jund | Quiet Speculation

Challenge Accepted: January ’21 Metagame Update

David Ernenwein — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 17:00:59 +0000

Hot on the heels of my practical examination last week, it's time to formally close the books on the old metagame. Or at least that expression of the old metagame. Who knows how Kaldheim will actually affect Modern, but regardless, the old metagame will see turmoil and change. I expect whatever emerges from Kaldheim to be similar […]

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Still I Rise: Modern’s Companions Post-Nerf

Jordan Boisvert — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 16:00:48 +0000

In the wake of the companion nerf, in which Wizards announced the creatures would cost an additional 3 mana to tutor from the sideboard, David penned a piece discussing the pros and cons of keeping companions as companions given their hefty new price tag. Today, I'll expand upon that idea, looking more closely at where […]

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Errant Errata: June B&R Reaction

David Ernenwein — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 16:00:54 +0000

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 […]

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Probing Companionship: Investigating Lurrus

David Ernenwein — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:00:51 +0000

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 […]

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Budget Focused: Domri Rade and Planeswalker Potential

Eric Pankow — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 06:46:43 +0000

In the next part of his Budget Focused series, UndyingMTG examines Planeswalkers Domri Rade's current price, why it has the potential to go up, and what formats it will succeed in.

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Thawing Late: A Bant Snow World

David Ernenwein — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:00:47 +0000

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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Fighting Jund: A Beginner’s Guide

David Ernenwein — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 16:00:42 +0000

Well, this is rather unfortunate. I was intending to start building a new metagame dataset with SCG Baltimore this week. However, COVID-19 has led to basically everything for the next month being cancelled. Which means I'll need to rely on online data for the foreseeable future. The problem is there isn't enough non-League data to […]

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Season’s Greetings: Early Metagame Indicators

David Ernenwein — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 17:00:42 +0000

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 […]

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How Pioneer Awakened MTG Finance

Sigmund Ausfresser — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 11:00:08 +0000

For months, MTG finance had remained quiet and calm. The market was largely stable, and admittedly boring. Then the Pioneer announcement came along and awakened the beast. Now havoc (and controversy) is once again being wreaked by #MTGfinance.

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Lessons Learned from SCG Indi and ELD Part 1/2

Sam Lowe — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:32:29 +0000

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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Cool Stories, Bro: Testing Throne of Eldraine

David Ernenwein — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:00:45 +0000

Throne of Eldraine is officially out, and that means that data is slowly trickling in. Very slowly, to the point that I can't draw conclusions yet. It will take a few more weeks of events and brewing before things settle enough to get an accurate view of the new metagame. Now is the perfect time […]

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Modern Movers After the B&R Announcement

Adam Yurchick — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:05:10 +0000

Monday's Banned and Restricted Announcement has turned the Modern metagame on its head, and Adam is here to explain what it means for the future of the market.

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No-Gaak: Early Metagame Observations

David Ernenwein — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0000

With Core 2020 and the London mulligan finally legal, the metagame can begin to take shape. Begin being the key word there. So much has changed in Modern over the past month that it is impossible to predict what exactly is changing. At the end of this week, GP Denver looms. I'm not playing the main […]

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June ’19 Brew Report, Pt. 2: Out in Force

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 16:00:07 +0000

Last week, we began taking stock of the novel decks appearing in 5-0 dumps post-Modern Horizons. With a ban in the books and M20 entering the card pool, the coming weeks are sure to feature even more upheaval. But lots of new tech is already out in force. Perhaps June's innovation bears signs of what's to […]

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Punishing Fire: Qualitative Results and Conclusion

David Ernenwein — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:00:01 +0000

Last week, I unveiled the first part of my Punishing Fire test. With the data compiled and revealed, it's time for the less-concrete part. The data is the data and speaks for itself. However, that's not the whole story. Magic isn't just a numbers game; there are a lot of intangibles. For instance, it's also supposed […]

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Modern Horizons and the Road Ahead

Christopher O'Berry — Fri, 17 May 2019 14:15:13 +0000

Chris makes his final picks before Modern Horizons spoiler season starts this weekend.

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Testing Punishing Fire: Quantitative Data

David Ernenwein — Tue, 14 May 2019 16:00:01 +0000

And now it's time for everyone's favorite part of the banlist test: the experimental data. With 500 matches of Jund with and without Punishing Fire under my belt, I have developed a very strong opinion on unbanning the card. Today, I will reveal the hard numbers and their statistical significance. As always, these data are […]

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Testing Punishing Fire: Experimental Setup

David Ernenwein — Tue, 07 May 2019 16:00:51 +0000

The time has come to start rolling out the results of my latest foray into the Modern banlist. In the past, the return of this series was hailed with a public vote for which card I'd work on, followed by months of silence while I actually did the work. This time, extenuating circumstances dictated the […]

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Outlook Grim: Testing Mainboard Leyline in BGx

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 16:00:05 +0000

While chatting with a friend who hasn't played Modern in a while about mostly unrelated topics, I was asked whether Leyline of the Void could be a reasonable consideration for contemporary mainboards . He'd become interested in the topic after reading this article. "In what deck?" I asked, believing myself aware of the card's niche […]

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What’s Next #1

Edward Eng — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 17:37:09 +0000

Spinning off from a section in article #23, Eddie starts this new What's Next series by looking into what could be in store for Modern after the KCI banning.

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