The Deep Dive dataset is back! In three earlier articles, I analyzed a collection of MTGO dailies to determine the matchups and win rates of different top-tier decks. Unlike the publicly published MTGO dailies used to inform the Top Decks page, our Deep Dive dataset includes all finishes from a sample of dailies, not just the 4-0/3-1 ones. It also includes […]

Jund is back. After months of neglect at the hands of Abzan players everywhere, Jund has returned to the spotlight as a tier 1 deck. We made this official in early May, classifying the deck as tier 1 based on its consistent paper and MTGO performances, and we have continued to see it succeed in […]

Depending on where in the world you play Modern, Memorial Day is either a day to honor the men and women who have fallen in the Armed Services, the first day of summer, a time for beaches and barbecues, or just another day at the office. I’m based in the American Midwest, so it’s no […]

Life is full of big investment choices. Should you buy or rent? Save in a 401(k) or Roth IRA? Matriculate on in-state tuition or take on out-of-state debt? Magic and Modern are supposed to be our hobbies and our break from all the real-world weight of the workplace and your bank account. But when it comes […]

When Birthing Pod got the axe back in January, many Pod players sold their decks, quit the format, or generally lost hope that they would ever see Melira and friends back in Modern. Collected Company wasn’t going to let her die. Company has been making waves in Modern since it first appeared, and although we […]

As with most set releases, the full Modern Masters 2015 Spoiler was met with mixed reviews. Some players applauded Wizards for improving the set’s mythics, reprinting key staples, and increasing the print run. Others lashed out for a supposed lack of solid rares, the absence of other key staples, and other unfavorable comparisons to the […]

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Grixis Delver. This isn’t because Grixis Delver is the best deck in the format: although it has killer Twin and Affinity matchups, it struggles with Abzan and Burn. It’s also not because I’m one of those Treasure Cruise ex-pats from winter 2014 (I hated that card). I […]

May is here and that means we are a few weeks closer to Modern Masters 2015, a month closer to the sweet GP blitz of June, and ready for another metagame update from Modern Nexus. My last metagame update, covering the 3/1-4/1 period, saw subtle metagame changes including downticks in Abzan, Twin, and Burn, the beginning […]

One of the more frustrating limitations of Wizards-published dailies is the lack of matchup information. You get lists, you get standings, you get win percentages, but you don’t actually know which decks beat which decks en route to their finish. This is fine if you just want to describe the Modern metagame, but far less helpful […]

May is coming in a few days, which means it’s time to start preparing for summer. For some of us, this meas  breaking out the sandals and pumping up your bike tires. But for you Modern players out there, it should mean getting ready for the Grand Prix blitz that is coming in June. And […]

You can’t play Modern without hearing about the “Bolt Test”. If a card or deck is soft to the format’s most efficient removal spell, then it might not be a good choice for Modern. The Bolt Test is a big reason otherwise decent creatures, like Figure of Destiny or Vampire Nighthawk, don’t really see Modern play. […]

Delver lives. As anyone who has been playing MTGO, following the results of SCG and TCG States events, or reading this site knows, the rumors of Delver’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Although the traditional UR Delver deck did fade into obscurity following the (in)famous banning of Treasure Cruise, another Delver and another delve card […]

In last week’s article, we took a deep dive into the world of unpublished MTGO dailies, capturing performance by both the 4-0/3-1 decks and the 2-2 or worse finishers. This dataset gives us a chance to look at a deck’s performance throughout an event, not just in the winner’s bracket. MTGO statistics in action! We […]