Friday, March 7th – Last weekend, Adrian Sullivan took his powerful Miser’s Rock deck to a PTQ win and an invite to Hollywood! While this article does contain details on his victory, it focuses instead on what Adrian describes as the true story of the PTQ: an innovative aggro deck named Spirit Stompy. Two players sleeved up the cards, and both made Top 8. Intrigued? Read on!
Tuesday, February 26th – The popularity of Tournament Reports tends to ebb and flow with the tides. Today, Adrian Sullivan brings us a report on his latest Extended PTQ, in the style of the classic reports from the days of USENET. He also brings us his latest version of Miser’s Rock, a deck he backs for success in future tournaments…
Tuesday, February 19th – Through practice, observation, and selective reading, we all hope to improve our Magic game. But what, exactly, is “Good” Magic? And what, exactly, is “Bad” Magic? How do we quantify these nebulous definitions in a way that helps us actively improve our chances of success? Adrian Sullivan takes us through the finer points of getting “Better” at our glorious game…
Tuesday, February 12th – Improving at Magic is a tricky skill to master. Sure, we can read the sites and practice every day, but true enlightenment is hard to come by. Outside these obvious avenues, how can we hone our talents? Adrian Sullivan believes that Magic can be found, well, anywhere. Today he takes inspiration from the classroom, and looks at how a little Game Theory can improve our skills for the better…
Morningtide is here, and the new cards are kicking up a stink in Constructed formats across the world. While everyone tries to shoehorn the latest chase rares into their Standard decks, there’s a little uncommon Artifact that can perhaps resurrect a long forgotten archetype. The card? Obsidian Battle-Axe. The archetype? Fires…
With Morningtide’s official release later this week also marking its debut on the Constructed stage, Adrian Sullivan has been looking at the cards with an eye on the Extended metagame. While many Internet pundits feel that the new cards will have little impact on the powerful format, Adrian does not agree. Do you?
At first glance, it’s easy to spot the chase cards in Morningtide. There’s Mutavault, for example. And Murmuring Bosk. Another card that is warranting a lot of attention is the three mana beatstick Countryside Crusher. Today’s Sullivan Library sees Adrian examine some of the uses that this particular monster may have. Could he actually be… better than Tarmogoyf?!
Today’s Sullivan Library visits the difficult task of honing one of the most underexamined elements of a deck: the mana. Adrian arms you with the tools you’ll need to bring your already sharp deck into the next level of readiness. Deckbuilders of all stripes have something to learn here. Do you know the three major constraints on mana development? Click here and find out!
Adrian is in a disagreeable mood. Today’s Sullivan Library looks back at some of things, people, and ideas that have ground his gears in 2007. He disagrees with his home town, with many a writer on this very site, with Wizards of the Coast, and much more! Do you agree or disagree with him? Click here to find out!
With Worlds firmly behind us, all eyes now turn to Extended. The qualifier season for Pro Tour: Hollywood is gearing up, and tournament players across the land are looking for those edges that could bring home the Blue Envelope. Adrian takes a look at the metagame and makes some suggestions, before bringing us an interesting and powerful rogue deck that could make quite a splash at your next PTQ…
Honesty in our mistakes, and learning from those mistakes, seems to be the current topic of choice. Today’s Sullivan Library sees Adrian look back over his illustrious tournament career, and some of the mistakes he’s made, in order to reveal the important lessons that each one taught. If you’re looking to improve your game, let Adrian show the way!
As Magic deckbuilders and players, we have a number of tools at our disposal. We have creatures that attack, spells that affect the board, and so on. Today’s Sullivan Library sees Adrian share his favorite tools for Magical accomplishment, offering insight into his deckbuilding processes and a look at some of the cogs behind this game we all love…
Deckbuilding is difficult. Sure, it’s relatively easy to come up with a semi-competitive deck, one that could do some rocking in an 8-man queue of an FNM… but deckbuilding for a tournament like Worlds? From scratch? That’s a different kettle of fish. Adrian takes us through some of the pitfalls one can face when shuffling up a rogue sixty. He also presents a fresh Standard deck that jumps through the correct deckbuilding hoops…
Today’s Sullivan Library looks to quantify that most elusive of commodities – Luck. In fact, Adrian is here to help us understand the true role of luck, and math, in our glorious game. We all know what it means to roll the die and take our chances… but do we understand the true nature of such things? How can we grant ourselves the best chances of success?
One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do… and singleton cards in Constructed Magic can seem very lonely indeed. Today’s Sullivan Library examines the theory behind including one-of cards in your ultra-honed sixty-card machine. By defining the roles such inclusions need to play, we can refine our choices and increase our chances of tournament success.
