Trying to put a Tron deck together that utilizes infect, primarily around getting Blightsteel colossus out instead of Emrakul. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions or experience with this sort of idea. I haven’t play tested this at all just trying to put it down on paper.

Linking my “rough draft” please offer any ideas. Particularly struggling with the sideboard.

https://moxfield.com/decks/Q9lyXvF2jkGb3_WOGVPGrw

used to play a lot of modern, in recent years switched to mostly EDH or Duel Commander. Are any of my old decks still viable, or can I upgrade them without spending a fortune?

I do have all the fetch lands etc. and my decks have the staples from 3 to 5 years ago. From recent sets I do not have that much besides a bundle here and there (Hobbit, Lorwyn Eclipsed) and random cards from some drafts I did at MagicCon earlier this year.

My decks, all unchanged since 2023 or earlier;

• Dredge

• Hardened scales

• Blue Green infect

• Death's Shadow (Jund)

• Red Green Valakut/Wrenn & Six

• Mono white Stoneforge mystic, Phelia

• UrzaTron blue green control

Which of these are still oke to play or can be renewed without spending hundreds? Thanks!

Hello! I recently decided that I want to get into modern, since it’s by far the most popular way to play constructed around me. I have some staples from EDH, but the reality is that for most decks I would be starting from zero. I know that the format has its boogeymen in the Eldrazi, Boros and Broodscale. But modern seems to shift fast and I know that Belcher won a Pro Tour last year and that Titan is an ever present threat to the format.

I would ideally want to build towards a deck that won’t be banned or can subsist after a ban. Not necessarily the top dog, but something that is viable and works long term. Modern decks are so expensive I really wouldn’t want to make a bad choice.

I have experience on Standard with Dimir Tempo/Midrange and Mono Red Aggro. So I was thinking of the Dimir Frog deck, but it seems to have fallen out of favor recently.

Regardless of the deck I choose, where would you recommend I learn it? Are there good YouTubers or websites that explain decks?

Calmwater Mentor {2}{W}{W}

Creature - Seal Monk (Mythic)

When this creature enters, you may search your library for up to two creature cards with power 2 or less, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle.

3/2

Who has played this deck? Is it fun? It looks fun…missing cards are in a shopping cart at my local tcg store do I hit buy? What does everyone think

I already know graveyard hate is tough to play against anything else that I can’t think of that would be abysmal?

MTGGoldfish Deck: Bx Smallpox Deck

I am sure most of you already know, the traditional Modern 8 Rack deck has suffered years of power creep, it is my favorite deck so I will try to make every effort to keep it alive. I think what keeps the deck incompatible with the competition is that decks either accumulate too many cards to invalidate situational Rack effects resulting in dead draws, have win conditions that outpace the Racks even if you do get them online, and there are more variance of cards that can blow out your main strategy like Wrath of the Skies.

With several years of power creep and downtick in results, I keep that in mind for deck construction. This is a hint that the traditional rack plan just is not suited for tournament play so far as the positive results go, these lists have a light creature selection, a heavy suite of discard and removal, and a high amount of rack effects. I am thinking based on the reasons above, the Rack strategy should not be as dialed in as it is and maybe the deck should be more combat focused which is more fitting for modern day card design which is the uptick in quality Black creatures, most of these lists seem to start off of 3-4 copies of Dauthi Voidwalker and expand off of that, I am sure because Broodscale is a deck you want to hate out for being a degenerate combo deck with different axises of attack. When Darklight Phoenix was spoiled, I perceived it as an opportunity to start trying the deck again, but with a rework. The list on MTGGoldfish deck goes down on rack effects and is constructed to be more built off of Smallpox which can still be good with The Rack.

