Mox Opal Featured Image

The Most Busted Modern Deck? (Can It Possibly Be Mono-Red?)

On By matledgeIn ModernLeave a comment

(1.13.20 – The problem with writing posts a few weeks ahead of time is that, sometimes, stuff happens to invalidate what you’ve written about. I am super happy about the Oko and Mox Opal bans announced for Modern yesterday. The Opal ban makes this article a bit moot, though I think it is still an interesting thought experiment.)

For a while now, I’ve had a notion to combine all Modern’s most “busted” cards into one deck, just to see what would happen. And while I don’t think this deck quite fits the bill (it’s missing a couple key contenders), it’s pretty darn close to what I envisioned.

The kicker? This deck is (mostly) Mono-Red to boot. I have no idea whether it’s anywhere near competitive, but it sure seems like it’d be fun to give Modern’s “most busted” deck a whirl.

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joseph-meehan-resolute-blademaster

My 2020 Magic: The Gathering Resolutions

On By matledgeIn OtherLeave a comment

While I typically set yearly goals for myself, I’ve never gone out of my way to set goals for how I’ll interact with Magic.

However, 2019 was a year of major upheaval for our favorite game, and 2020 seems set to introduce even more changes. With that in mind, I wanted to set myself some 2020 Magic resolutions, to keep my efforts focused and ensure that I continue to enjoy playing, thinking about, and writing about Magic.

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Broken Planeswalkers 2019

Five Custom Cards to Combat Planeswalkers

On By matledgeIn OtherLeave a comment

If the nonsense year of Magic cards that is 2019 has proven anything to me, it is that there need to be more common, aggressive answers to planeswalkers. This year’s pushed, high-impact planeswalkers have warped Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage around themselves, and it’s time that Magic made planeswalkers as easy to deal with as any other type of permanent.

With that in mind, I recently designed some custom cards that would allow each color to answer planeswalkers in their own unique way. Not all of these cards are necessarily good, or good ideas. Some of them might not be costed correctly. But I think all of them fit squarely within the correct section of Magic‘s color pie, and could be templates for how each color can begin fighting back against high-impact planeswalkers.

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Niv Mizzet Reborn Featured Raymond Swanland

Niv-Mizzet Reborn Brawl Deck Tech

On By matledgeIn Brawl, Magic Arena1 Comment

Back when I wrote about Throne of Eldraine Brawl a couple months ago, I said I was really excited to try out a Niv-Mizzet Reborn deck … but was worried I might not have enough wildcards to build the deck on Magic Arena.

Well, it turns out that I worried for naught! Random booster pulls had already provided nearly every card I needed for a glorious, all-gold Niv Mizzet Reborn Brawl deck. (Turns out, you really can play Brawl with your Draft chaff.) Keep reading for a rundown on Brawl’s second best, but most fun, five-color Commander.

Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Guess who’s back – back again?
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Magic on a Budget Hyperimage

The 2020 Magic Budget Project

On By matledgeIn Commander, Cube, Modern, Pauper, Pioneer1 Comment

As Magic has scaled up its release schedule, I’ve been scaling back the amount of new decks and cards I’m willing to invest in. Even for players like me, who don’t touch tabletop Standard, it’s been tough to keep up with the series of new releases, meta rotations, and formats that Wizards of the Coast is pumping out.

So, in 2020, I’m doing something I’ve hinted at here before, but never strictly stuck to: I’m keeping a Magic budget. And as I’m the type of nerd who plays Magic, there are rules attached.

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