Tales of Middle-earth proved how well Magic can adapt itself to capture the identity of other blockbuster media products through its design. As with the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks last year, Wizards of the Coast bet a lot on their ability to draw in new and returning players from among fans of the source material. It’s a confident move; Magic …
Regional Championship Prep: Modern
The next Regional Championship Qualifier season begins in just a month or so and will use the Modern format for the first time. While many are still competing in Pioneer, it’s important to start looking ahead. Modern is also a format that many haven’t touched, so figuring out which deck to buy can be an incredibly daunting decision given the …
The Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle-earth Modern Results
Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle-earth hasn’t been around Magic Online for long, but there are already plenty of Modern results to look at from recent challenges and the showcase. The decks we’re looking at today are all from the finals of either kind of event. And while that’s not a direct indicator of how good the decks are, …
Building with The One Ring in Modern
It’s release week for The Lord of the Rings, and somehow we haven’t talked about The One Ring in the context of Modern since we first saw it previewed months ago. In some ways though, it’s like saving the best for last. While a card like stern scolding is more likely to see tons of play, I think The One …
The Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle-earth Updated Decks for Modern
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is just one week away, which means it’s time to get to brewing decks for Modern! As an incredibly wide format, this set offers many powerful options to build around and opportunities to improve existing archetypes. Mono White Legends White Aggro has been a staple of lower power formats for years. Looking …
Card Kingdom Deck Builder Update
No matter what format you play, building a deck is a fundamental part of the Magic process. But once you finally have a list together, searching up each card and putting it into your cart can be a bit tedious. Well, fortunately we have a solution that should save you a lot of time so you can focus more on …
The Other Rings of Power in Magic
Of all the new Magic cards spoiled from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, the most eye-catching is The One Ring itself. Potent, mechanically unique and with a mind-bogglingly valuable serialized Elvish printing to be found… who wouldn’t be tempted by such a treasure?! All I’m saying is if my cousin was as annoying as Deagol, I’d probably …
Is the Ring Tempts You the New Initiative?
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth brings us the newest Magic mechanic “The Ring Tempts You.” Naturally, once players saw the ring tempts you in stages on a track that exists outside the game, comparisons to the Initiative mechanic started flowing. Is being tempted by the ring going to be as format defining in Modern as taking the …
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Modern Highlights
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is our first Universes Beyond set that goes straight to Modern. Since it’s unprecedented, players have wondered since its original announcement how it would pan out in the format. Well, today we’re taking a look at three cards that could change up the format and open new styles of decks. Stern Scolding …
Sultai Battle Shadow in Modern
Death’s Shadow decks haven’t had a meaningful addition in some time, which contributes to a decline in both play rate and success, as of late. However, I’m not here today to bemoan the performance of Shadow — I actually have good news! Not only did Death’s Shadow win an MTGO challenge last week, piloted by xfile, but it is a …