Arcum’s Astrolabe | Quiet Speculation https://www.quietspeculation.com Play More, Win More, Pay Less Wed, 31 May 2023 11:59:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.quietspeculation.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/favicon.png Arcum’s Astrolabe | Quiet Speculation https://www.quietspeculation.com 32 32 How the New Banlist Policy Could Ruin Larger Formats https://www.quietspeculation.com/2023/05/how-the-new-banlist-policy-could-ruin-larger-formats/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2023/05/how-the-new-banlist-policy-could-ruin-larger-formats/#comments Wed, 31 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=130612

Aiming to revitalize Standard, Wizards has changed when bannings can occur. But the new system carries grave implications for larger formats.

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2023/05/how-the-new-banlist-policy-could-ruin-larger-formats/feed/ 3 February 15, 2021 Banned and Restricted Announcement Thoughts and Analysis https://www.quietspeculation.com/2021/02/february-15-2021-banned-and-restricted-announcement-thoughts-and-analysis/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2021/02/february-15-2021-banned-and-restricted-announcement-thoughts-and-analysis/#respond Mon, 15 Feb 2021 23:16:28 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=97339

Wizards just announced a swath of exciting bans hitting Historic, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage. Today, Joe takes a look at the bannings, celebrates Oko finally leaving Legacy, and discusses what these bans could mean for the MTG Finance world.

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2021/02/february-15-2021-banned-and-restricted-announcement-thoughts-and-analysis/feed/ 0 QS Insider Cast: New Standard, Commander Legends Leaks, and Eternal Weekend! https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/10/qs-insider-cast-new-standard-commander-legends-leaks-and-eternal-weekend/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/10/qs-insider-cast-new-standard-commander-legends-leaks-and-eternal-weekend/#respond Fri, 23 Oct 2020 09:59:53 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=96341

Welcome back to the QS Insider Podcast! Chris O'Berry and Joe Davidson discuss new Standard, leaks and rumors from Commander Legends, Eternal Weekend featuring Legacy, and more!

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/10/qs-insider-cast-new-standard-commander-legends-leaks-and-eternal-weekend/feed/ 0 Late Summer Thaw: Arcum’s Astrolabe Banned https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/late-summer-thaw-arcums-astrolabe-banned/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/late-summer-thaw-arcums-astrolabe-banned/#respond Tue, 14 Jul 2020 16:00:53 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21932 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 […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/late-summer-thaw-arcums-astrolabe-banned/feed/ 0 Banned and Restricted List Update – July 13, 2020 https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/banned-and-restricted-list-update-july-13-2020/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/banned-and-restricted-list-update-july-13-2020/#respond Mon, 13 Jul 2020 15:33:18 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=95689

The July 13, 2020 Banned and Restricted announcement is live!

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/banned-and-restricted-list-update-july-13-2020/feed/ 0 Blood Moon’s Zenith: The New Police https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/blood-moons-zenith-the-new-police/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/blood-moons-zenith-the-new-police/#respond Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:00:38 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21904 Tracking events and collecting and then presenting data is all well and good. It's how observations are turned into good science and how we analyze Magic's metagame ecosystem. However, saying that Bant Snow and Eldrazi Tron are tied for most played deck is only half the story. Why this is happening is a far harder, […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/07/blood-moons-zenith-the-new-police/feed/ 0 Ikoria Pauper Picks https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/ikoria-pauper-picks/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/ikoria-pauper-picks/#respond Wed, 29 Apr 2020 11:00:09 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=95275

Joe takes a look at his top four picks for Ikoria commons to add to your speculation box.

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/ikoria-pauper-picks/feed/ 0 Thawing Late: A Bant Snow World https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/thawing-late-bant-snow-world/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/thawing-late-bant-snow-world/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:00:47 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21479 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 […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/04/thawing-late-bant-snow-world/feed/ 5 March 9th 2020 Banned and Restricted Announcement https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/march-9th-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/march-9th-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement/#respond Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:00:55 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=94885

Sam's back from his hiatus to analyze the post-ban landscape! Find out what he's been up to, and where he finds himself in the current Magic market.

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/march-9th-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement/feed/ 0 To Goyf or Not To Goyf: UGx Midrange in 2020 https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/to-goyf-not-to-goyf-ugx-midrange-2020/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/to-goyf-not-to-goyf-ugx-midrange-2020/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:00:10 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21400 While putting together brew reports since the Oko ban, I picked up on an interesting trend: UGx midrange seems to be catching on. And by UGx midrange, I don't mean a single deck, à la Jund Rock. I mean the archetype at large, which has opened itself up to a myriad of different plans, packages, […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/03/to-goyf-not-to-goyf-ugx-midrange-2020/feed/ 0 2020 Visions: Modern Cantrips, Part 2 https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/02/2020-visions-modern-cantrips-part-2/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/02/2020-visions-modern-cantrips-part-2/#comments Fri, 21 Feb 2020 17:00:25 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21347 Back when Opt was spoiled, I wrote "Opting In: Modern Cantrips," a piece dissecting the intricacies of and nuances between Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand, and other Modern draw-a-cards. Two years and some change later, Modern is all but crawling with cantrips, albeit not even the ones we had access to in 2017. Today, we'll […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2020/02/2020-visions-modern-cantrips-part-2/feed/ 1 The Cycle’s Sick: Introducing Six Shadow https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/11/cycles-sick-introducing-six-shadow/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/11/cycles-sick-introducing-six-shadow/#comments Fri, 22 Nov 2019 21:34:46 +0000 https://quietspeculation.com/?p=21026 The concept of personal preference heavily influences how I see the world, and subsequently, Magic. So I'm no stranger to writing about playing what you love. Nonetheless, I have felt a bit lost in Modern for the last few months: my colored pet decks lost a key card in Faithless Looting, and the second coming […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/11/cycles-sick-introducing-six-shadow/feed/ 2 Make It Happen: Modern’s New Enablers https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/10/make-it-happen-moderns-new-enablers/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/10/make-it-happen-moderns-new-enablers/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:00:47 +0000 http://quietspeculation.com/?p=20873 2019 may well go down in the books as the Year of Enablers. Between the Faithless Looting-fueled Phoenix decks and the Stitcher's Supplier-abusing Hogaak menace, Modern was defined this year by pushed cards locating, buffing, and ultimately breaking engines and payoffs. Of course, both Phoenix and Hogaak have left us by now. Without Looting in […]

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]]> https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/10/make-it-happen-moderns-new-enablers/feed/ 0 Lessons Learned from SCG Indi and ELD Part 1/2 https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/10/lessons-learned-from-scg-indi-and-eld-part-12/ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2019/10/lessons-learned-from-scg-indi-and-eld-part-12/#respond Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:32:29 +0000 https://www.quietspeculation.com/?p=94013

SCG Indi was an important week both for Sam and for Magic at large. Check in with Sam here to find out what he learned over the weekend and what lies ahead.

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