Good, now let me get the card presence data and run a performance split query for Prowess decks with vs. without Academic Dispute.
Hey @Zacktrack92, here is what the data says over the last two months of Modern tournaments (352 Prowess entries across 125 events):
Academic Dispute is a real but niche inclusion. Only 26 of 352 entries (7.4%) ran it in the maindeck, typically as a near-full playset (3.92 average). The performance split is essentially a coin flip either way: decks without Dispute posted a 50.81% winrate (598W/579L across 326 entries), while decks with Dispute came in at 51.04% (49W/47L across 26 entries). The difference is less than 0.25 percentage points and the sample with Dispute is too small to draw firm conclusions.
What the data does suggest is that the core shell is extremely rigid: Cori-Steel Cutter, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Monastery Swiftspear, Mishra's Bauble, and Preordain are all at or near 100% presence. The real decisions are in the flex slots. Violent Urge (79% presence) and Stormchaser's Talent (24%) are far more popular flex choices than Academic Dispute. The field has largely converged on a nearly identical list, so the Dispute slots are a personal preference call rather than a proven edge based on current data.
Bottom line: the numbers show no meaningful performance advantage to running Academic Dispute right now. The deck performs essentially the same with or without it.
Sources: Data from 125 Modern tournaments (70% MTGO, 30% Melee).
Recent events: