Last weekend I played in my first RPTQ. What a tournament! I’d never played in a room full of players on or above my level before, and to say I was underprepared is a huge understatement. My car full of Boston grinders left after the third round, all of us beaten to shreds by the competition. […]

America was watching, riveted. Eyes glued to screens across the nation. All signs pointed to a win for blue. But Modern is a strange beast. During the tournament’s final hour, its rust belt of Lightning Bolts exploded into a sea of crimson. Cries of “how did this happen?” and “where did we go wrong?” echoed around the […]

I’ve been tweaking Temur Delver variants, especially my beloved Monkey Grow, for well over a year now. The archetype does everything I want to be doing in Modern: it throws Bolts, it attacks with efficient threats, it counters spells, it cantrips, and it steals games with Blood Moon. For a long time, it also struggled […]

Move over, Shiloh—It’s Modern season! The next few weeks in my calendar are full of Modern PPTQs, Opens, and GPs, and I think I finally know what to sleeve up. Two weeks ago, I introduced Traverse Delver, a mid-game-focused, Traverse the Ulvenwald/Bedlam Reveler-powered grow deck that finally solved Temur Delver’s miserable Jund matchup. It did so for a hefty […]

Play mistakes often amount to a lack of experience. Barring an FNM the day before, SCG States marked my first event with Temur Delver since Oath of the Gatewatch, which had me gleefully—and, soon enough, disinterestedly—casting two-mana, Thoughtseizeing Tarmogoyfs. I’m not unexperienced with Temur Delver; I’ve been playing it in various forms since 2012, and with […]

Sometimes I marinate for minutes (no, tens of minutes) on clever article titles, but today’s came naturally. After months of turning Eldrazi Temple sideways, I’ve returned to my beloved Temur Delver, and fetching out basic Island has never felt more right. I guess you don’t know how dirty some things are until you stop doing them. To […]

I’m sure I speak for many when I say my favorite part of spoiler season is paging through new cards and looking for ones that fit into my pet decks. The leaked Shadows over Innistrad spoilers revealed Invasive Surgery and the delirium mechanic. As a Tarmogoyf enthusiast, this keyword spoke to me on a competitive and […]

Actual comments from my previous article, “A Defense of the Splinter Twin Ban:” “As someone who has played around extensively with a variety of URx decks, I can tell you that in the past four years or so, Twin is the only one I’ve found viable not because the Twin package is so enticing, but […]

While StarCityGames Classic events are normally considered “low-key” when compared to Open Events and Grand Prix, SCG Atlanta proved to be highly valuable for Modern analysis, coming off the heels of the recent Splinter Twin ban. In case you’ve been living under a rock the past week, check out Wizards’ official announcement here and my […]

Editor’s Note: Jordan Boisvert took down the 5/24 Starcitygames Premier IQ in Worcester with an innovative take on Temur Delver. In this article, Jordan explains the deck, its history, its gameplay, and how you can take “Monkey Grow” to top 8 finishes of your own! Remember playing Pokemon and casting multiple Bills in a turn? […]