Confirmed Modern as a Format Takes no Skill

It has been a bit since I have posted an update on here but figured now would be as good of a time as ever since I recently confirmed Modern takes no skill as a format. Now, before you rage, I obviously don't have a lot of experience with Modern. I played Burn for about three weeks several months ago, thought the format was boring and quit. Then I learned that this PPTQ season would be Modern so I decided to get back into the format to at least give myself a chance.

I needed a deck that could win on its own merits, but was relatively linear and did not require a lot of knowledge of the format itself - a deck that did its own thing and was not really concerned about what my opponent did. So I settled on Bogles. I bought the deck for what ended up being an incredible deal and took it to a few local tournaments. I had mixed results, going 3-0 the first week, then 1-3 the next, then 4-0, then 2-0-1. Then came my first PPTQ.

So I had only piloted the deck in four tournaments. I had barely even played against anything in that time frame because most of the people who go to my LGS just play Affinity and Burn. The PPTQ had 45 people at it including several bronze level pros who apparently had to regain their qualification. There was quite a wide field and I personally played against Spirits, Dredge, Lantern, U/W Control, Burn, Humans, Death & Taxes, and Eldrazi Taxes. I finished 6-2-1, and got second place (losing only to Lantern and then Eldrazi Taxes in the finals).

Even though I knew next to nothing of the format I was still able to steamroll people to a second place finish and brought home a hefty $500 in store credit for my troubles. My losses themselves were rather fluky. Lantern locked me out with a turn three Ensnaring Bridge both games. I had no answers main deck and game two he milled my sided-in answers away. Eldrazi Taxes just played a turn two Chalice on one both games. Game one I had no answers and since he was on the play I literally had a 1/1 Bogle that could never be enchanted. Scoop. Game two was slightly closer, but I got stuck on two land, a Forest and a Razorverge Thicket, with three Daybreak Coronet in my hand.

But the whole point of this blog post is that Modern takes no skill - and it doesn't. My wins were not skillful. The deck just handed me wins when it felt like it. My losses had nothing to do with skill, either. The cards in Modern are simply so powerful, that they win you the game on their own. Locking out your opponent with a Chalice, or an Ensnaring Bridge, or a Blood Moon or something similar isn't skill. The card is just broken enough that you win the game instantly. There are lots of cards and decks like that. Modern is a turn three format and that's dumb.

The only skill involved in this format is knowing when to mulligan and how to sideboard. These are just gained with experience, though, and aren't actually related to play skill or intelligence. There's no outsmarting your opponent in modern. There's not tactical play. It all boils down to, "here's my bomb or combo, can you stop it? No? I win."

In other formats, bombs are important but not the be-all and end-all. You can play a Scarab God in Standard, one of the better cards of the format, and still lose. In limited you don't necessarily need any bombs in your deck to win games (I won my sealed PPTQ without any bombs in a very bomb-heavy set). In Modern when someone drops a turn three Karn or Ugin...you have to answer it immediately or you just lose. Now that's silly.

I will probably continue to play Modern though because Bogles is undoubtedly fun. Once it wears itself out and becomes boring I will likely give up the format. I'd rather outsmart my opponents in Standard and outplay them in limited than rely on broken cards for easy wins in a busted format.

Sorry Modern fans, but Modern sucks and this PPTQ result proves either I am a masterful player that can just dominate any format, or Modern truly does require no skill. Take your pick.