I have tried multiple different takes on the Bloodghast and / or Phoenix ratio and came to the conclusion that 2/2 Bloodghast and Darklight Phoenix might be my player preference. Bloodghast on its own is pretty bad, but it gives me reason to play Bloodghast, Darklight Phoenix, Smallpox, and Buried alive all in the same deck. As the deck build is primarily Black focused, I decided to not go too deep into the graveyard strategy as your outs to permanent based graveyard hate are unimpressive. You can win without the grave though by still casting mana efficient threats like Voidwalker or getting your Saga constructs going and any potential graveyard hate coming can be factored in via sideboard games 2/3. That said I wanted to play my racks, but I wanted a gameplan that was more realistically executable which is where I am now with creature selection. I am ok utilizing the Racks as a Plan B to pivot into if things do not go my way on the creature and Smallpox axis of the deck that is built to use Smallpox while advancing my own gameplan. I also didn't want to build too deep on the Phoenix is that it is a pseudo 4 drop if you end up having to cast it which in a deck with 4 Smallpox and 4 Urza's Saga is not mana curve friendly.

I perceive the composition for this deck as a fair balance of creatures, disruption, a reasonable mana base / mana curve, however the Rack side of the deck is weakened down because I do not trust it like I did before, there were so many non-games trying to make a more all in Rack gameplan work, there is likely not the right cardpool for that to work right now, but I do believe post Urza's Saga's release it is more forgiving to trim down Racks. Smallpox is one of my favorite cards and I think this is one of the better ways to utilize the card in Modern, it does suck though that Hogaak is banned and Eumidian Hatchery made it into Legacy and made the Legacy counterpart good, but cannot make it into Modern also. There is still room on improving the deck, it is either I am not self aware of what cards I may need to include now or there just isn't the exact card pool to turn this into a real Modern deck experience again.

Check this out if you haven’t already. Turn 1 ramp into Turn 2 Hit It into Turn 3 hasted Primeval Titan for the kill. It’s pretty sick.

https://youtu.be/8JoyhCcQwOI?is=B9gvYR4L0lBWwutd

This deck looks like it could be a contender.

After ten weeks of the season, there’s a new leader in the standings: Nahuel10, who made the Top 32 eight times this week, earning 16 points, and also won two Challenges. He was the only player to win more than one tournament during this period. That was enough to move him from second place to first, with an 8-point lead over Rastaf, who had held the top spot for quite some time. This recap includes results through November 9, so the league website, which updates in real time, may already show different numbers. You can watch the ful recap on my YT.

Before we get into the numbers, though, I have a short interview for you today with Hugofreitas1, who is currently sixth in the standings and is known for playing exclusively Ruby Storm.

Karol (K): First of all, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview, and congratulations on your win at RC Sydney. To start, how long have you been playing MTG, and which format do you prefer: online or paper? We have several platforms for playing online, of course. Do you have a favorite?

Hugo (H): First of all, thank you so much for the invitation! I’ve been playing Magic for 19 years, but I started taking it more seriously 13 years ago, and I’ve been playing MTGO for about 8 years. I’ve gotten used to MTGO, so nowadays I prefer it, although it’s always great to meet up with friends and play at my local game store. I also really enjoy Pioneer. I like playing Izzet Phoenix because casting Treasure Cruise feels amazing!

K: You’re currently in the league’s top 10 players, out of more than 1,000 participants. That puts you in the top 1%. Congratulations on such a great result! I’d like to ask whether you follow the league standings and what you think of the idea itself. Maybe any ideas on how to improve it in the upcoming winter season?

H: I think every competitive player enjoys rankings and keeping track of their results. Personally, I really like them, and I had missed having one because the person who used to maintain the previous ranking eventually stopped doing it. I don’t have any suggestions for improvement; I’m very happy with the ranking as it is today.

K: Returning to MTG and Modern, what’s your view of the format and its current state? Many people complain about the format, and I’m curious what you think about it.

H: I think Modern is a format whose power level keeps increasing every year, especially since Modern Horizons. I probably enjoy it even more because I love the Storm mechanic and believe the deck is very strong. However, I do think the format needs some bans, particularly something from the Broodscale deck. Overall, though, I really enjoy the diversity of decks the format offers.

K: Following your results and social media posts, it’s hard not to notice that you’re a one-deck player, and not just any deck, but Ruby Storm. It’s not an easy deck to pilot. How do you rate its position in the current metagame, and what led you to choose this build?

