fbpx

AuthorBennie Smith

Bennie Smith began playing Magic in 1994 and started writing about it shortly after. A Virginia State Champion, he enjoys few things better than winning at tournaments with home brews. Commander is one of those things. He loved the format so much he literally wrote the book on it: The Complete Commander.

You Lika The Juice: Random Musings on the Time Spiral Prerelease

Before the event, I IM’d with Ben Bleiweiss that I was fairly certain this event would break records due to the appeal to both old-school players and new players wowed by Ravnica. Ben expressed some concern that Wizards’ game of Hide-the-Salami regarding the 121 extra subset of reprints would create some backlash of resentment from the Magic community that might suppress attendance. I can now add a feather in my “I Told You So” cap.

By

You Lika The Juice: Examining Time Spiral So Far

This is my favorite time of the year: the cusp of a new “large set” release and a major rotation in Standard. Decks are in flux, some dropping off into the harsh crucible of Extended, some changing with the times, and some brand new archetypes being born. If you could see me now I’m making rude and crude gestures to Umezawa’s Jitte and Heartbeat of Spring — don’t let the Standard doorknob hit ya where the good Wizards broke ya.

By

You Lika The Juice? – Getting It Off My Chest

Bennie is officially off the leash… and he has some choice things to say about a number of important topics and Magic luminaries. Who bears the brunt of his tongue-lashing this week? Read on to find out!

By

You Lika The Juice? – Back Home

I now have the time to come back home and write for StarCityGames.com on a consistent basis. Writing the Dailies the other week was a lot of fun, and I look forward to the freedom and flexibility afforded to writers here. It feels good to be back – I started writing for Pete back in 1999! When I saw that Steven Menendian was recently celebrating his 100th column for Star City, it made me wonder – how many columns have I written here?

By

SCG Daily – Pimp My Dredge

Bennie Smith, a pioneer of Dredge decks, needs your help. In the past, he’s had a modicum of success with the Dredge strategy in Standard… but today, it seems the tools are missing for the deck to truly shine. In the last of his entertaining daily articles, he send out a simple plea: pimp his Dredge deck.

By

SCG Daily – Getting Artsy

Now, I have a guilty confession to make: I’ve been playing Magic for twelve years now, and I had never once bought a piece of Magic artwork. Not that I dislike the artwork on Magic cards – on the contrary, I love the artwork and I think the quality of Magic art is what helps make the game stand head and shoulders above so many other CCGs. The artists come, and I slip them a few cards to sign and don’t even think about purchasing a print.

At StarCityGames.com’s Coldsnap Prerelease, Anthony S. Waters changed all that.

By

SCG Daily – Coldsnap’s Crme de la Crust, Part 2

In the context of the StarCityGames Daily series, I wanted to do a Coldsnap review that was short, sweet, and to the point, focusing on the cards that Wizards has aggressively costed. In Part 1, I started at the converted mana cost of one and made it mid-way through three, so that’s where we’ll pick up here today.

By

SCG Daily – A Call To Action

I just wanted to take a break from my review of Coldsnap to call attention to what could arguably be one of the most important issues of our time. You may think there are other things that rate higher on your radar – global warming, the price of gasoline, the Iraq occupation, why we still haven’t seen pictures of Tom Cruise’s baby – but that’s all just trivial stuff. There’s a problem that strikes to the very foundation of our Magic community and deserves your attention…

By

SCG Daily – Coldsnap’s Crme de la Crust, Part 1

Bennie Smith returns with a preliminary look at the more aggresively costed cards from Coldsnap. As the madness of the weekend’s prereleases begins to fade from memory, it’s time to turn our attention to the coming Constructed formats. What cards are gliding sweetly below the mana barriers? Bennie vows to find out!

By

Grand Prix Richmond Guide to Dining & Area Nightlife

Grand Prix Richmond - February 3-5, 2006!

For those of you who will be coming to Richmond, Virginia for the first time, I would like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of our fair City on the James. Richmond is one of this nation’s oldest communities, and for those who are interested in U.S. history — be it Colonial, Revolutionary, or Civil-War era — Richmond is steeped in it. I could go on and on about places of historical interest, but I know the vast majority of you are coming in for a weekend of wall-to-wall Magic, before either heading home or heading for a local sports bar to catch the Super Bowl. I’ll leave the history to Googlers and get right down to the important stuff — how to get around Richmond, and where to go for food and nightlife!

By

Judging Dredge: Top 8 at Virginia States

It’s not everyday that a sixty-card draft deck makes the Top 8 at a big tournament like States, but that’s what appeared to happen last Saturday in Richmond. Today Bennie explains what this crazy deck is, how it came together, and whether cards like Stinkweed Imp, Moldervine Cloak, and Greater Mossdog belong in future iterations.

By

Hypno-Sand Babe: Stumbling Through You Make the Card 3

Hello everyone! If you’re like me, you were happy to see the next stage of You Make The Card 3 pop up on magicthegathering.com Wednesday. If you’re also like me, you’re feeling a bit disappointed this time around. Follow me as I analyze the proposed mechanics and search for the golden needle in this fetid haystack.

By

10 Extended Decks in 10 Days – Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex With Squids But Were Afraid To Ask

Cephalid Breakfast very nearly won a Grand Prix last weekend, so you can be absolutely certain it will be played at upcoming PTQs. Bennie Smith takes the deck to the numbers and looks at all of the matchup data for the deck against every deck played in Pro Tour: Columbus to see where the strengths and weaknesses lie. If you plan to play Extended this season, this is information you must have.

By

A Beacon of Fun

Who says all the fun decks in Standard can’t win? How about a deck that combines Dragons, Beacons, Rude Awakening, and Meloku plus Fecundity to boot? Bennie returns from his holidays to give you the lowdown on a deck that is powerful, competitive, and downright fun to play!

By

The New Legend Rule is GOOD!

I suspect that with Champions of Kamigawa, Wizards will revolutionize the way they design Legends. Being a Legend is an inherent enough drawback to warrant ramping up the power level. Not only do you run the risk of”dead” draws by drawing multiple copies of the Legend, but now the Legend is vulnerable to a unique form of removal: a copy of itself played by your opponent. With Champions, if you’re willing to run the deckbuilding risks, you can be rewarded with great power.

By