It’s the end of June. Normally that wouldn’t feel weird to say, but this is a rather unusual year. Where has it gone, and simultaneously why does it feel like it never goes at all? Without paper events as a guide and work disrupted, time is losing meaning to me. Fortunately, I keep being reminded of […]
David Ernenwein
David has been playing Magic since Odyssey block. A dedicated Spike, he's been grinding tournaments for over a decade, including a Pro Tour appearance. A Modern specialist who dabbles in Legacy, his writing is focused on metagame analysis and deck evolution.
Alright, no more distractions. It’s time to find out if the companion rules change actually worked. When the change came down, I hypothesized that there would be a general drop-off in playability, but companions would remain a factor in Modern. Lurrus of the Dream-Den would take the biggest hit, while Obosh, the Preypiercer would be […]
Spoiler season is rolling on. However, my prediction at the end of last week’s article has been holding: Core 2021 spoiled the obviously Modern-playable cards early. Sure, there have been plenty of interesting cards, but they’re all role-players or interesting build-arounds rather than massive shake-ups. And that’s rather welcome, considering how often Modern’s been churned up […]
In these uncertain times, it is only natural to seek stability and comfort in the familiar and predictable. Which is a convoluted way of saying that the world may be burning, but spoiler season has returned on schedule. It’s not much relative to everything else, but even small comforts are important. In the past, Core […]
Here we are again: another set, another set of problems, and another banning… oh wait, nothing’s getting banned in Modern. Awkward. And more to the point, a waste of a perfectly good rant setup. Why am I even bothering… oh right, something else happened this time around. And it is consequential. Though not in the […]
Another week of data, another update to the Ikoria metagame. The trends had been moving towards companion stabilizing in Modern. Last week, the individual companion cards seemed volatile in terms of usage, but the mechanic itself appeared to have achieved saturation. We observed some signs suggesting that companions might be been fading in Modern, which […]
When working with data, scale is everything. Just as an area looks very different when using Google Streetview versus Google Maps, the context, meaning, trends, and ultimately the conclusions reached from the data will depend heavily on the scale it’s examined on. This is the reason that economics is split between micro and macro level […]
In the absence of data, speculation and rumor thrive. It’s time to correct that problem with a deep data dive. I have been collecting metagame data for the past month, and today I’m going to share my findings. The rhetoric about companions has been flying thick since they were revealed, but their actual impact was […]
Modern is on fire. I’ve come to expect this declaration every time there’s a noticeable shift in the format. Sometimes it’s justified. Sometimes it isn’t. And sometimes its semi-literal. Burn appears to be dominating Modern at the moment. Red decks have been doing well since Oko, Thief of Crowns was banned, but it was Prowess […]
And so, the devastation of Modern continues. At least, if you listen to most social media where companions are concerned. I remind everyone again that meaningful data on the matter is currently non-existent; all anyone has to go on are their personal observations. And then the echo chamber will come into play as those observations […]
With the new set fully available online, players can finally verify if all the speculation was correct. It’s one thing to assess cards in a vacuum than in reality, after all. Usually, assessments are too far-off, and a consensus quickly develops around the new cards in every format. This opinion is then developed and refined […]
Well, that was fast. Normally we have three full weeks of spoilers, but Wizards has really rushed out Ikoria. I’m guessing the quarantine is a factor here and they’re in a bit of a scramble. In any case, the entire set is now out. And it’s a little mediocre, Modern-wise. As I mentioned last week, this […]
Alright Magic world, it’s time to screech to even more of a halt: it’s spoiler time again. That means you, Timmy and Tammy! Particularly you, since this set is tailor made to your preferences, they being giant monsters and the making thereof. The pickings are a bit thinner for Spike this time around, but that’s fine […]
