Introducing The 2018 Gamers Helping Gamers Recipients
Join all-time great Magic personality and historian Brian David-Marshall for a look at the latest recipients in one of Magic’s greatest charitable causes.
The Results Of MTGGrudgeMatch
Two weeks ago, a 10K event was held in Philadelphia, featuring the Innistrad Standard. The results of that tournament (as well as the top finishing decklists) are brought to you by Pro Tour Historian and Coverage Reporter, Brian David-Marshall!
D is for Dogpile
The incomparable BDM returns with the fourth in his alphabetical journey through Magic’s finer strategies. Today, instead of bringing play scenarios to the table, he warns us of the dangers in our card evaluation methods. When all is said and done, who’s to say that any card is good or bad?
Flores, Finkel, Osyp… Play Against the Best!
This weekend, in New York City, the Top8Magic crew will be hosting a book signing at Neutral Ground to give people a chance to buy Mike’s book in person, meet the author, the staff, and some of the famous names that populate the pages of Mike’s massive tome. Once through the doors you will have the opportunity to run your Standard-legal deck through a gauntlet of some of Mike’s past Standard creations, manned by some of the world’s greatest players…
C is for Combat
After a brief hiatus, BDM is back with the third of his alphabetized article series. More Limited plays dissected and discussed… this time, they revolve around the cornerstone of our forty-card format: attacking with monsters. An article full of invaluable advice, that will increase your win percentage in both Magic and poker combined!
B is for Beautiful: Overvaluing Your Cards
In the second installment of his new column, BDM discusses the roles we assign our cards. Should we trade that Guildmage for a lowly Sell-Sword Brute? With examinations of real match decisions, this thoughtful article will definitely improve your logic in the Limited game.
A is for Aggressive
In the first of what will be a regular column, BDM investigates the way people play Magic. By analysing plays on various turns of a given game, he highlights how seemingly inconsequential choices can impact on the game state as a whole. A fine read, and an excellent start to what promises to be a fantastic series. Brian, it’s great to have you back.
This One Goes to Nine…
As the Extended Season continues, new decks continue to poor out of the woodwork like unstoppable cockroaches, determined to make the life of metagaming PTQ players utterly impossible. Thankfully Brian David-Marshall is here to shine a light on things and this week he has a doozy of a new crop, including a Red Deck that runs Isochron Scepter, and infinite mana combo with Snap and Eternal Witness, and an Academy Rector deck good enough to win a slot on the Pro Tour. If you are playing Extended this season or even if you just love seeing cool new decks, you must read this article.
The (Decks to) Beat Goes On
You are playing in a PTQ this Saturday. It is the first round and you have no idea what anyone is playing. You are playing…let’s say Rock (Swords optional) and your opponent is going first. Your hand has plays for the first three turns of the game and the mana to make them so you keep as did the player across from you. Your opponent leads the game off with a Seat of the Synod and no play.
You draw your card for the turn and contemplate the Cabal Therapy in your hand. What do you name?
10 Extended Decks in 1 Day: The Thirteenth Step
Wrapping up our Extended Mega-Event is none other than Brian David-Marshall. Instead of covering Solitary Confinement as he originally planned, today BDM brings you a staggering array of potential rogue decks that are already making their impact on this Extended season. If you are looking for something off the beaten path (and in some cases way off) to play this weekend, or maybe just trying to survey some of the randomness you might see at your local PTQ, then you must read this article.
The Bell or Hunt Dilemma: A Tribe Called Flesh
Somewhere within Tim Aten’s review of Grand Prix: Chicago team names on Monday was a legitimate article discussing the merits of Kami of the Hunt vs. Order of the Sacred Bell. Today the man who chose Glacial Ray over Kokusho, the Evening Star flips that bad boy around and tells you why the hunky monks are exactly the men you want to be choosing when you’re at the draft table.
The Champions Laser or Dragon Dilemma: Laser!
Before writing this series, I decided to ask an expert for his advice on how to sail the often treacherous seas of the dilemmas. Ken’s advice to me was very simple, although difficult to follow: “Don’t take the controversial position. You will never live it down.” Great!
Hi! My name is Brian David-Marshall and I take Glacial Ray over Kokusho, the Evening Star.
The 2004 Championship Deck Challenge: The Sea Turtles Strike Back
In preparation for this week’s article, BDM actually played his Splicachron Scepter in a real tournament with somewhat disastrous results. If you haven’t been following the themes of the articles this week, the gist of it is that U/W is definitely not one of the tier 1 decks for the States metagame, and Brian David-Marshall is back on StarCityGames.com to tell you why.
The Ted Knutson Dilemma: Bag!
Paper or plastic? The answer to that age old question is not unlike this dilemma. It is doesn’t matter which way you choose to go-you still end up with a bag.
What’s The Build? Team Sealed
To practice building for this weekend, Mike and I dove into a card pool and built three decks separately from each other. We were both stunned by the depth of the card pool and found it extraordinarily difficult to make cuts within a color. Our solutions were very different, and I think we both understood the approach the other player was taking. I have put all of the cards in alphabetical order by color regardless of set – what would your team do with these cards?