A few weeks ago, Pete and Omeed asked me if I had any objection to StarCityCCG.com officially adopting the column title "Casual Fridays". I told them they’d have to check with Dockers, and if there were no legal entanglements from them, we ought to be all set. I also checked in with the good folks…
Now that I’m certain most of you are back from Break, it’s time to go back to school. MY school, where there are no lovely co-eds, lenient professors, or beer bong parties. A while back, I made an effort to establish a brief set of multiplayer deckbuilding and play principles. While feedback was quite positive,…
Over the past two or three months, I have entertained several offers by well-meaning readers to pool resources and co-write a column or two. I have (politely, I hope) turned all of these down, not least because it is hard enough coping with the multiple screams in my head that direct my writing, without entertaining…
A very recent -Files (quick! if you taped it last Sunday and haven’t watched it yet, STOP READING) featured a quiet housewife who ended up being the alter ego of a horrible, vengeful monster. I enjoyed this episode immensely – have you noticed many of the really good ones feature Scully and Mulder doing most…
Hi, everyone. I’m asking Omeed and Pete to post this so that readers who have been writing me asking about the Dojo can get what I consider to be my complete and true response to the matter. I regret that this cannot run on the Dojo itself. I know only a smidgeon more than the…
I’m at the local Wal-Mart with my family, picking up a new vacuum cleaner and dog treats. (Do you need to know this in a Magic article? Probably not, but I’m trying to pull you into my world for narrative purposes. And maybe, just maybe, a dirty carpet and hungry dog are the kinds of…
Just last play session, I hosted a night of Magic for our group focused on creature types. It’s a common variant to set up in groups – I’m sure most of you out there have tried it at one point or another. There are no hard and fast rules, but I would recommend the following…
Now, I could end the article there and be pretty much done with this week’s offering, but I think Omeed would get perturbed and let it slip out in not-so-subtle ways toward the end of his columns: " ‘Been ’round the world, and now I see: No one’s clueless as Alongi.’ – My Own Poem,…
I think most of you know that I’ve been pretty pleased with the Masques block when it comes to casual play. From impractical, killer beasts like to fun strategic elements like the Mongers, Wumpi, and , the block so far reeks of success for casual players. Every time I read another missive from the "Magic…
I have to commend StarCityCCG.com on its newer, happier web look. See all the snazzy pictures up there now? And those entry-page graphics! WOOOOOOSH! A star! Was there a star there before? Whatever, I didn’t notice it, which might be the point. And I had no idea Manuel Bevand was so dashing. (Though with that…
So I’m playing booster draft at a tourney, and I’ve got all this green fat and red beatdown out there, and I’m thinking to myself as I watch my and slowly fade away, "damn! I wish there were a mechanic in Magic that let me retrieve these low-cost, high-action creatures from the graveyard!" It is…
Today, I am going to do something I am rather loathe to do. I am going to build a casual deck for multiplayer in public view. There are three reasons, which serve as quasi-disclaimers, why I usually do not do this: 1) My group will read this article and begin an immediate metagame against it,…
You know, I just don’t get enough email with one column on one web site. I’ve decided I need more. So here I am, expanding my miniature empire, regaling you with yet more stories, thoughts, and meanderings on casual Magic play. This column doesn’t have a title yet – I wanted to call it "Star…
