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David Ernenwein

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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.

Here I am again talking spoilers before we actually have the full set. I realize there could be something lurking among the unspoiled cards that drastically changes the context of currently unplayable cards. However, we have a number of cards already that stand on their own, and there’s a trend in Kaladesh that should be […]

Welcome once again to the Beginner’s Guide. Back in May I laid out some basic rules and recommendations for how to construct a Modern sideboard. The intention was to provide guidelines for building a sideboard in Modern. The time has come to explain how it’s actually done. Everyone likes to complain about Modern. I don’t […]

Triple Modern GP weekends are both exhilarating and intimidating for me. On the one hand it’s great seeing how the format is developing and growing. Watching strong players play my favorite format while the commentators (almost) understand what is happening are the only reasons I ever watch video coverage. The flip side is that the amount of […]

Without the need to grind after winning an early PPTQ, I’ve been free to brew and experiment. As always, some of these new ideas are good. Most are not. But you never find out unless you indulge your inner Mythbuster and proverbially throw your deck at the wall to see if it works. Never actually throw your […]

Good news, PPTQ grinders! We have data for you. As if the monthly metagame update wasn’t enough for you, this week we have the SCG Syracuse Open to look at, and Jordan will be talking about his PPTQ experience later in the week. Here’s to making informed decisions based on actual data! Dredge won the […]

Welcome back to the Beginner’s Guide to Modern, the article series where we help Standard players make the transition to Modern. It’s been a while since my last entry in this series (far longer than intended), but now I’m back to deal with what I hear is the most interesting, frustrating, and intimidating aspect of […]

Ah, the first PPTQ of the season. When hope springs anew, the Colorado metagame is still in its default, Burn-heavy state, and everyone thinks that their preparation was absolutely flawless and that this one is theirs for the taking. Then I usually bomb out of the Top 8, everything goes into wildly overblown flux when some […]

Good news, everyone! Modern PPTQ season starts this week, and we have metagame data to work with! Jason has promised that the June update will happen tomorrow, but for today lets examine the first results from our new post-Eldritch Moon metagame. Frankly, I don’t expect much to have changed, mostly because it was the release weekend […]

The prerelease is now behind us, and while we wait for release day to get our preorder cards, the testing and brewing process is already underway. I realize that most of that will be happening in Standard, but I also know that I cannot stand the thought of Bant Company and would much rather try to […]

Rejoice Nexites, for the Modern PPTQ season fast approaches! The Modern Pro Tour may be gone but at least we still have an entire season to grind away for our shot at the big stage. While the season doesn’t actually kick off for most until the end of the month, I got a taste of […]

I have a difficult relationship with spoiler season. On the one hand I really like it. It’s a lot of fun to see the next set emerge. I love the anticipation, the discovery, and the discussion that inevitably follows. On the other since I write early in the week I never have the full spoiler to work with. […]

It’s remarkable to think how far both the game of Magic and the culture around Magic have grown recently. What was rare and remarkable yesterday is common today, and old technology and edges are just part of the game. Likewise, old lessons have become integral to how we understand the game, but you’d be hard-pressed […]

Finding cards that could fit into existing decks is fairly easy. You know what sees play and what effects these decks need, so you know what kind of card you’re looking to find. It’s much harder to find cards that inspire new decks. I suspect this is why the only truly new deck we’ve seen […]

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