A fluttering of tiny wings. A grating of jagged teeth. Does anyone else hear what I hear? Perhaps 2020 is Delver’s year! Okay, so maybe I’m jumping the gun a bit. But there sure is a lot of Delver in the recent dumps. Today, we’ll look at the different varieties […]

Just when I figure out an Oko shell I like, Wizards drops the hammer on the card I’d built around! Not that I think Oko was particularly balanced in Modern; I did endorse the walker as my candidate of choice as face of the 2020 metagame, after all. Fortunately for me, plenty more Modern game-changers […]

Theros: Beyond Death spoilers are well underway. David covered the heavy-hitters earlier this week, but more cards have been revealed, and the set seems packed full of low-level goodies that stand to very marginally improve some of Modern’s many strategies. Let’s take a look at at some of the most underrated tech in the new […]

Full bellies? Droopy eyes? Scrolling and clicking? It’s the new year, all right! But why focus on the future when we could dwell on the past? Read on for an after-holiday treat: the spiciest brews to come out of 2019’s death throes. Technologic Urza and Oko might be hogging the spotlight, but artifacts have a […]

With the new year just days away, every Modern player’s got something on their mind: which new goodies will we get next? What’s the deal with Pioneer? How are winning grinders tweaking their decks going into 2020? While we’ll cover all that in the coming weeks, today I want to focus in on the format […]

Editor’s note: 2019 was perhaps Modern’s wildest year ever, featuring such meta-defining decks as UR Phoenix, Hogaak, and Whirza thanks to monumental shakeups in the form of Modern Horizons and other expansions. That chaos wasn’t without its constants, including one critical element of new spoilers: card evaluation. In this re-run of my favorite self-published article […]