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The conventional approach of initially treating glaucoma medically and holding surgical intervention as a reserve option was endorsed by the findings of the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS) study.1 This study reported that patients had similar visual field outcomes at five years from either medical treatment or immediate filtration surgery and supported the status quo of glaucoma management. The market for medical treatments has since increased and polypharmacy is now an accepted norm for glaucoma treatment. Surgical remedies for glaucoma have existed in a less pressured environment such that trabeculectomy, after four decades of slow evolution and complications, remains the most commonly performed type of glaucoma surgery worldwide. This ecosystem has begun to change in recent years. New surgical alternatives have arrived, reached a sizeable number and gained considerable traction as viable competitors to conventional glaucoma medical and surgical treatments. This raises important questions as to how these advances in glaucoma surgical options may affect the future landscape of glaucoma treatment. Has trabeculectomy already yielded some of its high ground? Why has trabeculectomy not been able to evolve more rapidly in response to new competitive pressures? If trabeculectomy has reached its evolutionary zenith are the newer alternatives any better? And, is it time to re-examine the conventional ‘medical before surgical’ approach to glaucoma? This article reviews the evidence for current surgical techniques available to patients with glaucoma.