The Gam Podcast

After dipping his toes back into the waters of Modern, Gerry recounts his experience playing the innovative Human Company deck. What was good about the deck, and what fell short? There's still more Dominaria previews to go over and one hour wasn't nearly enough last time. As it turns out, this podcast wasn't enough either!

Gerry and Bryan waste some precious minutes bragging and talking about recent Standard and Modern trends, but then it's time for Dominaria! Classic characters as planeswalkers, new card types, beloved reprints, and homages position Dominaria to be the greatest Magic set of all time, and it's not enough to cover in just one episode.

Between SCG Worcester, the Magic Online Championship Series, and Gerry finally streaming Standard, there's a lot to talk about! Hear about Bryan's Legacy experience, what Gerry and Bryan thought about the MOCS results and their impact for Modern, and what Gerry likes in Standard. Grixis Delver - 1:34 MOCS - 10:51 Guillaume Bant - 13:06 Bogles & Tron - 15:42 Standard - 22:54 Grixis Energy - 28:01 Mono Red - 30:36 U/B Midrange - 32:12 Decks we might play - 57:42 Question of the week - 1:04:28

Bryan's Standard predictions are all coming to fruition! Is it time for Gerry to concede that he's been right all along? What happened at Grand Prix Memphis and where does Standard go from here? Also, what's going on in Legacy? Profane procession - 1:00 Hunter Burton Memorial Open - 6:42 GP Memphis - 10:50 Tyler's winning list - 18:51 Climb/Hydra list - 21:52 Mardu Vehicles - 26:44 B/R Aggro - 31:59 Brad's U/B Midrange - 34:00 U/B Control 37:57 Legacy 45:54 Legacy as Pro Tour format - 55:35 Question of the week - 58:37

Neither Standard nor Modern are in a solved state, so Gerry and Bryan share their thoughts on both formats thus far. Bryan convinces Gerry on a great choice for Standard and both discuss what the best Jace deck is. Standard level 0 decks 4:56 U/B Control - 8:42 Grixis - 13:56 G/W Aggro - 18:49 W/U Sram - 29:50 Modern 43:52 Zoo - 45:05 Modern Challenge decklists - 49:07 Jace decks - 53:04 What decks would we play? - 1:02:20 Question of the week - 1:06:15`

There's so much to cover in this episode! From Gerry's Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan experience to Bryan's near miss at Grand Prix Toronto and the unbannings, get ready for the craziest Modern episode yet. With Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf unleashed on Modern, where does the format go? Are Gerry and Bryan's decks of choice still viable? Gerry's Pro Tour recap - 2:17 Staticaster play & Top 8 - 19:04 HOF possibilities - 32:46 Unbans - 47:40 MTGO decklist change - 1:01:13 Patreon question - 1:04:05 https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/273374#paper https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/194915#paper

The first results of RIX Standard are in. What's killing it, what's underperforming, and what looks well-positioned in the coming weeks? Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan is coming up, and it's Modern! Find out how Gerry and Bryan would approach selecting a deck for that tournament and what they have their eyes on. Standard week 1 price is right - 3:20 Mardu Vehicles - 8:05 Merfolk - 15:40 Modern Pro Tour - 26:07 Midrange decks - 33:19 Humans - 36:35 Will there be bans post pro tour? - 40:33 Amulet - 49:45 What are we playing in Standard? - 54:42

Gerry and Bryan go deep on a number of topics, including why everyone is in an uproar about the proposed economy for MTG Arena, why the Standard bannings are great (and why they're not), and what looks good going forward. Are Temur and Hazored dead? What have the two of them been playing in the "new" Standard format? Arena - 2:55 Standard bans - 8:28 The new metagame - 14:22 Profane Procession - 19:06 Mono-Red - 21:50 Temur - 25:31 Manabases - 32:46 Green's color identity in Standard - 35:54 Macro archetypes - 41:31 What decks are we playing - 48:57 Patreon question - 59:59

