AuthorBen Bleiweiss

The Buzz: If you thought Chalice of the Void changed Type I, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Chalice of the Void for zero stops your opponent from playing Moxen. Chalice for one stops most budget decks. Trinisphere literally shuts down the entire format, if you get it into play on the first turn. It’s a Nether Void for one, two or three, depending how much spells would have cost to begin with. It’s easily dropable on the first turn, thanks to Mishra’s Workshop. This is the single most important Type I card to see print in years, and it will single-handedly change the way decks must be built – plus it could finally get Mishra’s Workshop and Dark Ritual restricted (or re-restricted, as the case may be).

I’m tired of people giving diluted, hackneyed set reviews every time there’s a new release. A lot of players try rating cards in both Limited and Constructed, but it ends up diluting their valuations. Others attempt to rate each and every card in the set. My approach is more holistic: I have no ratings at all. Instead, I’m going to talk about the cards that will see Constructed play (sorry guys, no Limited strategy here), or that have potential to see Constructed play in the not-too-distant future. I’m gonna throw out some thoughts and ideas, and I’d like to hear what you have to say about these cards!

Randy Buehler hates me.

Why do you hate me, Randy Buehler? What have I ever done to you? I invite you to draft out of my big draft box at every event, and you shun me. All I did was write one little stinky Magic article that you disapproved of, and suddenly I’m treated like a leper in a mosh pit.

I’m not guaranteeing I’ll hit every deck in the format, but I’d like to think that after immersing myself in these cards and in Magic Online Block Constructed tournaments, I have some idea of what will and won’t see play – and here are the important decks. Also, I’ll show you what the most popular Onslaught Block Constructed reader’s picks were!

On the surface, this might seem like a great promotion: Play on Magic Online and win a chance to hang with the big boys! But just below the surface, this”contest” seems to be the breeding grounds for the biggest logistical nightmare ever thought up by Wizards’ marketing.

I challenged you to name the top fifteen cards that would show up in the format, by quantity, and rank them in order. Whoever comes the closest to predicting these fifteen cards wins your choice of a box of product, or $50 cash. But here’s the catch: Nobody is winning that box. You know why? Cause I’m going to win my own contest. I am to make sure that none of your money-grubbing hands gets even a single fingerprint on the outer plastic wrap of my box. Here’s the fifteen cards that will – WILL! – see the most play at Venice.

So y’all think you’re better at me at predicting what might or might not get played in new formats? Well, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is – and win yourself a fabulous prize! Can you pick the fifteen cards that will see the most play at Pro Tour: Venice?

As many people know, I’m the decklist guy for most major events for Wizards at this point. I type between 110-130 wpm, depending on how tired I am. For a 345-person Rochester draft tournament, it would take a single person, using my shortcut program, twenty-three hours of continuous typing to finish the first draft pod alone.

This has been some time in coming, hasn’t it? Many thought that I wouldn’t get this done – but here it is, in all its glory. Be prepared for a long, long ride into the journey that is Pro Tour Houston, the new Extended, Ben Bleiweiss, and a bunch of cards with white mana in their casting cost… And we’ll be looking at who finished what, and where, before I start in on Monday.

Ben has an important message about his PT Houston article.

The Dark through In the last part of the article, I examined the beginnings of Magic: The Gathering from inception through Legends (which would be considered the ‘last’ of the classic sets). The first expansion set after Revised (which would mark the beginning of ‘modern’ magic via the Pro Tour and Type 2) was The…

Today, I logged onto Star City’s site awaiting a new day of articles about Magic: The Gathering. I came upon Tony’s article regarding Wizards of the Coast and their practice of making the top tournament cards rare, regardless of whether or not they fit the definition of what a rare card should be. I didn’t…