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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Dec 04 2018 1:00pm
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 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. And by the way, if you seek a nice free online tournament, I run Modern Times every Thursday at 7:00 PM UTC.

 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.

 November 4: Grand Prix Atlanta 2018
 Players: 1322
 Winner: Zheng Peiyuan with Spirit Aggro
 Top 8: Spirit Aggro, KCI, Hardened Modular, Infect, Dredge, Hollow One, KCI, UrzaTron

 November 10: MKM Series: Zaragoza 2018
 Players: 222
 Winner: Asier Bilbao Rojo with Humans
 Top 8: Humans, Hatebears, Bogle, Hollow One, Spirit Aggro, Hardened Modular, Humans, Jund

 November 12:  MTGO Modern PTQ
 Players: 342
 Winner: manoah with Dredge
 Top 8: Dredge, Hardened Modular, The Rock, UW Control, Spirit Aggro, Hardened Modular, Humans, Spirit Aggro


 THE MODERN META

 Already covered: Ad NauseamAffinity, BogleBlue MoonBloomless Titan, BridgevineBurnCollected Chord (aka Creatures Toolbox), Death's Shadow, DredgeEldrazi Aggro, EldraTron, Elves, Gifts ControlGrixis Control, Hardened ModularHatebears, Hollow OneHumans, Infect, Instant Reanimator, Izzet PyromancerJeskai MiraclesJundJunk, KCILantern Control, Living EndMadcap Gruul, Mardu Pyromancer, Martyr LifeMerfolk, Nahiri Control, PonzaRDW, Saheeli EvolutionSelesnya Value, Skred Red, Spirit AggroStorm, Tezzerator, Twinless ExarchUrzaTronUW ControlValakut (aka TitanShift), Valakut Control, Walks.

 Update: There have been few major events in November; in fact, just three, and wildly different from one another: one American, one European, one online. Still, we can see how a couple decks seem to be the hottest right now, namely Spirit Aggro and Hardened Modular, plus of course former meta king Humans, which however this month lost its dominant position to the Spirits. It's a veritable Modern Tribal era we're living in!

 

 Dredge also appears to be on the warpath, and it's not the most successful combo deck in the meta, while UW Control is losing steam and is now paired with everlasting UrzaTron at the top of the control department.

 For the rest, there's been nothing wildly new appearing on the field this past month, but I was curious about a list ending Top 4 on the largest online PTQ and being categorized as a very old and beloved archetype. This one:

 

 Price (online): $405.17

 Colors: Golgari (BG)

 How does it work: We actually already talked about this family of decks calling it Junk. "The Rock" is the even older moniker, back when the centerpiece creature was Phyrexian Plaguelord (anybody remember it?), and it was surrounded by an aggressive suite of disruption and removal, one of which, Duress, is still relevant after all these years. In this version, the honor of being named after Dwayne Johnson's wrestling persona is transferred to Tasigur, the Golden Fang more than to Tarmogoyf, so it's a more apt incarnation of the original concept than with previous Junk lists.

 Results: A single Top-4 placement on MTGO is not indicative of a resurgence anytime soon, but Golgari builds are getting a renewed attention these days, what with Assassin's Trophy being possibly the best piece of removal ever printed. So we might get to witness more successes for the old archetype sooner rather than later.


 THE MODERN BAN LIST

 Last revised: February 12, 2018 (unbanned: Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Bloodbraid Elf)
 Next announcement: January 21, 2019

 Total banned cards: 33

 By Color: 

  • White: 2
  • Blue: 6
  • Black: 2 (of which 1 Golgari)
  • Red: 5
  • Green: 7 (of which 1 Golgari)
  • Colorless: 12
  • Multicolored: 1 (of which 1 Golgari)

 By Type: 

  • Creature: 3
  • Land: 8
  • Artifact: 5
  • 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: 10 (of which 9 from Mirrodin, 1 from Darksteel)
  • 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!