More Modern action heading into #SCGCIN!

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Newsletter
Thursday, October 19th

Modern was already a good format, but now it seems downright great! The Cincinnati Open is the second SCG Tour Modern main event in as many weekends, and that's where the Magic world's eyes will be on Saturday and Sunday. Todd Stevens is ahead of the format curve as usual, already picking out how the most likely unbannings will affect the game. Jadine Klomparens is educating the public on their common misplays and mistakes as she continues her reign as 2017's best Magic theory writer. And with Iconic Masters just around the corner, Chas Andres explains how you can get into Modern while saving money along the way!

Though it's not set in stone, Eldrazi Tron, Gifts Storm, Affinity, and Death's Shadow are looming as the de facto top tier of Modern, but as we've seen before, things in Modern change in the blink of an eye. We'll see you at #SCGCIN!

— Danny West, Content Coordinator

Charlotte Open Weekend Winners

Paul Muller
Modern Open

Justin Gregory
Standard Classic

Jacob Ballington
Modern Classic

The Modern Banned List
From Top To Bottom
By Todd Stevens  

Remember earlier this year when Jund Death's Shadow was all the rage? Bloodbraid Elf would be much better than splashing for Ranger of Eos, something many of those decks did to help their matchup against removal-heavy decks. Expect this to make a comeback with plenty of Kolaghan's Commands.

Individually, Bloodbraid Elf is probably not more powerful than Thought-Knot Seer, something that many people who would like the card unbanned point out. The biggest difference lies in the decks the two cards can be played in. Thought-Knot Seer requires a very specific cost, colorless mana, when putting it in your deck that makes it hard to play with other powerful cards in the format. Bloodbraid Elf, on the other hand, slots nicely into a deck filled with the best cards of the format.

Overall, Bloodbraid Elf is a comparably safe card to unban in Modern, but it would drastically change the metagame, something that is an expensive side effect for players that need to scramble to put together new decks. It also has the risk of making one archetype too good for the format, and a bigger percentage of it than desired.

October 28-29
Legacy

November 4
Modern

November 10-12
Standard

The Modern Plays You're Not Making (And Should Be)
By Jadine Klomparens  

Just like with Storm, in the end it comes down to knowledge. Great Jeskai players know what their opponent can do, and ensure that they stay reactive if it matters and get aggressive if it doesn't. There is a large difference between leaving Cryptic Command up in case your opponent draws Liliana of the Veil when a resolved Liliana will be tricky to beat and leaving Cryptic Command up because your opponent probably plays some spells that are annoying and you like using Cryptic Command on annoying spells.

This Celestial Colonnade microcosm is the result of two big-picture trends. The first is that, in general, players don't use their creature-lands early enough. There's this idea in the collective Magic player consciousness that the role of creature-lands is to prevent flooding. As such, players tend to default towards casting anything in their hand before animating a creature-land, saving their creature-lands only for the super-late-game.

Buying Into Modern
Before The Rush
By Chas Andres  

Horizon Canopy is one of the marquee reprints in Iconic Masters, which could help make Modern Elves and Counters Company the new flavors of the week. Interestingly enough, both of those decks have a few other major staples in common. Chord of Calling and Collected Company are four-ofs in both lists, and I wouldn't be surprised to see both cards start to tick up in value once Iconic Masters hits store shelves. Bant Company also gets the Archangel of Thune reprint, which is another reason why you may want to look toward getting your Collected Companies while they're still under $20.

Aether Vial is another Iconic Masters staple, and Death & Taxes and Eldrazi & Taxes are the two places where it shows up most. Both decks use Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, a card that has been threatening to spike for a couple of months now. I bet it'll end up in the $20-$25 range by the end of February.