metagame breakdown | Quiet Speculation

Meet the New Boss: March ’21 Metagame Update

David Ernenwein — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 16:00:33 +0000

First Tuesday of a new month? Must be time for the metagame update. Yes, I realize that there wasn't one last time, but those were special circumstances. A major ban invalidated more than half of February's data. There's really nothing statistically valid from ten days of results. Of course, March wasn't much better. Thanks to […]

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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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Ramp Rising: November 2020 Metagame Update

David Ernenwein — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 17:00:01 +0000

Alright, no more delays. All the data is finally in, and so it's time to do November's Metagame Update. So far, the metagame has generally been dynamic. The top deck hasn't been consistent between months, though Rakdos Prowess and its descendant Scourge Shadow have been consistently Tier 1 since I started doing these again. Will […]

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Flat Curve: September ’20 Metagame Update

David Ernenwein — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 16:00:38 +0000

October is upon us, which means that it's time to do another metagame update. Modern continues to chug along in this paperless world. And better for me, Wizards seems to have finally gotten its act together and is regularly reporting results. Ever since I started caring about MTGO, I've had to deal with really inconsistent […]

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Trending Away: Modern’s Metagame Muddle

David Ernenwein — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 16:00:38 +0000

It's the end of June. Normally that wouldn't feel weird to say, but this is a rather unusual year. Where has it gone, and simultaneously why does it feel like it never goes at all? Without paper events as a guide and work disrupted, time is losing meaning to me. Fortunately, I keep being reminded of […]

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Best of 2019: Twin’s Role in Modern

David Ernenwein — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 17:00:39 +0000

Editor's Note: The Twin ban remained highly controversial into 2019, especially among what I assume to be an extremely vocal minority of Modern die-hards. That sentiment pushed David to revisit Twin's previous role in the format with a thorough, data-driven approach. Also included in this re-run are David's thoughts headed into 2020, which deal with […]

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Call the Police: Twin’s Role in Modern

David Ernenwein — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 17:00:31 +0000

Assumptions and collectively-held beliefs are fickle and powerful things. They can affect perception and, in a way, become reality if unchallenged. Therefore, it is critical for the skeptical mind to evaluate and investigate these ideas for validity, especially in the wake of recent bannings. After being challenged on long-held beliefs about Splinter Twin's effect on […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 2/6/17 – 3/12/17

Jason Schousboe — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 21:49:45 +0000

Welcome back for another metagame update. I'm calling today's the "February update," even though it encompasses a week-and-a-half of March data as well. As we had extended last month's data, it made sense to do so this month too in order to avoid a three-week metagame with scant data. The astute reader will notice that […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 1/1/2017 – 2/5/2017

Jason Schousboe — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 07:13:06 +0000

On January 9th, Wizards of the Coast brought the heavy weight of the banhammer down upon Modern, attempting to target several linear decks that ranked among the best-performing archetypes during 2016. On the one hand we had the aggressive, explosive creature combos with a gotcha! element, headlined by Infect. On the other hand we had Dredge, taxing […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 12/1/2016 – 12/31/2016

Jason Schousboe — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 07:04:11 +0000

Today finally brings an update to the metagame breakdown, with data from December. I know many of our readers have been very disappointed to see these fall by the wayside—I want to explain briefly why I've been lagging on them, and reassure you that they will be back in full force for 2017. I recently began […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 9/1/16 – 9/30/16

Jason Schousboe — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 20:27:55 +0000

Last month we saw three major Modern Grand Prix around the world post a metagame breakdown that mirrored almost exactly the one established in July. Paradoxically, September had both far fewer high-profile events and much more significant shifts in share percentage. I believe these were the result of careful and systematic re-positioning by Modern players, with the intent […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 8/1/16 – 8/31/16

Jason Schousboe — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:00:32 +0000

Well, it may be painfully late, but it's here: the August Metagame Breakdown. This month we saw a rash of major events culminating in the triple Grand Prix weekend confirm what the metagame had tentatively established in July. There were no changes in the Tier 1 lineup from July to August, and we actually saw some […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 7/1/16 – 7/31/16

Jason Schousboe — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 21:30:59 +0000

Well, you know what they say: the more things change, the more they stay the same. The month of July saw some metagame shifts portended the month before take concrete form, as the paper shares adjusted to more closely resemble MTGO results. Death's Shadow Zoo, Dredge, and Eldrazi ascended to Tier 1, replacing Abzan Company and […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 6/1/16 – 6/30/16

Jason Schousboe — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 17:30:18 +0000

It's finally here, folks! I know everyone has been waiting patiently for the June metagame report, and I'm extremely happy to bring it to you today. I've undergone something of a crash course over these last few weeks familiarizing myself with Sheridan's methods (and mammoth Google Docs spreadsheet) that allow us to operationalize the tiers in […]

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Modern Metagame Breakdown: 5/1/16 – 5/31/16

Sheridan Lardner — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 16:00:19 +0000

I've always been more of a paper player than an online one, but that changed a few weeks ago when I bought myself an MTGO deck as an early birthday present. Can you guess my purchase? Hint: if you've seen "ktkenshinx" around the tournament practice tables, chances are you've been eating Lightning Storms with Pact […]

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