Lking bth at mtgtop8.cm and tcdecks it turns out that there hasnt been a top 8 affinity deck during all of december, which is telling a lot, since other dectypes havent rested at all during this month.

http://www.tcdecks.net/metagame.php?format=Modern&fecha=2016-12

one odd thing though, the frontpage of tc decks modern decks lists affinity as having 11 decks in top, so that feature must be counting november as well.

Affinity n innin fr an entire mont is pretty drastic news…

It could be interresting to argue for the unbanning of artisfact lands if this trend continues.

The unravelling of 1 archetype is usually followed by immense chaos…

Totally agree. Frank Lepore’s article was a bad joke from top to bottom.

I don’t know much more about this than you do, but I will say that I miss them too, even as someone on the inside. Will pass the word along!

Definitely. I don’t personally believe that Modern will ever “become stale” (meaning newer decks have trouble breaking into the format because Standard’s power level is too weak and the card pool has been exhausted). But I don’t think Wizards would even mind if that DID happen, so long as Modern attendance was high and the format remained so diverse. Modern’s showing no signs of losing on either count, so I wouldn’t be too hopeful for Wizards messing with the format’s stated mission any time soon (including introducing new methods of adding cards to Modern or radically redesigning the ban list).