Midrange | Quiet Speculation

Online Only: MTGO Metagame

David Ernenwein — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:00:05 +0000

*Sigh* Oh, Magic Online. It is only now, with paper Magic shut down, that I am forced to regularly use you. And remember that I love/hate you. The ability to pick up and play my preferred format anytime, and against anyone in the world, is a true joy. Having to navigate your stubbornly obtuse command schemes […]

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To Goyf or Not To Goyf: UGx Midrange in 2020

Jordan Boisvert — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:00:10 +0000

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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My 2020 Racehorse: Simic Urza

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 17:00:57 +0000

With the new year just days away, every Modern player's got something on their mind: which new goodies will we get next? What's the deal with Pioneer? How are winning grinders tweaking their decks going into 2020? While we'll cover all that in the coming weeks, today I want to focus in on the format […]

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War of the Spark Standard: SCG Richmond and MCQ Season

Christopher O'Berry — Thu, 09 May 2019 12:54:23 +0000

This week, Chris reviews the decks of SCG Richmond, the first Standard event since War of the Spark's release, and looks ahead to the cards that could be winners going forward.

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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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In Guild Faith: Building a Better Midrange

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 17:00:53 +0000

It's easy to identify with Ravnica's guilds. The plane owes much of its popularity to that simple fact. In Modern, where color fixing is better than any other constructed format, players have more often aligned themselves with shards or wedges, such as Jund and Jeskai. But these days, decks tend to be defined less by […]

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Brew Report: Spell-Attack Renaissance, Pt. 1

Jordan Boisvert — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 17:00:23 +0000

New aggro decks in Modern tend to be streamlined synergy machines full of critters. But "goodstuff"-style creature decks à la Jund, which wield Modern's known best cards, do slip through occasionally. Perhaps the best-known example of this phenomenon is Traverse Shadow, a deck that blew Modernites away when it first reared its head over a […]

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Modern Myths: Dismantling Preconceptions

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 16:00:50 +0000

How many times have you heard something you disagree with? How often has it pertained to Modern? My answer to both questions is plenty. Lately, none spur me into debate more than the claims that countermagic is bad and midrange is dead. In this article, we'll debunk each of these myths by examining theory, decklists, […]

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First Strike: SCG Dallas Analysis

David Ernenwein — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 16:00:44 +0000

With SCG Dallas in the books, the process of deciphering the metagame can commence. True, there have been plenty of MTGO results to pore over, but selected lists don't form a random sample. It's curated with a goal in mind, and so not every deck has an equal chance of being included. In large tournaments, […]

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A Fatal Push Retrospect and the Future of Fair

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 17:00:11 +0000

Modern's detractors have long cast the format as a writhing mess of linear decks, all ignoring each other or skillfully opening sideboard hosers all the way to each hyper-aggressive Top 8. But until recently, Modern's pound-for-pound fairest deck---Jund---has commanded more metagame shares than almost anything else. That deck's resignation as king gave way to a variety […]

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Death’s Shadow: Hero or Villain? Metagame Impacts

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 18:18:02 +0000

The "Death's Shadow is the best deck" narrative we saw emerge in force around Grand Prix Vancouver has now split, with some claiming Eldrazi Tron is in fact the best deck. I tend to agree with the former, and will softly make a case for that inclination in this article. Regardless, we can surely agree […]

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Four-Event Recap: Metagame Shifts

Trevor Holmes — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 17:19:41 +0000

Modern tournament decklists are flooding in to the point where the phrase “too much of a good thing” is starting to come to mind. Nah, who am I kidding. I love this stuff. I hope you do too, because today we’re going to dive right in. I plan on recapping and analyzing high-level Magic tournament […]

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A Look Ahead: Predicting Modern Five Weeks From Now

Trevor Holmes — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 16:27:03 +0000

This week, I plan on doing something unique. Event analysis has long been my preferred approach when it comes to writing—and reading—about Magic, and I feel strongly that my skills in methodically sifting through data, testing hypotheses, and arriving at conclusions is one of my biggest strengths in Magic, both as a writer and as […]

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Death’s Shadow of Doubt: Exploring Aggro-Control

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 12 May 2017 16:10:40 +0000

Immediately following its mainstream introduction to Modern by Josh Utter-Leyton and his crew at GP Vancouver, Death's Shadow gained significant footing in the metagame. The explosion of Jund Shadow onto the paper scene at roughly 10% has since cooled, with the deck taking a more reasonable 8% share when lumped in with Abzan Shadow builds. Part of the reason for […]

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Wheel of Fortune: Riding the Archetype Spectrum

Jordan Boisvert — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 16:00:16 +0000

This week marks my fourth piece on deck archetypes, and it looks to be the most fun. Digging for specific answers with Serum Visions has taught me to be goal-oriented in other areas of my life. So with the basics laid out, we'll focus on my favorite part of the theorizing process: application! We all know I can't go […]

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Rising Deck Alert: Esper Mentor Midrange

Sheridan Lardner — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:05:48 +0000

Back when Monastery Mentor was spoiled, Modern players weren't sure how the card would affect their format. Or even if the card would affect it. But on February 22, a rising Japanese pro player named Yuuki Ichikawa teamed up with Monastery Mentor to take down a 214 player Modern event. I stumbled across that Esper Midrange Mentor list while doing my metagame spreadsheet […]

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