by Johnny Cycles, August 1st, 2025
Spaceships have arrived in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse! The flavor feels all wrong, but the art and the mechanics are sweet, which means I’ll be testing out a bunch of the new cards this month as I find the time.
If Magic in space has you unhappy, then you might want to take a break from the game for a few months (years???), because next up is a Standard-legal Spider-Man set.
At the end of the day, the game happens on a table with cardboard (or on a computer with even more insubstantial game pieces), so I’m able to ignore the discombobulating break with my perceived image of a game based on Fantasy and still play the cards… But man, I wish Wizards would just go back to making their own content and stop borrowing from other IPs.
But that’s for a future Johnny Cycles.
For now, I’m excited about a bunch of new cards from Edge of Eternities. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my Top 10 Modern Cards from the set!
Here are some of the cards I can’t wait to play! My Gruul Stompy heart is thrilled at Frenzied Baloth. Meanwhile, I love that Wizards is taking a more modern, pushed approached to my favorite tribe – Dragons! 5 mana now gets us a 4/5 hasty flier with upside…and all on a rare!
Weapons Manufacturing is begging to be broken and I think a budget build in Modern and a non-budget deck in Pioneer can take full advantage of this artifact.
That’s not all, of course, so stay tuned to my YouTube channel for more Modern and Pioneer jank in action!
As to the schedule this month, my family and I are going on a vacation the second week of August. I have a busy first week of August with little babysitting help so I’m reluctant to schedule anything for that week. However, with a new set out, I know I’ll find the time to test some decks! I may not get to writing up a full article with a ton of matches, though, until later in the month.
Schedule
August 8th – Edge of Eternities – I’ll be testing as many decks as I can and posting the decklists and gameplay here. Full articles will come later.
August 15th – Off – family vacation (well, trip…). If you have kids and haven’t read this article, do yourself a favor. You’ll thank me for it.
August 22nd – Dragons in Modern – I have a feeling I’ll be playing a lot of Nova Hellkite for the August 8th article, so this slot might switch to Keeping Modern Janky. Stay tuned!
August 29th – TBD – more Edge of Eternities cards in action!
The Usual Blurb
My goal is to publish an article between Wednesday and Friday every week. I am a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job, though, so there may be weeks that life gets in the way. Whenever possible, I’ll publish articles and videos when they’re ready. Published articles with edited game play are pretty time-intensive, hence the once-a-week-schedule. However, I’ll publish videos of unedited practice matches to my YouTube channel when I can and when it makes sense. Be sure to check there if you’re looking for a match but it isn’t yet on the site.
If there is a topic you want me to write about, a deck you want me to try out, or if you want less of one thing and more of another, let me know in the comments or email me: johnnycycles16@gmail.com. If you enjoy the site, please let your friends know via word of mouth or social media or messenger pigeon, if that’s your preference. This is a relatively new site that needs all the clicks it can get!
Thanks for reading and watching, subscribing and sharing!
About Me
I’m a former Russian literature professor who specialized in 19th-century Russian literature. I love Dostoevsky more than Tolstoy, but both will change your life. I’m currently a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job. I love fantasy fiction, mysteries, and horror movies. If you’re surprised at the length of my articles, hopefully my history as an academic plus my love of fantasy help explain it…
Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your comments on my articles, Russian literature, or the best fantasy series ever written (Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson?).
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