Hello and welcome back to the State of Modern, our monthly rendez-vous with all things Modern, including big tournament reports, the decklists and prices for the archetypes that are currently the most successful in the meta, and an up-to-date ban list. If you never tried your hand at Modern, this is the right place to know everything you need to know in order to begin; and if you're already into it, it can still be a good way to make sure you know everything that's happening in the format.

 The series archive is here.
 Let's start a new ride!

 THE BIG EVENTS

 Here's the latest Modern events with at least 200 players, ordered chronologically. Find the archetypes below.

 March was an extremely busy month for Modern, with 12 major tournaments, five of which around or over the one thousand players in attendance. The freshly rebranded MagicFest hosted three different and large Modern events in Bilbao, including the Grand Prix (the side events were named after Barcelona, for some reason).

 March 2: Grand Prix Los Angeles 2019
 Players: 1569
 Winner: Michael Bernat with Izzet Phoenix
 Top 8: Izzet Phoenix, Hardened Modular, Dredge, Hardened Modular, Death's Shadow, Dredge, Izzet Phoenix, Valakut

 March 3: StarCityGames Modern Classic: Syracuse
 Players: 238
 Winner: Dominic Harvey with Lanternless
 Top 8: Lanternless, Amulet Titan, Ad Nauseam, Tokens, Death's Shadow, Humans, Jeskai Control, UrzaTron

 March 15: Modern MCQ at MagicFest Bilbao
 Players: N/A
 Winner: Roald Smet with UrzaTron
 Top 8: UrzaTron, Dredge, Hardened Modular, Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Phoenix, UrzaTron, Valakut

 March 16: Grand Prix Bilbao 2019
 Players: 1614
 Winner: Guillaume Matignon with Izzet Phoenix
 Top 8: Izzet Phoenix, Lanternless, Dredge, Izzet Phoenix, Death's Shadow, Dredge, Dredge, Valakut

 March 16: Grand Prix Tampa Bay 2019
 Players: 988
 Winner: Roshen Eapen with Death's Shadow
 Top 8: Death's Shadow, Izzet Phoenix, Bogle, Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Phoenix, Lantern Control, UrzaTron

 March 16: StarCityGames Modern Open: Philadelphia
 Players: 941
 Winner: Austin Collins with Izzet Phoenix
 Top 8: Izzet Phoenix, The Rock, Amulet Titan, Dredge, Amulet Titan, Hollow One, Izzet Phoenix, UrzaTron

 March 17: StarCityGames Modern Classic: Philadelphia
 Players: 321
 Winner: Alexander Vu with Death's Shadow
 Top 8: Death's Shadow, Dredge, Burn, Valakut, Affinity, Humans, Izzet Phoenix, Jeskai Control

 March 17: Modern MCQ at MagicFest Bilbao
 Players: 377
 Winner: Álvaro Fernández Torres with Hardened Modular
 Top 4: Hardened Modular, Death's Shadow, Izzet Phoenix, UW Control

 March 18: MTGO Modern MCQ
 Players: 281
 Winner: dredge4six with UrzaTron
 Top 8: UrzaTron, UrzaTron, Izzet Phoenix, Humans, UW Control, Amulet Titan, Spirit Aggro, Phoenix Deck Wins

 March 23: StarCityGames Team Open: Cincinnati (team of three playing each a different format)
 Players: 318
 Winner: Joseph Ambrosio with UrzaTron (teammates: Chris Minor playing Legacy, Freddie Crespo Jr. playing Standard)
 Top 8: UrzaTron, Izzet Phoenix, Lanternless, Amulet Titan, Amulet Titan, Dredge, Hatebears, UrzaTron

Pictured: Minor on the left, Ambrosio at the center, Cresp on the right.

 March 24: StarCityGames Modern Classic: Cincinnati
 Players: 239
 Winner: Paul Muller with Izzet Phoenix
 Top 8: Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Phoenix, Burn, UW Control, Hardened Modular, Hatebears, Hatebears, Spirit Aggro

 March 31: Grand Prix Calgary 2019
 Players: 956
 Winner: Attila Fur with Valakut
 Top 8: Valakut, Death's Shadow, Humans, Izzet Phoenix, Blue Moon, Dredge, The Rock, UW Control

