In my early experiments with delirium, I found Tarfire invaluable as a card that efficiently stocked the graveyard with card types. Its especially Modern-relevant effect soon made the card an obvious include in most of my Traverse the Ulvenwald brews. Another card I tried, Architects of Will, also guaranteed two types in the graveyard for a one-mana investment. But […]

In my last article, I gushed about Bedlam Reveler just a couple days after he was spoiled. It’s been a week since then, and I’ve had plenty of time to improve my Temur Traverse build with the walking Treasure Cruise. Today, we’ll talk achieving delirium in Modern and building around Bedlam Reveler, and continue to explore Temur […]

I’m big on card efficiency and resource management. Cards that reward players for interacting with opponents, and ones that rely on stocked graveyards, are among my favorites. So I’ve savored this new Innistrad spoiler season more than any since delve was announced in Khans of Tarkir. Traverse the Ulvenwald is my favorite card this side of Treasure Cruise, and with Eldritch Moon, […]

Eldritch Moon spoilers are finally underway, and living up to my high expectations. Fan-favorite flavor? Check. More Eldrazi? Check. (I may be the only person celebrating this one.) What about playable delirium cards? You bet! My favorite of the bunch, Gnarlwood Dryad, joins Wild Nacatl, Nimble Mongoose, and Delver of Secrets himself as a one-mana, three-power beater […]

Finding ways to make an 8/9 has always been an integral part of my Modern experience. When the delirium mechanic was spoiled, I exploded with excitement. Growing Tarmogoyfs had become my entire life at that point, and having something else to do with an 8/9 Tarmogoyf was like discovering a new reason to live. But delirium only rewarded […]

When I began tuning Monkey Grow, the biggest surprise among peers and opponents was my sworn dedication to Disrupting Shoal. Certain players couldn’t believe that countering a spell was worth losing a card, citing Force of Will’s status in Legacy as a check to degenerate combo decks that usually gets boarded out against fair strategies. But […]

In the Pro Tour: Oath of the Gatewatch quarterfinals, the Eldrazi-toting Luis Scott-Vargas mulliganed to four against Pascal Maynard’s Affinity. The match announcers were baffled when Luis shuffled away an admittedly unexciting five of Ghost Quarter, Blinkmoth Nexus, Wastes, Matter Reshaper, and Endless One, but after some thought, realized Luis had correctly identified that hand as too slow. The ability to take […]

We’ve heard it a million times. Many of us have proudly said it ourselves. Modern’s a wide-open format. Wide-open! In other words, players can sleeve up whatever they want and hope to have a chance. Well, not exactly. Players can’t really sleeve up, say, Vampire Nighthawk. Like all formats, Modern follows a set of rules; creatures need to pass […]

Someone who was maybe Ghandi once said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” If Modern were a person, it would probably ascribe to this inspiring motto. When Wizards of the Coast took Modern’s Eye, the format repaid them with a beautiful metagame they’re happy to take credit for. The story doesn’t end there, and neither does this desperate analogy; after all, […]

When I introduced Counter-Cat to Modern Nexus last week, a number of readers voiced understandable concerns about the deck. Didn’t it auto-lose to Burn? Why not just play Monkey Grow? Or… Domain Zoo?! I promised answers, and this week I have them—sort of. I haven’t had the time to play much Magic this past week, but […]

I love to brew, and build upwards of ten Modern decks every week. Most of them aren’t very good, which is why I’ve only written about a few on Modern Nexus; I think brewing is a numbers game, so as long as decks like Temur Delver and GRx Moon emerge from a sea of goofier ideas like Temur Rogues, […]

Modern is full of great creatures. A Goyf by any other name is still a Goyf. And yet, no other Modern creature commands as notoriously high a price tag. As of right now, MTGGoldfish’s data lists Tarmogoyf as Modern’s number-one most-played creature. The first time I read Tarmogoyf myself, after a multiple-year Magic hiatus in 2009, I didn’t […]

Play mistakes often amount to a lack of experience. Barring an FNM the day before, SCG States marked my first event with Temur Delver since Oath of the Gatewatch, which had me gleefully—and, soon enough, disinterestedly—casting two-mana, Thoughtseizeing Tarmogoyfs. I’m not unexperienced with Temur Delver; I’ve been playing it in various forms since 2012, and with […]