Hello and welcome back to the State of Modern, our periodical 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 or otherwise relevant for the meta, ordered chronologically. Find the archetypes below.
February 5: SCG CON: Indianapolis ($10K RCQ)
Players: 225
Winner: Connor Mullaly with Emry Breach
Top 8: Emry Breach, Living End, Emry Breach, Aggro Breach, Amulet Titan, Emry Breach, Jund, Izzet Murktide
February 5: MTGO Super Qualifier
Players: 16
Winner: marcoshadow with Crashing Footfalls
Top 8: Crashing Footfalls, Amulet Titan, Crashing Footfalls, Creativity, Aggro Breach, Creativity, Amulet Titan, Azorius Control
March 1: ManaTraders Series
Players: 253
Winner: Arrias with Elementals
Top 8: Elementals, Creativity, Crashing Footfalls, Rakdos Scam, Creativity, Elementals, Azorius Aggro
March 4: BIG MAGIC Open at Yokohama
Players: 748
Winner: Yosuke Mochizuki with Jund
Top 8: Jund, Amulet Titan, Creativity, Jund, Crashing Footfalls, Jund, Merfolk, Rakdos Aggro
March 4: SCG CON: Charlotte ($20K RCQ)
Players: 503
Winner: Daniel Buchanan with Living End
Top 8: Living End, Emry Breach, RDW, Izzet Murktide, Amulet Titan, Crashing Footfalls, Elementals, Izzet Murktide
March 5: SCG CON: Charlotte ($10k RCQ)
Players: 283
Winner: Robert Stanley with Rakdos Scam
Top 8: Rakdos Scam, Izzet Murktide, Puresteel Hammer, Izzet Murktide, Amulet Titan, Amulet Titan, Creativity, Creativity
March 5: 4Seasons Winter Main Event at Bologna
Players: 490
Winner: Marco Caputo with Amulet Titan
Top 8: Amulet Titan, Elementals, Creativity, Creativity, 4-Color Omnath, Burn, Izzet Murktide, Izzet Murktide
March 18: Hunter Burton Memorial Open
Players: 442
Winner: Ernesto Taylor with Yawgmoth Chord
Top 8: Yawgmoth Chord, Landless Charbelcher, Hardened Modular, UrzaTron, Creativity, Puresteel Hammer, Rakdos Scam, Azorius Control
March 25: NRG Series: Chicago ($10k Trial)
Players: 281
Winner: Greg Pino with Creativity
Top 8: Creativity, Creativity, Emry Breach, Izzet Murktide, Crashing Footfalls, Crashing Footfalls, Crashing Footfalls, Izzet Murktide
April 1: Grand Open Qualifier Prague
Players: 1055
Winner: Markus Leicht with Elementals
Top 8: Elementals, Creativity, Creativity, Puresteel Hammer, Crashing Footfalls, Creativity, Living End, Rakdos Scam
April 1: MXP Oakland at Laughing Dragon (20k RCQ)
Players: 386
Winner: Daniel Digiacomo with Valakut
Top 8: Valakut, Yawgmoth Chord, Bring Valakut, Crashing Footfalls, Aggro Breach, Creativity, Living End, Azorius Control
April 15: SCG CON: Richmond ($20k RCQ)
Players: 264
Winner: Robert Stanley with Rakdos Scam
Top 8: Rakdos Scam, Puresteel Hammer, Crashing Footfalls, Creativity, 4-Color Omnath, Rakdos Scam, Izzet Murktide, Izzet Murktide
April 22: Arcanis Infinity at Suances (Spain)
Players: 367
Winner: Eduardo Novoa with Creativity
Top 8: Creativity, Izzet Murktide, EldraTron, Death's Shadow, Creativity, Rakdos Scam, Crashing Footfalls, Puresteel Hammer
May 20: MTGO Champions Showcase
Players: 8
Winner: Bernardo Torres with Infect
Top 8: Infect, Puresteel Hammer, EldraTron, Infect, Creativity, Creativity, Instant Reanimator, Dimir Mill
THE MODERN META
Already covered: 4-Color Ramp, 5-color Domain, Ad Nauseam, Affinity (update), Allosaurus Combo, Azorius Control (update), Bant Aggro, Bant Control, Bogle, Blue Moon, Bloomless Titan (aka Amulet Titan), Bridgevine (banned, update: Crabvine), Burn, Calibrated Blast, Collected Chord (aka Creatures Toolbox), Crashing Footfalls (aka Temur Rhinos), Creativity, Creatures Toolbox: Devoted Vizier, Creatures Toolbox: Heliod (aka Heliod Life aka Heliod Company), Creatures Toolbox: Lurrus, Creatures Toolbox: Yawgmoth (aka Yawgmoth Chord), Death's Shadow (update), Dredge (update), Eldrazi Aggro, Eldrazi & Taxes, EldraTron, Elementals, Elves, Equipment Storm, Faeries, Gifts Control, Glimpse of Tomorrow, Goblins, Golgari Food, Green Devotion Prison (banned), Grixis Control, Gruul Aggro, Gruul Utopia, Hardened Modular, Hatebears, Hogaak Dredge, Hollow One, Humans, Infect, Instant Reanimator, Izzet Aggro (aka Izzet Delver), Izzet Murktide, Izzet Phoenix (update), Izzet Pyromancer, Jeskai Breach, Jeskai Miracles, Jund (also feat. Wrenn and Six), Junk, KCI (banned), Landless Charbelcher, Landless Spy, Lantern Control, Lanternless, Living End, Madcap Gruul, Mardu Pyromancer, Martyr Life, Merfolk, Monoblue Aggro, Nahiri Control, Naya Burn, Niv-Mizzet Reborn, Obosh Big Red, Orzhov Ephemerate, Phoenix Deck Wins, Phoenix Wrenn and Six, Ponza (update: Prison Ponza aka Gruul Karn), Puresteel Hammer, Pyro Prison, Rakdos Aggro (MH2 update), Rakdos Midrange, RDW, Saheeli Evolution, Scapeshift Control, Selesnya Value, Simic Field, Skred Red, Spirit Aggro, Stoneblade, Storm, Tameshi Bloom, Temur Reclamation, Tezzerator, The Rock, Titan Breach, Tokens, Twinless Exarch, Urza Emry, Urza Food, Urza Foundry (aka Whirza), Urza Outcome, Urza's Kitchen (aka Grixis Food), UrzaTron, Valakut (aka TitanShift), Valakut Control, Valki Cascade (obsoleted), Vannifar Pod, Walks, Winota Colossification, Yorion Control (update), Zoo Domain.
