analysis

Why Linear Decks are Not a Bad Thing.

Splinter Twin got banned, Summer Bloom got banned, players raged at the world, at their family, at their lives, but mostly they just raged. I feel it was a net positive for the Modern format to grow and adapt. I think unbans should have occurred with [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] and [card]Ancestral Visions[/card] but thats not what…

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Legacy’s Allure

This weekend, my LGS is having its first Legacy FNM. For people who don’t play Legacy, this is just a chance for people to show off their dual lands, Force of Wills and Wastelands. I guarantee there will be some people who’ll show up just to see cards they may never see again. I mean,…

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PT Fate Reforged: 18 Match Points (6-4) or Better, By the Numbers

Based on comments from my previous article, I would like to take a more in-depth approach to Pro Tour Fate Reforged. Covering only the top eight leaves out many of other archetypes that were present over the weekend. This time, I’m going to look at all the players who earned at least 18 match points (a 6-4…

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Resurrection Perfection – An Abzan Reanimator Primer

Dredge. Reanimator. Storm. All of these decks are extremely powerful. All of them are current tier-one strategies in Legacy. All of them have one thing in common: they use their graveyards as a resource. So why wouldn’t you do the same thing in a less powerful format like Standard? [deck title=Abzan Whip, by Ken Crocker] [Creatures]…

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Rollin’ with my Clique

Modern is an eternal format. Legacy-light to some, perhaps, but regardless a format with a high skill cap that rewards knowing the cards, the format, and how interactions work. This will be my first entry in a series where I cover some of the more widely played cards that I see both new and old players incorrectly…

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Immortal Constellation: A Historical Look At Standard Combo Decks

“Cast [card]Immortal Servitude[/card] for X = 3… get back my whole graveyard…triggers…kill you?” Standard is not a format renowned for combo decks. Most of the time, we see a rock-paper-scissors metagame filled with aggro-midrange-control matchups, as opposed to the aggro-combo-control matchups we read and hear about when beginning to learn “Magic theory.” However, this is…

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Izzet Good? An Argument for R/u Devotion

I have a confession to make. I have an unhealthy obsession with [card]Ral Zarek[/card]. I’ve heard it all: “He’s just bad.” “He doesn’t give you card advantage.” “Nice untap.”  Look, I get it. [card]Ral Zarek[/card] requires some help and his +1 ability is a bit underpowered. Using two loyalty to get a [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] is…

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Legacy vs. Modern

Hello, fellow speculators! After the biggest Constructed grand prix ever, GP Richmond, we’ve been a whole lot of winding down from card spikes. The market seems to be returning to the regular world of value investing. It sure has quieted down around here in the MTG finance world. But the slower pace really gives us…

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Pro Tour Born of the Gods: Modern Meta Analysis

Hello, fellow speculators! It’s the week of Grand Prix Richmond, destined to be the most-attended Constructed tournament ever, and the format is Modern. Registration is already shattering previous records for every past event except Grand Prix Las Vegas, the Modern Masters Limited GP. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that Modern…

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Shot in the Dark at the New Modern

Buying season for Modern is here. Or long past, as some would like to say, as prices of perceived staples have already quadripled or more. To say that there has been a cataclysmic shift in the Modern metagame due to the B&R announcements would be an understatement. Modern prices are shooting through the roof as speculation…

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Size Matters

Magic specs are like steaks – the rarer the better. The fewer copies of a card on the market, the bigger payoff if a spec hits. Simple enough. Sometimes, though, the color of the expansion symbol doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about supply. Sometimes you have to consider other factors. A few…

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