Gerry and Bryan reveal their Top 10 lists for Rivals of Ixalan and their lists aren't even close! Gerry #10 - 5:47 Bryan #10 - 9:48 Gerry #9 - 15:27 Bryan #9 - 20:27 Preorders - 24:12 Gerry #8 - 25:25 Bryan #8 - 25:27 Gerry #7 - 30:25 Bryan #7 - 36:23 Gerry #6 - 43:08 Bryan #5 - 47:49 Bryan #6 - 49:04 Gerry #5 - 52:55 Gerry #4 - 53:45 Bryan #4 - 55:25 Gerry #3 - 57:44 Bryan #3 - 58:55 Gerry #2 - 1:00:53 Gerry #1 - 1:01:55 patreon.com/thegampodcast twitter.com/thegampodcast

With Magic in a lull for a couple weeks, The GAM Podcast brings you a little bit of everything, including time stamps for your convenience! Favorite holiday movie - 2:03 Modern metagame - 4:19 Modern Pro Tour - 11:06 Printing only Modern legal cards - 14:39 Lantern (and polarizing decks) - 17:32 B/G Midrange - 30:55 Standard - 34:19 Yuuya Temur - 34:33 Big Sultai - 41:00 Bans in Standard? - 44:09 What to play in Hearthstone - 47:07 Christmas gifts - 49:09 GAM merchandise - 51:48 Patreon question of the week - 55:38

This episode is all things Modern! We talk about the rise of big mana, how to approach building a sideboard in Modern, and why Gerry had to go back on his word regarding U/W Control.

Gerry breaks down his World Magic Cup experience, how he went 8-1 with Sultai, plus the hows and whys of his success. Sultai is much better than people think it is! There have been some whispers of a potential Attune with Aether ban in Standard, but what do Bryan and Gerry think about that? With Grand Prix Oklahoma City coming up, there's also some Modern talk at the end.

In this timeless episode, Gerry and Bryan volunteer up some of their many weaknesses and discuss how they apply to Magic and life. Playing games competitively isn't as simple as playing the games. Sometimes it takes some real self-awareness to fix your weaknesses.

Despite spending a lengthy amount of time talking about Temur Energy and Ramunap Red, the real story of Standard is the new decks that are popping up. How do Temur and Red deal with these new threats and where does the metagame go next? Spoiler: Cut your Disenchants this weekend!

In this episode, Gerry breaks down his Pro Tour Ixalan experience, including the changes he made to his Temur Energy list to combat the field. Past that, there were six decks that did well at Pro Tour Ixalan that might still be under the radar.

What if Pro Tour Albuquerque was Modern? How would Gerry and Bryan go about deciding what deck to play? Where would it lead them? One of Bryan's greatest skills is deck selection and Gerry has been working on honing his. This is probably our best episode yet!

Whether you're playing with it or playing against it, you're going to need to be familiar with Temur Energy. Gerry and Bryan both worked on the deck for US Nationals, so they have a lot to say about Temur and its place in the metagame. Why is the deck built how it is, what are the flex slots, and what should the sideboard look like?

Gerry passes the hosting reigns over to Bryan for this episode since he's got a ton of questions for Gerry's World Championship experience! Find out how he ended up playing U/B Control, what the tournament was like, and how U/B looks going forward.

Everyone loves a Top 10 list, and Gerry and Bryan give each of theirs for Ixalan. As always, their lists differ by more than a couple cards, and each of them have their own spicy picks! Their Top 10 lists frame the discussion of what's going to be good Week 1, what the standouts from Ixalan are, and what sorts of brews are out there. This episode has it all!

Gerry and Bryan have meticulously combed through the Ixalan previews, looking for new deck ideas and how to fill out the already existing archetypes like Pirates and Dinosaurs. Merfolk is by far the most misunderstood tribe, but Gerry knows what a successful Merfolk deck is going to look like. The transform cards are also a mystery, but they're excited by more than a few of them!