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Fair Combo: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome, once again, to the Beginner’s Guide. My quest to explain the general deck types in Modern is winding down, with only the Ramp and unusual archetypes to come. As you no doubt surmised either through pattern recognition or just reading the title, this week is about the fair combo decks. Hopefully this will not come as […]

Unfair Combo: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome back to the Beginner’s Guide. I’ve had a bad habit of leaving many week-long breaks between these articles. This is unacceptable and I’m going to finish off the deck-type articles over the next few weeks. This is especially important given that the I’m onto the combo decks, which fall into distinct categories that aren’t […]

The Fair Decks: A Beginner’s Guide

For the first time this year, welcome to The Beginner’s Guide! For those new to this series, I am trying to simplify Modern to make it more approachable and comprehensible for those players new to the format. Previously I’ve covered sideboarding strategies, deck diversity, and an in-depth look at the aggressive strategies. Today, it’s time […]

The Aggressive Decks: A Beginner’s Guide Part Two

Happy All Hallows’ Day, Nexites! Hopefully your diabetic coma isn’t too severe. Otherwise you might miss out on the second part of my discussion of playing with and against Modern’s aggressive decks. Last week we dealt with the classic aggressive decks, linear aggro. Today we’ll be dealing with the less fair versions. That’s not to say […]

The Aggressive Decks: A Beginner’s Guide Part One

As promised, welcome back to the Beginner’s Guide. Back in August I explained the general types of Modern decks to explain why Modern is so proactive and diverse. Today we will start to unpack that riddle by examining how to approach playing and playing against Modern’s aggro decks. As I said last time, aggressive decks […]

Advanced Sideboarding: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome once again to the Beginner’s Guide. Back in May I laid out some basic rules and recommendations for how to construct a Modern sideboard. The intention was to provide guidelines for building a sideboard in Modern. The time has come to explain how it’s actually done. Everyone likes to complain about Modern. I don’t […]

The Decks of Modern: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome back to the Beginner’s Guide to Modern, the article series where we help Standard players make the transition to Modern. It’s been a while since my last entry in this series (far longer than intended), but now I’m back to deal with what I hear is the most interesting, frustrating, and intimidating aspect of […]

Welcome to Modern: A Beginner’s Guide

So, you want to play Modern? I’ve been hearing a lot of that lately. Standard players have been flocking into the format since the start of Eldrazi Winter. A good number also flocked out when that anomaly was corrected, but quite a few have stuck around and by my observations seem a bit lost. Modern […]

Pioneer Check-In: Why Rakdos Wins

Pioneer continues to frustrate efforts to understand it. However, David E. may have the answer after examining the apparent best deck of the format.

So Wrong It’s Right: Are Misprints Undervalued… or Overpriced?

Beardy outlines the common types of Magic misprints and offers tips on how to turn a profit from that knowledge… but not all misprints are worth collecting!

Wartime Innovations: Surprising BRO Pickups

The week after a set release is always full of experimentation and surprises. David E. has seen some very unexpected cards in unexpected formats so far.

All the Little Things: RCQ Prep

The Regional Championship Qualifiers are now in full swing. David E. has some less mainstream advice on how to prepare for them this week.

The Sideboard Dance: A Strategic Parallel

David E. explores a curious trend among Modern’s top decks: they’re ALL Affinity! Here’s how to beat their strategy of blitzing G1 and powering through hate.

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