Archived Analysis

Modern's in a weird spot. The format feels active, but the numbers show some troubling trends, specifically around player growth. Aggro is king, and some old favorites are creeping back into the spotlight.

The format's overall health is decent (67.5), buoyed by strong scores in metagame diversity (75.0) and archetype distribution (90.7). Event growth is solid (85.7), but the player growth score is a dismal 24.8, pointing to a worrying decline in both paper and MTGO participation. The format seems to be relying on old players and not incentivizing new ones.

Aggro is clearly the top dog, making up over half the meta (53.6%) compared to its historical average (43.9%). Boros Aggro and Death and Taxes are the decks to beat, representing a huge slice of the metagame (14.4% and 13% respectively). Affinity is still hanging around at 7%, with 4/5c Aggro matching that. Control is lagging, and Combo is down compared to its historical averages.

Community chatter is focused on Rakdos Evoke and its core components, especially Grief and Orcish Bowmasters. Players are debating optimal builds and sideboarding strategies to combat its prevalence. Bowmasters is still a point of contention – some love it, some hate it. Amulet Titan is making a comeback, and there's buzz around new Jeskai Control builds, too. The B&R announcement had no changes, signaling the format is supposedly "self-correcting". But if player numbers keep dwindling, that might need a second look.