Update: In a season that saw the return of a large number of in-person events (the pandemic era seems definitely behind us now), Creativity has emerged as the combo deck to beat, and currently sits at the top of the meta with a 12% share, followed by more established builds like Izzet Murktide and Crashing Footfalls. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
has mostly taken the place of Hard Evidence
in Creativity lists, confirming that the Kiki-Jiki tribute Saga is a powerhouse in Modern as well, basically a must-play card in every deck running red, regardless of strategy (and format).
But at this point it's well-known that everything is always game for a top placement in Modern. In some of the most recent big events, former star decks like EldraTron and Death's Shadow came back into the spotlight, and the Top 8 at the Hunter Burton Memorial Open last March were all different archetypes – including some less usual ones, such as Landless Charbelcher.
A deck that has enjoyed success and popularity this Spring is Rakdos Scam – as evidenced by Robert Stanley's double win in Charlotte and Richmond. It's a variant of Rakdos Aggro and Rakdos Midrange lists, characterized by explosive first turns – the titular "scam" being the use of Feign Death
or Undying Malice
(or even Undying Evil
and Malakir Rebirth
; we're seeing a lot of instances of this effect for one black) to have an evoked Grief
or Fury
stick around. Alternatively, just casting Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
qualifies as a strong start. Modern Horizons 2 is still home of the format's best cards.
And speaking of Ragavan, a novel way to employ the wily Monkey is to exploit his legendary status to power up both Mox Amber
and Springleaf Drum
. That's what the evolution of Breach decks is doing, so that it can generate extra mana as early as turn one. This allows for a turn-one Emry
, which might mill herself a Grinding Station
, resulting in a turn-two win via the titular Underworld Breach
: bringing back the Station ensures we can mill ourselves infinitely by saccing and then recasting the Mox from the graveyard using the cards we milled through the Station. Ultimately, Thassa's Oracle
is bound to appear and seal the deal.
There's even an aggro version of this routine, which ignores the grinding combo and just runs cards like Dragon's Rage Channeler
and the overlooked Third Path Iconoclast
from The Brothers' War.
As for other cards from latest sets that immediately impacted Modern, we can see Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
showing up in several lists, particularly in 4-Color Omnath decks (formerly known as 4-Color Ramp, back when Uro
was still legal) as well as in its closely related variant, Elementals, which won the season's largest event. Doubling down on Omnath, Locus of Creation
, Solitude
and Risen Reef
's ETB triggers, while negating those the opponent is likely to pack, is a big deal.
THE MODERN BAN LIST
Last revised: October 10, 2022 (banned: Yorion, Sky Nomad
)
Total banned cards: 48
By Color:
- White: 3 (of which 1 Azorius, 1 Orzhov)
- Blue: 9 (of which 2 Simic, 1 Azorius)
- Black: 5 (of which 2 Golgari, 1 Orhov)
- Red: 8
- Green: 11 (of which 2 Golgari, 2 Simic)
- Colorless: 18 (of which 10 lands)
- Multicolored: 5 (of which 2 Golgari, 2 Simic, 1 Azorius)
By Type:
- Creature: 7
- Land: 10
- Artifact: 9
- Enchantment: 2
- Planeswalker: 1
- Instant: 9
- Sorcery: 10
By Set:
- Core Sets: 3 (of which 1 from 9th Edition, originally from Visions, 1 from Magic 2011, 1 from Core Set 2020)
- Modern Horizons: 2
- Mirrodin block: 12 (of which 9 from Mirrodin, 2 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: 4 (of which 2 from Time Spiral, 1 from Planar Chaos, 1 from Future Sight)
- Lorwyn block: 1 (from Lorwyn)
- Alara block: 0
- Zendikar block: 3 (of which 1 from Zendikar, 1 from Worldwake, 1 from Rise of the Eldrazi)
- Scars of Mirrodin block: 5 (of which 1 from Scars of Mirrodin, 1 from Mirrodin Besieged, 3 from New Phyrexia)
- Innistrad block: 1 (of which 1 from Dark Ascension)
- 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: 7 (of which 3 from Throne of Eldraine, 1 from Theros Beyond Death, 2 from Ikoria, 1 from Kaldheim)