H: I’ve been playing Storm since its first Modern version, with Pyromancer’s Ascension, and later with Gifts Ungiven, which came afterward. It’s a mechanic I really enjoy playing, and although the archetype was practically dead for a while, the release of the latest Modern Horizons got me really excited about playing the new deck. I haven’t stopped since then. Nowadays, improving the deck and creating content about it has become almost like a profession for me.

K: I’m also curious what you’d recommend to a new player who wants to start playing Modern. I’m asking, of course, about decks for getting started and so on, but also about advice for new players. Is there anything you would tell your younger self at the beginning of your MTG journey?

H: I think the main advice I’d give is not to give up after your first disappointing results. Experience matters a lot, and it takes time to learn the metagame and understand how to play correctly. Think of it as an investment in your own improvement. Focus on studying decklists and constantly learning more about the format. Combining those two things — playing and keeping track of the decks in the metagame — will naturally lead to better results over time.

K: As a devoted Domain Zoo fan (much like you are of Ruby Storm), I’d like to ask how you view Storm’s matchup against Zoo. And what do you think of Zoo and its position in the current metagame?

H: It’s a very difficult matchup for Storm. I often tell my Patreon supporters that Storm struggles a lot against decks that can attack our combo from multiple angles, and Domain Zoo is one of those decks. It has counterspells, but also Leyline Binding and a very fast clock. The combination of these factors makes the matchup extremely difficult.

Zoo is a very strong deck. I think there might not be as many players playing it as there should be, so it tends to show up less often. In my opinion, though, it’s one of the best decks in the metagame. The only Domain Zoo player who comes to mind right now is ShadowTitan.

K: I traditionally avoid discussions about bans, but I’m curious about something else: if you could choose one card to unban, which one would it be?

H: I believe there are a few cards that could be unbanned, such as Punishing Fire and Bridge from Below. However, I think that, at the moment, our format needs bans more than unbans to keep its power level under control.

K: Back to Modern and Challenges: you play quite a lot of them. This season, you’ve played more than 40 in Modern alone. How do you deal with the fatigue of playing so many games with a demanding deck in very demanding tournaments?

H: Playing Magic at this pace can get a little exhausting. I play a Modern Challenge practically every day, so by the end of the year, I plan to take some time away from Magic to relax and avoid burning out on the game.

K: I’m also curious whether there have been any matches in your career that you still remember to this day.

H: One match that really stands out in my memory was my first Showcase Qualifier final, back in 2020. I was playing Gifts Storm against Urza Control, and my opponent had a very risky line that could have given him lethal. Since I was tapped out, he could have gone for it, but because it was a post-sideboard game, I might have had an answer. He ultimately decided not to take the risk, and I managed to win the game on my turn. It was a very special moment for me.

K: And one last question: what’s your favorite card in your MTG collection, and why that one in particular?

H: My favorite card, which is also the card I hate the most at the same time, is Ral, Monsoon Mage. It’s brought me so much joy, but it also makes me suffer every single day!

So after this great talk, let’s get back to the numbers:

If you look at the season as a whole, Nahuel10’s lead is built on the number of Top 32 finishes and finals: 42 Top 32 finishes, 6 wins, and 10 finals. He has the most in the standings in both of the latter categories. However, his conversion rate from Top 32 to Top 8 is 38%, clearly lower than second-place Rastaf’s (47%) and third-place Mistakenn’s (56%). Mistakenn has the most efficient podium record, averaging 1.93 points per event compared with Rastaf’s 1.75, yet he is still 11 points behind second place. The difference is largely due to the number of events played: 27 versus 36. In a league that awards points for every Top 16 finish, playing regularly is a real advantage, while points per event only break ties. I’m curious what you think of this system. Could it be worth modifying in some way before next season? For anyone interested, I’m including a link to a survey where you can vote and share your ideas.

Rastaf lost first place despite having two events that ended in a Top 8 finish, earning him a total of 5 points. Just off the podium is MeninoNey, who moved up from 6th to 4th and is only 3 points behind Mistakenn. It’s worth mentioning that MeninoNey has played 47 events, the most in the standings.