 THE MODERN META

 Already covered: Ad Nauseam, Affinity, Bogle, Blue Moon, Bloomless Titan (aka Amulet Titan), Bridgevine, Burn, Collected Chord (aka Creatures Toolbox), Death's Shadow, Dredge, Eldrazi Aggro, Eldrazi & Taxes, EldraTron, Elves, Gifts Control, Grixis Control, Hardened Modular, Hatebears, Hollow One, Humans, Infect, Instant Reanimator, Izzet Aggro, Izzet Phoenix, Izzet Pyromancer, Jeskai Miracles, Jund, Junk, KCI (banned), Lantern Control, Lanternless, Living End, Madcap Gruul, Mardu Pyromancer, Martyr Life, Merfolk, Nahiri Control, Naya Burn, Phoenix Deck Wins, Ponza, Pyro Prison, RDW, Saheeli Evolution, Selesnya Value, Skred Red, Spirit Aggro, Storm, Tezzerator, The Rock, Twinless Exarch, UrzaTron, UW Control, Valakut (aka TitanShift), Valakut Control, Vannifar Pod, Walks.

 Update: Bird is still very much the word in Modern. Arclight Phoenix (which is not a Bird, but it's nicknamed that way) has taken over the meta in ways that begin to feel a little scary. Out of the twelve major events held in March, Izzet Phoenix saw a total of Twenty-One Top 8 finishes (including one Phoenix Deck Wins variant), four of which were fist places, and is now the only deck in the meta with double digit meta percentage. They even made a D&D miniature of the fiery bird, based on the original card art by Sławomir Maniak.

 Considering Dredge has also flown towards major relevance on the Phoenix's wings (i.e. taking advantage of the Phoenix's enemies falling back), we can hope War of the Spark and/or Modern Horizons will contain something that will shake up the graveyards. After all, graveyard strategies are historically very frail strategies that require little in the way of meta change to be disrupted. Alternatively, a ban of Faithless Looting might be the answer DCI will take to the current proliferation. The next announcement will be in May 20, after the March 11 one didn't change anything anywhere, as expected.

 Just to remain current with all things Arclight, here's the two Izzet Phoenix lists that won a Grand Prix in March, in Los Angeles and Bilbao respectively.

Izzet Phoenix

as played by Michael Bernat, 1st place at Grand Prix Los Angeles

4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Thing in the Ice 2 Crackling Drake 2 Pteramander 4 Faithless Looting 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Manamorphose 4 Opt 4 Serum Visions 4 Thought Scour 2 Gut Shot 2 Lightning Axe 1 Chart a Course 1 Surgical Extraction 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Polluted Delta	3 Steam Vents 4 Spirebluff Canal 3 Island 2 Mountain	Sideboard: 2 Abrade 2 Blood Moon 2 Dispel 2 Dragon's Claw 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Anger of the Gods 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 1 Rending Volley 1 Shattering Spree 1 Spell Pierce

 The two lists differ in five nonland maindeck cards: -2 Pteramander, -1 Gut Shot, -1 Lightning Axe, -1 Chart a Course, +2 Pyromancer Ascension, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Echoing Truth, +1 Izzet Charm. Sideboard: -1 Abrade, -2 Surgical Extraction, -1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance, -1 Rending Volley, -1 Shattering Spree, +1 Ceremonious Rejection, +1 Flame Slash, +1 Hurkyl's Recall, +1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +1 Ravenous Trap, +1 Shatterstorm.

Izzet Phoenix

as played by Guillaume Matignon, 1st place at Grand Prix Bilbao

4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Thing in the Ice 2 Crackling Drake 4 Faithless Looting 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Manamorphose 4 Opt 4 Serum Visions 4 Thought Scour 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Pyromancer Ascension 1 Echoing Truth 1 Gut Shot 1 Izzet Charm 1 Lightning Axe 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Polluted Delta 2 Steam Vents	4 Spirebluff Canal 1 Sulfur Falls 3 Island 2 Mountain	Sideboard: 2 Blood Moon 2 Dispel 2 Dragon's Claw 1 Abrade 1 Anger of the Gods 1 Ceremonious Rejection 1 Flame Slash 1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1 Ravenous Trap 1 Shatterstorm 1 Spell Pierce

 It's interesting to note how Roshen Eapen piloted his Death's Shadow deck to first place in Grand Prix Tampa Bay, where Izzet Phoenix had an unprecedented four Top 8 placements, by always taking the draw against them, to starve them of cards. Grand Prix Calgary, instead, saw Attila Fur triumph with a homebrewed Valakut-like concoction incorporating Through the Breach. Is this the dawn of a Titan Breach archetype?

Titan Breach

as played by Attila Fur, 1st place at Grand Prix Calgary

4 Primeval Titan 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 3 Simian Spirit Guide 1 Woodfall Primus 4 Search for Tomorrow 4 Through the Breach 3 Faithless Looting 3 Summoner's Pact 2 Farseek 2 Fatal Push 1 Assassin's Trophy 1 Scapeshift 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Prismatic Omen 4 Wooded Foothills 3 Bloodstained Mire 4 Stomping Ground 1 Blood Crypt	2 Cinder Glade 3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 6 Mountain 2 Forest 1 Swamp	Sideboard: 3 Leyline of the Void 2 Obstinate Baloth 2 Slaughter Games 2 Tireless Tracker 1 Chalice of the Void 1 Damping Sphere 1 Ravenous Trap 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Shattering Spree 1 Unravel the Aether

 Another new archetype timidly surfacing or resurfacing: Tokens. Only two lists placed in Top 8 during the past two months, strictly in Orzhov colors. I guess the Selesnya cards currently in Standard don't measure up to Modern calibre, not even March of the Multitudes, outpaced by the simpler Secure the Wastes.

Tokens

as played by Michael Siembor, Top 4 at SCG Syracuse

4 Auriok Champion 4 Lingering Souls 4 Spectral Procession 4 Intangible Virtue 3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 2 Bitterblossom 2 Hidden Stockpile 2 Secure the Wastes 4 Path to Exile 3 Thoughtseize 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Zealous Persecution 4 Marsh Flats 2 Arid Mesa 1 Windswept Heath 4 Godless Shrine 4 Concealed Courtyard	2 Shambling Vent 1 Fetid Heath 1 Vault of the Archangel 4 Plains 1 Swamp	Sideboard: 3 Stony Silence 2 Rest in Peace 2 Disenchant 2 Duress 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Fatal Push 1 Lost Legacy 1 Runed Halo 1 Wrath of God

 THE MODERN BAN LIST

 Last revised: January 21, 2019 (banned: Krark-Clan Ironworks)
 Next announcement: May 20, 2019

• Ancient Den
• Birthing Pod
• Blazing Shoal
• Chrome Mox
• Cloudpost
• Dark Depths
• Deathrite Shaman
• Dig Through Time
• Dread Return
• Eye of Ugin
• Gitaxian Probe
• Glimpse of Nature
• Golgari Grave-Troll
• Great Furnace
• Green Sun's Zenith
• Hypergenesis
• Krark-Clan Ironworks
• Mental Misstep
• Ponder
• Preordain
• Punishing Fire
• Rite of Flame
• Seat of the Synod
• Second Sunrise
• Seething Song
• Sensei's Divining Top
• Skullclamp
• Splinter Twin
• Stoneforge Mystic
• Summer Bloom
• Treasure Cruise
• Tree of Tales
• Umezawa's Jitte
• Vault of Whispers

 Total banned cards: 34

 By Color: 

• White: 2
• Blue: 6
• Black: 2 (of which 1 Golgari)
• Red: 5
• Green: 7 (of which 1 Golgari)
• Colorless: 13
• Multicolored: 1 (of which 1 Golgari)

 By Type: 

• Creature: 3
• Land: 8
• Artifact: 6
• Enchantment: 1
• Planeswalker: 0
• Instant: 7
• Sorcery: 9

 By Set:

• Core Sets: 2 (of which 1 from 9th Edition, originally from Visions, and 1 from Magic 2011)
• Mirrodin block: 11 (of which 9 from Mirrodin, 1 from Darksteel, 1 from Fifth Dawn)
• Kamigawa block: 4 (of which 2 from Champions of Kamigawa, 2 from Betrayers of Kamigawa)
• Ravnica block: 1 (from Ravnica)
• Ice Age block: 2 (both from Coldsnap)
• Time Spiral block: 2 (both from Time Spiral)
• Lorwyn block: 1 (from Lorwyn)
• Alara block: 0
• Zendikar block: 4 (of which 1 from Zendikar, 2 from Worldwake, 1 from Rise of the Eldrazi)
• Scars of Mirrodin block: 4 (of which 1 from Mirrodin Besieged, 3 from New Phyrexia)
• Innistrad block: 0
• Return to Ravnica block: 1 (from Return to Ravnica)
• Theros block: 0
• Khans of Tarkir block: 2 (both from Khans of Tarkir)
• Battle for Zendikar block: 0
• Shadows over Innistrad block: 0
• Kaladesh block: 0
• Amonkhet block: 0
• Ixalan block: 0
• Three-and-One Sets: 0

 See you next month, when we'll keep exploring the Modern meta. In the meantime, don't be ancient, play Modern!