Is Magic currently the best it has ever been?

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Newsletter
Thursday, February 22nd

How awesome is Magic right now?

Seriously, take a step back and think about it. I'm not sure Magic has been this much fun and, more importantly, this unpredictable in five years. Take Standard for instance. What's the best deck in that format? Mono-Red Aggro? G/R Monsters? Grixis Energy? Something with Approach of the Second Suns? Who knows! And with the unbanning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf in Modern, no one has any clue what the best deck is over there. Is it likely something with Jace? Yeah, probably, but Jace hasn't been dominating Magic Online as much as people were expecting. At least not yet...

Todd Anderson has quite a few thoughts on how Bloodbraid and Jace will change everything in Modern. And you'd be wise to listen—the Alabama native has signed many a match slip in his favor with each of those cards in his deck. Jadine Klomparens was all set to give up on Winding Constrictor in Standard, but a last-chance MTGO League changed her mind. As for Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan finalist, Gerry Thompson? He's breaking down all the formats as only he can—with decklists-o-plenty and brutally honest commentary to go along with 'em.

Every format in Magic is ready to be broken. Will you be the one to do the breaking?

— Cedric Phillips, Content Coordinator

March 10-11
Modern

March 24-25
Team Constructed

April 7-8
Modern

How Bloodbraid And Jace
Will Change Everything
By Todd Anderson  

Bloodbraid Elf could rejuvenate the B/G archetypes, giving them a four-drop that can regain lost momentum from taking the early turns to deploy stuff like Liliana of the Veil. On top of that, the free spell you hit from Bloodbraid Elf will usually help you catch up if you've fallen behind against decks featuring faster mana while also giving you an extra card against decks trying to play fair.

I never thought Bloodbraid Elf was "too good" for Modern. It was just a side effect when Deathrite Shaman first saw print. And instead of banning the root of the problem, WotC decided to slow the deck down a little by giving Bloodbraid Elf the axe. After a few months of Jund still dominating Modern thanks to Deathrite Shaman, it eventually hit the bin alongside Bloodbraid Elf, but was never reconsidered for unbanning. In the years following, Jund decks tried over and over to find the best four-drop replacement. Olivia Voldaren took the spot for a while, but Huntmaster of the Fells and even Thrun, the Last Troll all had their day in the sun. But now, with Bloodbraid Elf let out of the cage, I think it's pretty clear that we're going to be seeing it in the four-drop slot from now on.

Brennan DeCandio
Modern Open

Todd Stevens
Standard Classic

Greg Williams
Modern Classic

Snakes And Ladders
By Jadine Klomparens  

Let's dive right in. Why is Hadana's Climb worth splashing an entire third color for right now?

First, let's take a step back and take a broad look at the format. On the far aggro end, you have Hazoret the Fervent decks featuring Bomat Courier. There are a few flavors here, but they all do similar things and have the same weaknesses. These decks are a reason to want to play a Winding Constrictor strategy. They are weak to Walking Ballista and don't at all like playing against a low-to-the-ground deck with creatures that are all very slightly bigger than theirs. You even have access to Vraska's Contempt to deal with pesky Hazorets. Note that I haven't mentioned Hadana's Climb once here; in fact, I sideboard out all copies of Climb in this matchup. If the metagame were all Hazoret decks, I would play pure B/G Constrictor.

On the other end of spectrum from the Hazoret decks, you have the Torrential Gearhulk decks. These days, the Torrential Gearhulk decks are basically all The Scarab God decks. These decks are the enemies of midrange strategies like ours.

GerryT's Ten Things:
Legacy Looks Fun Again!
By Gerry Thompson  

When Bryan Gottlieb told me he had a sicko Profane Procession deck, I was disappointed in him. I expected better. Clearly Profane Procession was the type of card that is way too strong for limited and too tame for Standard. Eight mana to kill your first creature? A total of eighteen mana for a Rampant Growth?

Well, maybe I was wrong. Apparently, if you have a do-nothing W/B Control deck, you'll have a bunch of spare mana lying around while you look at your hand full of Murders. I'll be honest, I just didn't think W/B Control would be a playable archetype, but here we are.

Thankfully, this Mastermind's Acquisition package is about as light as it gets. Finally someone shows some restraint.