Every Magic set goes through an excitable honeymoon phase, and it’s only after the first few weeks of events that you can really measure their impact on the metagame. The top minds in Constructed Magic have had some time to thoroughly explore Lost Caverns of Ixalan, so which shiny new decks have emerged to flash their tournament potential? More importantly, …
Ten Sorcery Spells That Have Aged Perfectly in Commander
Sorcery spells have long had a bad rap in Commander because they can’t be used as an instant response. That said, count how often you use an instant at sorcery speed (it’s more often than you think). So in an effort to prove this card type’s value, Kristen has a selection of sorceries sure to satiate your salacity. Before we …
Four Bean Soup: How to Play Up the Beanstalk in Modern
Modern has been dominated by one card over the last few weeks, and Up the Beanstalk is taking format by storm. The powerful, two mana enchantment rewards players for casting to expensive spells. Luckily, for the beans players, there are a ton of cards that cost 5+ mana in theory, but far less (zero to one) in practice. With that …
Cards that Enable High Mana Value Commanders
Some of the most popular Commanders are below four mana, with some costing as little as two. It’s a big advantage having a low-cost Commander in the zone, but what if you want to run a more expensive one? Kristen has some tips to help you get the most out of casting more expensive Commanders. Chances are you have some …
Pioneer Regional Championship Check-in: October 2023
All eyes have been on Modern Regional Championship Qualifiers lately, but the first round of Regional Championships playing Pioneer wrapped up this weekend. There were some interesting, key developments worth mentioning, so let’s not beat around the bugs and jump right into exploring them. Izzet Phoenix Phoenix won the Canadian RC while also putting up good results in the EU …
Wilds of Eldraine: Innovating in Modern
Today we are getting into Modern post Wilds of Eldraine. I have been in the lab brewing and changing some lists up, so today we are going over those decks! Glimpse The Food This list was inspired by Dom Harvey, who is a known brewer in Modern and lover of the weird deck. It looks to take the Glimpse of …
Innovation in Modern
Last week I spoke about how desperation breeds creativity, and as Modern adapts to the changes brought on by The Lord of the Rings, this has proven to be true. Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed some interesting new innovation in existing Modern decks, and even new decks all together put up strong tournament results. So much of competitive …
What Makes Proliferate So Strong in Commander?
We all know winning isn’t everything in Commander, and any kind of deck can be a success story if it brings its pilot joy. But not all archetypes and mechanics were made equal, and some have a tendency to feel downright unfair in all but the most competitive environments. So today we’re going to look at proliferate and arm you …
Your Commander Deck Should Be Playing Synergistic Removal
It’s very easy to reach for the classics: Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking, Toxic Deluge — but what do you take beyond those, or as a budget alternative? Let’s dig in to how to pick synergistic removal for Commander and not screw yourself over at the same time. It’s about the time of year again, and I don’t mean the …
The Benefits of a Hard to Remove Commander
It’s super frustrating to have your Commander removed over and over again, especially when it’s key to your deck’s strategy. Why not choose a Commander that’s hard to remove? Kristen shares her thoughts on what makes these resilient Commanders so popular. The best games of Commander are the ones with a healthy amount of interaction. That said, people don’t tend …