Ah, spoiler season. The time when I don’t have to stretch myself doing statistical work. Just looking at the new cards, doing some basic analysis, and speculating about whether there’s a place in Modern for them. Simple and low-pressure, just what this year’s called for. Then, something had to come in a ruin everything: a […]
But for copyright concerns, I would have led off this article with the lyrics to “Another One Bites the Dust.” I hope perfectly reasonable intellectual property law is happy with itself. There’s been another B&R Announcement. This time something actually is banned in Modern. So that’s nice. Even if it does moot a number of […]
In these uncertain times, it is only natural to seek stability and comfort in the familiar and predictable. Which is a convoluted way of saying that the world may be burning, but spoiler season has returned on schedule. It’s not much relative to everything else, but even small comforts are important. In the past, Core […]
Here we are again: another set, another set of problems, and another banning… oh wait, nothing’s getting banned in Modern. Awkward. And more to the point, a waste of a perfectly good rant setup. Why am I even bothering… oh right, something else happened this time around. And it is consequential. Though not in the […]
And so, the devastation of Modern continues. At least, if you listen to most social media where companions are concerned. I remind everyone again that meaningful data on the matter is currently non-existent; all anyone has to go on are their personal observations. And then the echo chamber will come into play as those observations […]
With the new set fully available online, players can finally verify if all the speculation was correct. It’s one thing to assess cards in a vacuum than in reality, after all. Usually, assessments are too far-off, and a consensus quickly develops around the new cards in every format. This opinion is then developed and refined […]
Well, that was fast. Normally we have three full weeks of spoilers, but Wizards has really rushed out Ikoria. I’m guessing the quarantine is a factor here and they’re in a bit of a scramble. In any case, the entire set is now out. And it’s a little mediocre, Modern-wise. As I mentioned last week, this […]
Alright Magic world, it’s time to screech to even more of a halt: it’s spoiler time again. That means you, Timmy and Tammy! Particularly you, since this set is tailor made to your preferences, they being giant monsters and the making thereof. The pickings are a bit thinner for Spike this time around, but that’s fine […]
I cannot escape. As a Denver resident, I am used to unusually unseasonal weather usurping usual undertakings. Why, as a lad I suffered snow at summer camp more than once. Even in July. And an unrelated time, it snowed in August. While thinking of snow on the pines is pleasant and all, it has little […]
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 […]
Happy New Year! I’ll be kicking off 2020 by leaping into spoiler season. Spoilers for Theros: Beyond Death began trickling in while everyone was on holiday break. Now, with our holiday hangovers but a painful memory, the flood has begun. There appears to be considerable potential for Modern cards, and given how 2019 went, I’m […]
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 competitive year has come to a close for Modern, and now it’s time to look ahead. This means it’s time once more to informedly speculate on the future of Modern’s banlist. It’s been a wild year for the list, and while I always hope that the metagame can adapt to new decks, I don’t […]
