Dominaria's Judgment

Last week's ban update blindsided us all, slaying and freeing heroes and villains alike. Ari takes a break from babies and boxes to chime in on bans - what could have changed in Standard, what did change in Modern, and how on earth is Vivi wreaking havoc from beyond the dead?! Nonsense of the Week!

I won a lot at PT Lorwyn Eclipsed... until I didn't. A reflection on a bizarre and confounding format and the mental trials of Pro Tour success + failure.

I've been joking about scheduling a Premodern episode for a slow news week but right now there's one topic that's the talk of the town and... it's Premodern! As the format gains momentum online and offline, I wanted to give a quick runthrough of what to expect, what the format is about/for, and how it compares (for better and worse) to modern and Modern Magic.  Sam Black's Premodern summary S...

Joseph Puglisi made his mark on Modern very emphatically this RC season, developing the Jeskai list that took his Scrapheap teammate Vinnie Fino to the trophy in Houston (beating his brother John in the finals) and reviving the Izzet Opal/Cutter deck for his own finals appearance in Vegas - but he may not even be the best player in his own household! Before jetting off for an extended victory lap...

Reformed podcaster Ari Lax relapses briefly to talk through his stint suiting up for Legacy commentary with Jarvis for Nathan Steuer's clinical domination of the DMV Legacy League 5k + Invitational and what the bans mean for a newly disentombed Legacy before turning our attention to... well, everything else!  00:00 Legacy commentary + bans 48:00 Other (non/)bans + the future of Standard

After another pair of barnstorming performances with a deep run at PT EOE and a Top 4 at RC Houston, reformed 'caster and relapsed grinder Collins Mullen returns to wax lyrical about Amulet Titan - the (too?) good, the malevolent, and the beautiful 

Shortly after PT EOE I had a thoughtful (+ occasionally, delightfully nonsensical) chat with rising star and Modern lover Paul Green about his rise from local + casual Magic to becoming a Pro Tour mainstay and getting ready for his first Worlds. If his thoughts on preparation + process don't help you, his infectious enthusiasm for Modern surely will!

The show is back, the Modern PT is back, Amulet is back (did it ever leave?!)... we're all so back. Here/there for the first time is Mason Buonadonna , whose PT Top 8 debut here is no surprise to grinders, Legacy players, or the great nation of Iowa. He joins Dom for a personal and primeval victory lap and a look at a thriving (?) Modern post-PT as the RCs draw near. Dom's Amulet primer/guide for...

There are fifteen sets to cover and one intrepid host to cover them - a monologue on the hits and misses of the set, its implications for Magic, and the many weird little guys within  Patreon   / Discord  

With Ari attending to a baby sprite dragon and Dom left to judge on all his own, the streams crossed this week as former MTG Grindcast co-host Collins Mullen drops by to talk about requalifying for the PT at RC Minneapolis, Standard lessons for RC Hartford and beyond, and what preparing for tournaments looks/feels like as we all get older (and wiser?) Patreon   / Discord  

No last hurrah would be complete without a timeless (...and somewhat overdue) theory article so here Ari shares what's on his mind as he gallops off into the sunset - the hard problems in Magic then, now, and in between Sam Black on Playstyles Patreon   / Discord  

Bans have struck and every format is about to be caught up in a dragon storm... or are they? We go over the changes coming everywhere - including the podcast itself! 00:00 Intro + Pauper 05:15 Legacy 27:55 Pioneer/Explorer 30:50 Modern 38:44 Standard + Tarkir 1:15:15 Special Announcement Patreon   / Discord  

With Dom on the move this week, Jarvis Yu joins the podcast to yell at clouds during the quarterly pre-B&R announcement airing of grievances. One format is safe from our ire, the others.... who knows, and that's even ignoring that Underworld Breach is finally over.  Patreon   / Discord  

As Breach's reign of terror drags on, we look to a post-ban and post-Breach future and ask whether Modern is fixable as it becomes the focus for RCQ grinders everywhere. After that, we have an exciting first batch of Tarkir: Dragonstorm previews to sink our teeth into - but first, yet another slippery character finds himself in the eye of the storm... 00:00 Breach + post-ban Modern 33:30 Wily Gobl...

There's a lot to catch up on this week - the Domain-ation of Standard at the PT, the sloppy and scandalous plays on- and off-camera, a smattering of previews from universes within and beyond, and a truly baroque Nonsense of the Year segment... 00:00 Standard 52:27 Limited 1:04:30 "Sloppiness" 1:14:36 Secret Lairs 1:25:15 Previews Planes Patreon   / Discord  

It's Pro Tour weekend and Dom is finally qualified for a Pro Tour pundit take-a-thon again! The volatile chimera of Dom, Ari, and Jarvis tries to glimpse the future without too much boomer reminiscing about the past... Patreon   / Discord  

After a barnstorming weekend for Breach silenced our local haters and doubters, it was actually a common Amulet W as Primeval Titan enthusiast  Pete Husisian  and his intimidatingly large arms held a tragically mislabelled trophy. The champ joins us to talk through the tournament, the deck, and preparing for all the tougher challenges his sun run just qualified him for.  00:00 RC Po...

Dom's (so) back from Ottawa with a Pro Tour invite in tow and tales from the trenches of Ringless Modern. With the underworld officially breached and the weird space aliens in the ascendant, are the cute cats and dogs of Boros and Sewer the heroes now? And how has Amulet remained Tier 0 or 1 through formats will all of this nonsense?! Then, we're one-and-done with Aetherdrift spoilers as Dom final...

Modern RC season is in full swing and the underworld is open for business. We (Dom, his cat, and Ari) break down the hype around the latest and greatest Mox Opal deck, the curious case of the missing Faithless Lootings, and the deck Dom would play (if he wasn't locked on a deck that's hopefully remained Tier 0 or 1 through metas with Underworld Breach, Phlage, Abhorrent Oculus...). This is largely...

There are weeks where decades happen, and last year had a lot of those. We revisit the sets, events, cards, and takes that defined the year - with a cheeky peek at 2025. Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Monday saw a much-needed hard reset in Modern and beyond, with many of its most notorious heroes and villains (?) set free. We do our best to break down this earthquake - with the help of some real-time nonsense of the day from the usual suspects.  Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Ari came close to winning another Eternal Weekend, Dom smuggled the biggest and bestest bird into another deck/format with great results (including the impromptu return of Nonsense of the Week!), and Vexing Bauble joins the dark side. We also stand in solidarity with the brave vendors fighting off the hordes of greedy gamers trying to exploit their labour by buying sleeves from them. cftsoc BUG Yo...

A great Worlds ends with a worthy and fervent champion (again) and a clean home run of a core set offers the most inviting experience for new players in years... only to be swept away in a tide of superheroes and hobbitses. How can a dopey newcomer like Dom prepare for Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage all at once when he can't even tell what set a card is in?! Patreon / Twitter / Dis...

After lurching wildly between different extremes, has Pioneer been restored to its natural order ( Enchanties black midrange is back on top?!) just before its untimely death? And with Eternal Weekend NA around only a few corners, what did Ari learn when he suited up alongside young GOAT Nathan Steuer to commentate the DMV Legacy League (if not how to pronounce Wojciechowski)? DMV Legacy VOD Patreo...

Spooky spoiler season is over and we have some fun and cute and totally innocent toys to talk about - including some delightful, beautiful enchanties!!  Patreon / Twitter / Discord