Wednesday, June 16th – Last week I spoke briefly about Lewis Laskin’s new take on the Landstill archetype from the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Philadelphia, but now that I’ve had time to run some games with it I feel it’s only fair that I do the deck justice and talk about some match-ups and strategy.
Wednesday, June 9th – It’s been a busy weekend for a lot of Magic players, hasn’t it? Brian Kibler was over in Japan smashing face to net his third Grand Prix win, and over in Philadelphia the StarCityGames.com Open Weekend attracted over 800 players for some Standard and Legacy action. We have two tournaments’ worth of Standard data as well as a small taste of what the Legacy metagame is moving towards with Grand Prix: Columbus right around the corner.
Wednesday, June 2nd – Not surprisingly, Standard is the hot topic right now in competitive Magic. Although I don’t feel as though there is a lot more to be said about this format that hasn’t already been said, it wouldn’t hurt to discuss the decks in Standard post-GP: DC and pinpoint the direction things are going. I’ve always said that playing the right deck for any given event is probably the biggest edge you can give yourself, so let’s get right to it.
Thursday, May 27th – I registered a Jund list for the first grinder that was much like my Regionals list but featured more Sarkhans and more removal in the sideboard (Mythic was everywhere in the grinders). My first round mirror match went to a third game, but his deck had Lotus Cobra and by the time I was able to play my first spell he already had four creatures in play. Not surprisingly, I lost that one and packed it up.
Wednesday, May 19th – Regionals is over, and now the push is toward Grand Prix: DC. A week ago, I would have told you to choose either Jund or UW and just smash. Now, though? Now we have a bit more to work with, as Regionals is a fairly large event that is spread out across many groups of players in drastically different metagames, and so it is becoming more and more clear as days go on what the “best†decks are and which ones just aren’t cutting it.
Wednesday, May 12th – We have a lot of ground to cover today. With the StarCityGames.com Atlanta Standard Open and about a month of Rise of the Eldrazi play under our belts, it’s time to focus our attention on picking the best deck for the National Qualifiers (I’m still going to call it Regionals) and getting a grasp on the evolved metagame.
Monday, May 10th – I ran some games with UWR Planeswalkers against Jund, and the results were pretty positive. Or, rather, at first they were very poor – but after looking at the Top 16 decklists for Atlanta, it became apparent that most players weren’t playing Vengevine in their Jund lists, and therefore our Jund list was pretty ahead of the curve when it came to beating the Planeswalker deck.
Tuesday, April 27th – Yes, I know what you’re thinking: “not another article about Jund!†Unfortunately, Jund has warped Standard so much that with every new set release literally the only thing most of us care about is whether or not Jund will be knocked off its throne. That being said, has Rise of the Eldrazi finally done it? I’m not sure yet, but I will say that Jund itself will need to work much harder for its wins now more than ever.
Wednesday, April 21st – Allow me a moment to make something very clear: I don’t like Limited much, specifically Sealed. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like to play Limited, but rather that I’d always choose the Constructed format if given the choice. That being said, Prereleases for me are usually just a formality that I undertake every four months, mostly because it’s kind of a given that all players try to attend and that it’s a way to get new cards before they’re released.
Wednesday, April 14th – The Rise of the Eldrazi Prerelease is but days away, and by now it should be abundantly clear what this set is bringing to the table: the biggest, baddest fatties the game has ever seen. It comes as no surprise that cards like Emrakul and Ulamog shatter our preconceptions about what is possible from a creature in Magic, and I for one am pretty optimistic about their impact on all aspects of play.
Wednesday, April 7th – At the time of writing, the Extended season is officially over for me. There is still another PTQ in the Midwest next weekend, but I don’t really have the means to make it to Chicago. I’m actually a little bummed about it too, since I finally found a deck that I felt good about: Congregation Zoo.
Wednesday, March 31st – At this time last year, I was fairly disappointed to see the Extended season come to an end. This year, however, I feel almost relieved. It isn’t that I actually enjoy Standard that much more at present, but rather that one can only see so many Wild Nacatls and 20/20s before he wants to hang himself.
Wednesday, March 24th – As a college student, one eventually gets used to the ebb and flow of things, and thinks nothing of the day-to-day class sessions. Chemistry classes are about chemical reactions, writing courses are about writing, and physiology is about the human body. It’s pretty standard fare stuff on the surface. However, sometimes they are more than that, and they stay with you.
Wednesday, March 17th – Last Friday, I packed my bags and headed out on the open road for Indianapolis, for yet another StarCityGames.com Open weekend. I’ll admit that I was slightly more excited for the Legacy Open on Sunday (because Legacy is awesome), but battling some Standard wasn’t out of the question by any means. If nothing else, these trips are always incredibly fun based on the sheer number of people and places to see, so as one might expect I had high hopes for the weekend.
Thursday, March 11th – Patrick Chapin once wrote an article about Magic etiquette. In that piece, he goes in-depth and discusses the importance of shaking hands after games, and how crucial it is to realize that the phrase “good games†means “thanks for not cheating or being shady†as opposed to “thanks for not getting mana-screwed and actually giving me a run for my money.†I really enjoyed Patrick’s article, but I feel like there is still more to be said.
