What an interesting week it was. For starters, the French took over the site last week, with two of their biggest stars writing fresh articles or giving interviews filled with oodles of information (to some Finnish guy named… Walamies?). Adrian Sullivan returned with not one, but two different articles. The new Managing Editor brought you the State of the Union Address, examining the history of StarCityGames, and setting the tone for future of the site, and the forums were hopping on every topic imaginable, so click through each of the articles below and see how the community responded.
Fundamentals
On Monday, Geordie Tait set opinions alight with the controversial”Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!” Some people were offended by the tone of the article, but those who fought their way past Geordie’s ire gained some excellent information.
Constructed Strategy
Tuesday saw Weston Tulloch bring the noise with his”Standard Boshing” deck – a Type 2 deck that uses Bosh, Iron Golem, Mindslaver, and a host of other artifacts to wreck its opponent.
Limited Strategy
Contest winner Joe Gagliardi came correct with the second of his excellent series on Mirrodin draft archetypes. This time, he discussed R/B, an archetype that has transformed from fast beats and removal in OLS draft to a control archetype in Mirrodin.
Issues
On Monday, Tony Sculimbrene wrote a monster treatise detailing his thoughts on how more transparency from the DCI (with regard to the Banned and Restricted List) would improve the game.
Adrian Sullivan capped off the week with a discussion of the cards he thinks the DCI will ban in Extended, and then detailing which cards they should ban. An interesting read for anybody concerned with the future state of Extended or simply interested in reading an excellent opinion piece.
Humor
In a story that’s too entertaining to let die, Osyp Lebedowicz, the Ashton Kutcher of Magic, decided to prank our dear editor-in-chief by going undercover and instigating arguments with him about… the quality of Osyp’s writing.”Dynamite Jackson” was of the opinion that Lebedowicz’s writing”should be flushed down the toilet,” and”less humor, more strategy” is clearly a superior way to write a Tournament Report.
Ferrett had no idea that the mad Ukrainian was behind”Dynamite Jackson’s” ranting, and found himself rooked into defending Osyp’s work until being told what was going on. Good Times, especially for those of us already in on the joke…
In an article that was so entertaining it was hard not to give it a prize, Type Cross skewered the magic community by”Defining The Stereotypes: A Satirical Look at the PTQ Crowd.” This article is also noteworthy because it contains the origins for some new Magic slang, including the ever-so-entertaining”cuts to the barn.”
On Wednesday, Jessie Mason chimed in with a spry little parody about his latest e-League tournament, and how he crushed dreams with his lethal Sliver-Phage the Untouchable deck.
Ask The Judge
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what all the zebras do at a Pro Tour (aside from throw flags, and run to the Instant Replay booth), then you should check out Arthur Pruyn’s article,”What Are All Those Judges Doing, Anyway?” According to Arthur, they mostly answer questions and watch Pros dance. Hey, don’t look at me, read the article!