All the pilots in the top 10 scored points this week, earning a total of 83. Fransadness scored 12, the second-highest total of the week, and broke into the top 10 from 22nd place. Selfeisek moved up from 12th to 9th after nine Top 32 finishes. Interestingly, those nine T32s were the most of any pilot this week. RespectTheCat, who didn’t make a single Top 32 this week, and Musasabi fell out of the top 10. The points threshold for 10th place rose from 30 to 34, but this week’s jumps, so close to the end of the league, show that there’s still a good chance to make it into the top 1% of players in our league.

Farther down the standings, you can see how much one good tournament can matter. Foxantes had one Top 32 finish this week, which came from winning a Challenge, moving him from 182nd to 87th place. Walker735 gained the same number of places 95 without making a final, thanks to 5 points from three events. The four pilots with the biggest climbs in the top 100 each earned exactly 5 points. The overall record belongs to jbl2311, who gained 824 places thanks to a single win, but finished the week in 241st place. There are 1,156 pilots in the standings, and 390 of them (34%) have zero points, so a few points can move you up hundreds of places near the bottom. A few good games can get you into the top 10%, but climbing higher takes much more effort.

Bradykiesling13 had the best conversion rate of the week: 3 of 4 events resulted in a Top 8 finish, with one win and 11 points, or 2.75 per event. That puts him first in a pool of 46 pilots with at least three events during the period, both for conversion rate and points per event. He also climbed from 74th to 27th place.

Full standings: https://challangeleague.cytr.us/

That is all for this week; we are two weeks to the end of the whole season and start a new one. In winter, there will be some surprises and new things going on, so don’t forget to subscribe and do the survey!

See you next week

Karol Małota

aka WarLord1986pl / TribalFlamesInYourFace

I love modern and usually get back into MTG once every couple years. Used to follow this sub quite a bit. Where are all the decks and card analysis? Where's the weekly mtgo meta reports?

Did something happen that caused this sub to die? I don't understand why it's so empty now

Hi, today I randomly played a bit of Neoform on Endstep. It was first time playing the deck and I had quite some fun (I play Modern consistently so I knew more or less how to behave).

What I struggled a bit against is how to understand when to commit (in game, but also in sideboard) to the main plan Allosaurus -> Griselbrand/Galtha and when to focus on the Mandrils -> Cenobite/Atraxa, and finally when to bring in the Oculus with the Snow serpent that i dont remember the name of.

I was vibing and I was always finding myself relying on the Allosaurus, but if it is like that why do i even keep the Mandrils for example? The deck is not so resilient to combo many times (most of the times if the first combo fails the game is over). Are Mandrils just a follow up?

Give me hints and ideas from more experienced Neoform players.

I’m pretty excited for {{Tecton, Malignant Ruin}}‘s release in Modern. I’ve been working for a while on a Rakdos Darklight list, and he seems like a shoe in for it, though Commander might just make him a $50 Mythic bomb.

Here’s the running list I’ve put together, lmk if there are any changes that’d help the deck: https://moxfield.com/decks/V5wChDipF0-4N4Bu1FMImA

https://youtu.be/fK2r7ByfPDU?is=WxPlfAW1Kx3jsrIU

Hey folks, I've been having trouble trying to find some content to fill my time at work and prefer podcast formats. I've found the Midweek Metagame podcast but I feel like all of the other podcasts I've been coming across have either changed formats, perspectives, or have been on indefinite hiatus. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

The October Metagame Update is ready. Highlights include:

• Broodscale had quite a month

• The massive RCs define the paper metagame, but no one event overpowers the others

• The metagame is fighting back, but whether it's doing so successfully is debatable

For all this and the data, read the article.

https://archidekt.com/decks/28052077/modern_esper_selfbounce_vocalist_variant

Deck list above. Tl;dr: It uses the dimir self-bounce shell that got banned out of standard ([[Hopeless Nightmare]]/[[This Town Ain’t Big Enough]]). It is then amplified with Phelia, 3feri and [[Estrid’s Invocation]] to grind your opponent’s hand into dust. Also I only have one Quantum Riddler. If I had more, I would run them.

One deck I consistently get shitcanned by is affinity. I have found some success with maindecking Sheoldred’s Edict to get around Kappa Cannoneer ward, as well as x2 Force of Despair in the sideboard to shut down Pinnacle Emmisary turns and also get around Kappa Cannoneer ward. However I think I still need more help against the deck, as it just has so many game plans that are hard to combat.

Disruptor Flute has treated me well.
Wrath of the Skies just kills me against Weapons Manufacturing.
Supreme Verdict was decent in an older shell, but it feels just a smidgen too slow.
I could go with Annul? I haven’t tried that yet.

Any recommendations? What do you guys slot in against that deck.

Hi guys

Here clinging again to JEskai Blink to work,

Does someone had success with the deck? What focus is better to build to? A more controlly with no Ragavan or is better to run it and try to beatdown early too?

Is Nulldrifter any good for this deck? I know Riddler is a better version but can it be a 5th add?

Any good info about this deck would be appreciated.

Anyone have a discord link for rakdos aggro discord

Looking to build a new deck for locals we have decent turnouts for small to medium sized tournaments. I was torn between living end and eldrazi tron. Anyone with experience with either deck has any tips or suggestions.

Ive been playing competitively in modern for over a year/year and a half now. I havent really found a deck I want to sit and grind out and master yet one of the decks that I think often is through the breach. I never really understood what the main issue with the deck is even before consign to memory and other eldrazi hate came out. The deck and idea seem strong and fast enough but I also cant figure out the main issue with the deck, if the proper shell hasn't been found yet or is super bad in to the current meta

Hello everyone. I'm new to Modern but not MTG. I haven't touched Modern until recently since I haven't been able to play it until Endstep which has let me get in some practice. My LGS doesn't host it. I'm not new to land-based decks. Arena has been a boon for Pioneer when it was neglected in the play schedule until recently, and my main decks has been Scapeshift. In Historic, I play a variation of Scapeshift Primetime, but of course, Amulet doesn't exist on Arena. I understand what the fundamental lines are in those formats and what fast clocks look like when I look at my starting hand.

In Modern, I am feeling lost looking at Titan. Both Scapeshift decks in Pioneer and Historic have deterministic routes that are different from the one in Modern and rely more on the yard, with Pioneer using Lumra and Historic using Shifting Woodland. The guide by Dom Harvey I found still has the information for Lotus Field, which has been banned, so I'm unsure what the essential basic lines should be. Because of that, I'm also unsure of how to evaluate my starting hands when deciding if I should mulligan or not. The Historic deck is probably closer to the Modern one, but I've noticed from watching Modern players online that graveyard lines aren't played as much, which is also making the transition more difficult.

What would you say are the top 2 or 3 basic lines? What does a good starting hand have? Answering the first will probably help answer the second, but it's worth asking anyway. Is there an updated Dom Harvey guide without Lotus Lines? Once I have a basic idea, I keep those lines in mind as I go back to goldfishing.

Hi all,

I am traveling in a week for work and the city I'm going to has several game shops that run Modern MTG nights, so basically for 3 nights in a row, I can go to a different shop and grab some games. With that said, I haven't cracked a modern deck in a while (especially in paper). I had an old white weenie soldier deck that I was hoping someone could help me upgrade to fit a "semi" competitive meta, without destroying the entire deck. I'm not looking to qualify at an RCQ, but i'm also not hoping to go 0-12 each evening.

Thank you all in advance. The nice thing is, these shops (i've browsed their in-store collections via website), have the majority of what appears to be modern staples so upgrading shouldn't be an issue to buy in person as long as cost isn't insanely prohibitive, but I know I'll have to pick up 4 solitudes for example.

I am assuming I need to spice up the mana base and add in 4x Guide of Souls (for the Elite Vanguard)? along with some additional tax items? Thalia / Thalia's Lt. / Side board most likely needs a rework + maybe 1 alpha strike? Is practiced offense too slow in this format?

Currently list for reference. Thank you all!

https://moxfield.com/decks/KprYOe1OJE-IJ4C2-rZyUA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lY2yFApKAA Here is the video of my top 4 run with jund. This started by one of my subscribers donating a list for me. I played a league and went 4-1 rather easily. So I decided to try it in a small challenge. I did not expect to make top 4 with the deck. If you just want the deck list I will leave it here at the bottom! The full run is in my video! https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/0WYE95UEVA